*Designer* - New Retro Soft Toy Pattern at Get Smitten

Let me introduce to Rory Lion and his friends! They love to have fun adventures together and are inseparable, which is why I have included the step by step instructions to make all four members of the gang in my latest pattern release at Get Smitten!

Rory is quite bossy; the leader of the gang. He is caring, loyal and loves to dance and sing. He goes out of his way to be centre of attention and his favourite crisps (that's potato chips to my American friends) are Cheese and Onion flavour

Barney Lamb is happy-go-lucky and follows Rory wherever he goes. He is very good at Maths and jumping and he loves remote controlled cars. One day he would like to visit New Zealand

Squealia Piglet is very excitable and has to fight the urge to squeal nearly all the time. She loves arts & crafts and sometimes gets in a right mess with all her paints & crayons. Her favourite colour is pink and she has a very curly, spiral crocheted tail!

Miss Bunnie-Penny is quite timid but very, very caring. She is helpful & kind and is always available for cuddles. You can tell her all your worries & she will make you feel better just by being there. She dreams of having her own chat show like Oprah & she loves lollipops. She has the most beautiful tail you ever saw on a rabbit

I had great fun designing these guys - I wanted to capture the carefree innocence of childhood friendships and have their expressions reflect this. I love the naivety of their faces, both in terms of expression and in construction - the large eyes appeal to younger kids and the long gangley limbs give little hands something to hold on to. I kept the shape simple so that sewists of all ages and experience could make them and the pattern can be made by hand or machine, as there are no difficult sections to trip you up. The character of the animals is added with crochet details and the pattern contains full step by step instructions on how to make these defining elements

I also wanted to give Rory and his buddies a kitschy, retro vibe - like the kind of toys I remember seeing in my Mum's crafting books of the 70s. I have used a selection of mismatched vintage fabrics with bold floral patterns to help achieve this look. If you want to do the same, you'll find a great selection of vintage fabric fat quarters here

Preview

I recommend adding a little bit of lavender to the body just before you stuff it so that the toy has a calming and relaxing affect on children at bedtime - the scent is released as you give your cute, new friend a good night hug!

The pattern is available at the bargain price of €5.00 in my Get Smitten Etsy store right here

Happy sewing!

Lisa xx

p.s  if you happen to make any of these guys from my pattern, you are most welcome to upload your photos to my Get Smitten Flickr group or my Get Smitten Facebook page so that we can all get a load of the cuteness!

{all images © Lisa Pocklington for Get Smitten using Instagram on iphone 3G}

*Magpie* - Get Smitten Vintage Fabric Bundle for Autumn

As you no doubt already know, I am an avid hunter of vintage textiles. I love to combine mid century floral fabrics along with simple crochet into many of my designs and kits at Get Smitten and this Spring I decided to share some of my extensive stash of treasures in the form of fat quarters

The Get Smitten store on Etsy is currently boasting some of my more Autumnal coloured vintage fabric fat quarters, in warm shades of golden yellow, orange, fawn, chestnut and soft foresty greens - ideal for an array of creative projects to take you into the cooler months

I spent a few happy hours this afternoon outside photographing this bundle of 4 fat quarters that I pulled together as a discounted set (a saving of €2 on the individual prices per fat quarter). I love the textures in nature that lend themselves perfectly to the Autumn theme.. the old wooden bench against the stone wall, the rough twine against the prettiness of the fabric; subtle but still so beautiful

I'm starting to get to grips a little more with this camera now - it's a Sigma SD14 with a vintage Olympus lens - tentatively lent to me by JW who, in case you didn't know, is a pro photographer. He loves to scout for vintage camera goodies while I'm snuffling out the fabrics, crockery and books! We make a formidable team. But he is quite protective of his kit and I am rather enjoying using this particular set up!

Anyway, back to the fabric! I thought it would be fun to pull together a mini collection of vintage fabrics under the theme of a seasonal colour palette - I know that for some of my students, selecting a range of fabrics to use can be one of the most difficult / time consuming parts of any project and can often be the main factor holding them off from starting something new. I chose 4 fat quarters as this makes the total quantity of fabric one metre

This set would work perfectly in my Brit Brit Hooray Union Jack cushion or as bunting for an Autumnal celebration such as Thanksgiving, a harvest festival or even Halloween. You could make an apron, a bag, a sewing machine cover, place-mats, a table runner, mini gift bags; the possibilities are endless!

I created a group on Flickr recently so that my Get Smitten clients can showcase the items they have made with either the vintage fabric supplies or any of my patterns. I hope whomever buys this yummy set of fabrics shows us what they do with them... I'd love to see, wouldn't you?

Lisa x

p.s. this wasn't meant to be me shamelessly plugging my work but whilst I'm here I may as well also shout up the Get Smitten fan page on Facebook - I would LOVE to have you come over and 'Like' it so that we can chat! See you there! xx

{photos by Lisa Pocklington for Get Smitten - Autumn Fat Quarters Bundle available in the boutique here!}

Vintage Fabric Fat Quarters

Sourcing vintage fabrics to use in my design work has become a huge part of what Get Smitten is all about - it's almost a kind of rescue mission; fabrics with a past being up-cycled into something exciting and new

As my collection grows (and grows!) and I find myself sourcing more & more supplies for my Make Do & Mend creative workshop students (Get Smitten branded bamboo crochet hooks are in the pipeline!), I thought I'd share some of my treasures with you... in the literal sense

Many of the vintage fabrics I own are pre-loved linens and therefore fairly large in size, and so I have been able to cut them into fat quarters for you to use in any of your own small creative projects. Rest assured that all linens are scrupulously washed & ironed before being deemed fit for their new lease of creative life!

'Fat quarter' is a term mostly used in patchwork - it is when a yard / metre of fabric from the manufacturer's roll is cut into equal 4 sections rather than in 9" / 25cm strips as is traditional when buying smaller quantities of fabric. Having a 'fat' quarter gives you a more useable area of fabric to work with when you are cutting out shapes or strips to use in small sewing projects. The standard size of a fat quarter is 18" x 22" or 46cm x 56cm as shown in the diagram

And so, for your sewing pleasure, I am delighted to announce the arrival of Vintage FabricFat Quarters at the Get Smitten boutique. Naturally, supplies are limited... and stock is changing as new treasures are found - so be sure to check back often!

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do and I'll be posting some ideas of how you can use them in projects over the coming months

Lisa x

(photos of vintage fabrics by Lisa Pocklington, fat quarter diagram by Janet Wickell via About.com)