Today's Tote

This lovely tote was ordered by a repeat customer when she grew tired of the last tote she bought from me a couple of years ago (note: It WOULD NOT give out. She eventually gave up waiting for it to give out and gave it to her 3 year old, whom I now see carrying it around!) 

Her friend then asked for the exact same one (?!) which I wouldn't normally do for two people in the same small town, but I got permission from them both so I'm working on number two now. Here's number one:

I was in such a hurry, I didn't even get a pic of the inside, but it's lined with grey and black polka dotted fabric and has one pocket. Adorable, in my own (biased) opinion!

Ellie, Horsey & Uni: Oh, my!

So, two and a half years ago, I bought this pattern and my first attempt at little creature making was the horse design. It was really difficult and it had some flaws (I think two of the legs were on backward, it had a couple of seams that were weak and didn't take long to totally split, I used curled jute for the hair and it never lost that jute-y smell.. You know, just some problems.) Looking through my old pic files, apparently I never even took a picture of it. Still, Em loved it for a while.

Right after making the horse (which the then 3-yr-old Em affectionately and predictably named "Horsey") I set out to make Eliot the elephant from the same pattern package. It turned out great, I think. I used the velvet from a bizarre old skirt I found at Goodwill and the accent fabric was a Beatles "Yellow Submarine" fabric.

Ellie the Elephant

Pretty cute, I thought. And though El, who was 6 at the time, never appeared to be particularly attached to Ellie, he has been reluctant to ever let her go away permanently. I don't know if it's his love for the Beatles, the fact that I made it, or the fact that it really is pretty cool (as far as bizarre little stuffed creatures go.)

Here we are, now, two and a half years later and Em discovers one needy evening that Horsey is nowhere to be found. Fast forward forty minutes into the increasingly stressful evening and I find myself now promising to make a new and improved creature for Em: Uni! It's like Horsey, but with a horn... Erm, okay, I guess.

Among my fabric stash, I found some pastel polka-dotted flannel fabric from my grandma. The next afternoon, I took Em to Hobby Lobby to find some accent fabric for the hooves and horn. She picked out some crazy pink swirly stuff for the accent fabric and some loopy velour for the mane and tail. I don't even know if it will be possible to use the stuff she picked out but I guess I'm going to try.

This is what happens with a six year old picks out her own fabric

(I will update this post with pics of the completed Uni once I finish her!)

Update: Here she is! And Em loves her.