Portrait puppet

Portrait puppet , for a birthday gift
To work from the random pictures provided by the customer was not a easy task
but was a very challenging and exiting process

colouring the craft fur with acrylic paint for the hair

making a tatto

Valentine's day gifts for him

Valentine's day gifts for him !!!! For this Valentine day i wanted to make lots of hearts for the boys have a look at my creations all listed in my ETSY shop

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/121291392/red-heart-gift-for-her-and-for-him-love?ref=related-4
Just RED.... big heart its a suede cushion in bright red looks stylish and Luxury great idea for a valentine's day gift

My blue hearts could be pervect gift for HIM and a great keepsake or an addition to a bigger gift

Personalised it with HIS name on , to make it extra special -a name or Initial can be hand emroidered

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/120351131/valentine-day-personalised-heart-for?ref=related-2



and if you like shabby chic style this blue heart made from felt is one of my favorite creations

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/175390649/boyfriend-blue-love-heart-gift-for-him?ref=related-6
hope you would like my Valentine's day gift ideas for Him

Valentine LOVE Heart -Free Pattern

                 Make your own Valentine Heart Ornament from felt !!!

                           Felt is a lovely material for any kind of ornaments

What you need
Felt in red- 1 - A4 1 mm thick
Felt in cream -little bits for the letters L , V and E
Felt in dark red -little piece for the little heart
Embroidery threads in white and red
Machine thread in red and brown
Toy stuffing
Needle
Scissors

Print out the template for free following this link to my "Craftsy" shop http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/sewing/home-decor/valentine-day-heart-love-scandinavian/127365?fresh=true&NAVIGATION_PAGE_CONTEXT_ATTR=PATTERN


Cut out 2 heart shapes in red
Cut out the letters shapes in cream felt
Cut out the little heart in dark red (burgundy )

And follow the instructions

STEP 1

On one of the large heart shapes embroider a heart shape
using white thread and running stitch. Start on the dip of the heart
Leave 15 cm of the thread free at the start and further 15 cm when you finish , to tie a bow

STEP 2


Lay the letters L O V E and pin in place slightly overlapping each other

STEP 3


Using brown thread overstitch the Letter V first
Using white thread run a blanket stitch around the burgundy heart
Using brown thread and running stitch sew the letter L in place
Using red thread overstitch letter E in place

STEP 4


Pin the heart shapes together

STEP 5

Using blanket stitch and red thread sew around the heart and leave 2-3 cm opening
at the top for stuffing

STEP 6


Lightly stuff the heart with the toy filling

STEP 7

Make a hanger from the red embroidery thread place it just inside the dip
and stitch the opening close

And there you have it your very own FELT Heart !!!

Select difrent colours for more original hearts like this blue one

Sewing kits are available at my ETSY shop with cut out pieses and step -by step instructions
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/176575703/sewing-kit-diy-valentine-craft-love?

If you like making ,Please have a look at my other patterns , I can offer lots of lovely Valentine day gifts , Easter Décor and Christmas ideas , Fun Patterns for marionettes and PUPPETS visit my website www.puppetsinabag.co.uk


Thank you !!!!!!

In search of a Cristmas spirit around Covent garden

Its December ...at this time of the year I love to walk around Covent garden and look at the festive decorations,
the Christmassy window displays are so lovely

Fortnum & Mason's window display is magical as usual , my very favorite ever

I love wondering around Covent garden , looking for inspiration

Oh my son would love this lego Reindears and the sleigh

lets have some mulled wine at the market

... done a bit of shopping

then it is time to go home

xxx

red furry puppet

Custom made puppet - Red and fluffy Monster with caribbean dreadlocks and rasta hat

it took a bit of a time to make the dreadlocks ;)

with the hat that I have made in the beginning but the customer did not like it ...

and then the final version the Puppet with a proper Rasta hat

Take a look at my other custom made puppets http://www.puppetsinabag.co.uk/?custom-made-puppets,97

How to Dye Craft fur for my Monster puppet

How to Dye Craft fur

It appears that it is not an easy job to dye Long pile Craft Fur.

The fabric’s dyes don’t work properly as the craft fur actually is a Plastic fibre not a fabric
I needed faded olive green fur to make an old grumpy monster Puppet –Custom order and the suppliers of craft fur offer very limited
choice of colours especially of the Long pile fur.

So the only option was to customise somehow one of the existing green colours.
Firstly I started to experiment with bleach but even though I tried different kind of bleach (thick and thin) and different length of the treatment it did not work the bright green colour did not fade .

Then I continued to experiment with some multi-purpose spray paints but again was unsuccessful

In pure desperation as my customer had paid a deposit and the design was approved but I did not have material to work with (( ,I looked for other ideas and found a tutorial of how to dye a craft fur with acrylic paint.

I followed this tutorial and YES it worked
tested the colours on little pieces and the customer liked the colour No 2

I have bought good quality art acrylic paints as advised and some basic ones, but then the perfect tint was from the basic range and i worked with basic acrylic paint on the end

Then I have mixed the paint with water (improvised on the quantities of the water and the paint) I have used a blender (this was my contribution to the process )to get rid of the little lumps

Then applied the liquid to the fur with brush

I have Left the fur to dry as the idea is as the water evaporates ,it leaves the fabric dyed , well it took 4-5 days to dry most of the time outside and I took it in the night

Then I brushed the dyed fur until it returns it’s fluffy appearance,
this exercise took a bit of a time and finally I got it - the perfect material for my Old Grumpy Monster puppet


The fur lost some of its quality and looked a bit worn but actually I was happy with the result, as the character supposed to be an old and worn and grumpy and this material was just what I needed

there was a down point , the material kept the odour of the acrylic paint

My Old and Grumpy monster

www.puppetsinabag.co.uk

On the third Day of Christmas -3 French hens -ornament

On the third day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
3 French Hens
2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

3 in 1 - these are my 3 French hens in 1 ornament

I am continuing my 12 days of Christmas chalange

For this ornament my colours are more christmassy

I love designing hens .
For this ornament I wander how to represent the 3 hens ,firstly planned to make 3 identical elements but then decided to go for 3 in 1

and they become 3 sleeping hens