Lala Love

Happy belated new year, friends! I'm hoping to blog more frequently in 2012, even if it's just short and sweet posts, like progress photos of projects.  I've been flirting with the idea of renaming this blog or starting a new one that shares personal posts mixed with crafty ones.  "Early Bird Special" was originally a collaboration with a friend 5 years ago, and I feel like the name and concept don't really apply to my life now.  Also, I'm kind of sick of dealing with people using the EBS logo without my consent, to promote their company sales.  But with a name like "Early Bird Special", what did I expect?

I'm kind of leaning towards, "Short & Scout."  It would be a play on my girls' names.  "Short" being for Harper and "Scout" for Darcy Scout.  I admit, I'm a little apprehensive to change simply because I don't want to lose any readers or downplay the info here on the EBS blog.  What do you think?  Consider a blog name change / "re-branding", or leave it alone?

So I mentioned before that I started crocheting, and I've actually been doing a lot more crochet than embroidery lately. Today I'm ready to share a couple of crochet projects with you!

Darcy and I have been in love with Lalaloopsy dolls for a couple of years now, starting back with they were "Bitty Buttons" dolls. My friend Dana shares a love of Loopsies with me too, so it's fun to go ga-ga for Lala together.  (Hi, Dana!)

Anyway, Allison Hoffman of Crafty is Cool came up with an amazing pattern for Lalaloopsy inspired amigurumi dolls.  I wasn't confident enough in my amigurumi skills to try making the doll, but I did think I had the skills required to make the dolly dress.  Darcy only had one Lalaloopsy doll, Pillow Featherbed.  She's the one who wears pajamas, so I decided to make the dress to see if it would fit a real Lalaloopsy doll. 

 

It does! Darcy and I were both very happy with how it turned out. Allison’s pattern suggests using a baby weight yarn, but I didn’t have any on hand, so I used a worsted weight yarn (Vanna's Choice) & an E hook. Since the worsted weight yarn made the dress a little bit bigger & bulkier than the original, I dropped 1 row on the sleeves and the bottom layer of the dress.

I definitely want to make more of these dresses, but try using a finer weight yarn next time.  The worsted weight does seem to make the dress stiffer than I'd like.  Darcy and Harper received a few new Loopsies for Christmas, so I have justification to make more dresses.  ;-)

Over the weekend, I decided I wanted to try making an amigurumi doll, and used Allison's doll pattern as somewhat of a guide.  I referred to her pattern for the head and the undies.

I wanted the scale of my doll to be considerably smaller than Allison's, so I made the arms and legs pretty tiny.  I'm attempting to make an amigurumi Lalaloopsy Littles. They're the new little siblings of the bigger Lalaloopsy dolls. 

Aren't they cute?! This week I'm working on getting the hair and face just right, then I'll start working on her outfit.  I am very nervous about the hair, since I've never done it before.  I worked on it quite a bit yesterday, and I was not happy with how things were looking.  So today I'm probably going to remove the mess I made yesterday, and start over with the hair.  

Maybe I'll come up with something I like by the end of the week, so I can share a new progress picture with you.

Happy Stitching! 

Amy

Handmade Father's Day

Darcy has been on a drawing kick lately, and we're really enjoying it. It's so awesome watching her drawings evolve, and the different shapes and faces she comes up with for her people and animals. One of my favorite drawings she's created was a picture of John. I knew right away I wanted to embroider it and make it a snuggly for one of John's Father's Day gifts.

Ok, so a quick and funny story about the picture she drew of John. Darcy likes to pretend she is a pony named, "Honey Pie" & John is the bad guy named, "Licorice." Licorice hates lots of things and just about everything makes him angry. Especially ponies. So Licorice would capture Honey Pie and lock her up in an invisible cage and Honey Pie would kick the cage door open and gallop her way to freedom!

They would play this game for an hour at least every night when John got home from work. So much fun to watch. :-)

The picture she drew is John as Licorice, and it's the best thing ever.

All snuggled up:

John really loved this gift and I'm pretty sure he got a little misty eyed. I love it when that happens. You make something for someone and they're so overjoyed they get a wee tear in their eye. Best. Feeling. Ever.

Hugs & Stitches,
Amy

Hand Embroidered Easter Gifts

Brace yourself, because I'm finally posting pictures of the snugglies I made for the girls. I made these for their Easter gifts, and they were a total hit.

I started with the bunny, and when Darcy found out it was for her, she said she'd rather have an elephant. Well then. So Harper got the bunny and Harper loves the bunny.


I just love her hair, don't you? That's the fancy chain stitch, you know. Which just so happens to be our last lesson for the "Embroidery 101" series.

The bunny pattern was a generous freebie from Helen Dardik of Orange You Lucky. I love her website and her art work, and can easily spend a ridiculous amount of time admiring her talent.

Next up, the elephant. Darcy loves the elephant. How can she not?




The elephant embroidery pattern is from Alyssa Thomas of Penguin and Fish. She has an entire alphabet of animal embroidery patterns that I would love to get. It was a little bit too much for me to spend at one time, so I went with the choice of five option. Alyssa made a pillow using her hedgehog design, and I almost died from the cuteness. So I copycatted her idea, and used the elephant, since that's what Darcy wanted. The original patterns are not this large, just so you know. ;-)


They're both pretty wonderful, and I'm so happy that both girls love them so much. I think a new addiction has been born.

xoxo,
Amy

Makings of a Snuggly

I'm pretty much an expert at waiting until the last minute to start making something for a gift.

Here's what I'm working on today for Darcy's Easter basket:



I'm using the free embroidery pattern Helen Dardik shared with her readers last year.



I thought it would make for a cute snuggly.

Are you making something special or did you find a sweet handmade lovely for your little one's Easter basket?

xoxo
Amy

Easter Bird

I was going through some old photos this morning, and found one of me from Easter 1983. I was just a couple of weeks shy of being 4 years old.


Unfortunately, no one dressed this fancy yesterday, and no eggs were hunted, because it was a cold and rainy Easter. But I did manage to make something special for Darcy, using Molly Chicken's Easter birdy tutorial.

Darcy's favorite part is the baby. I finished the baby first, and she played with him all day and all night long.


The bottom of the baby is left open, so she can use it as a finger puppet. As you can see, she's already wearing him out.


Seriously, I had no idea this little toy was going to be such a hit with her. I had a feeling she would like it, because of the pocket, and the Mommy / baby combo. She loves anything that comes in a big and little pair and calls it the Mommy & baby.

I'm sure she won't always be as excited about everything I make for her, but when she is, it's truly heartwarming and makes it all worth while.

xoxo
Amy

Spacegirl

A few weeks ago, I ordered the Spaceboy & Robot put-together book from Wee Wonderfuls' new Etsy shop.

I had never made a doll before, although I had purchased other doll patterns. This is such a great book, especially for beginners. The instructions are well written, and a doll can easily be made in a weekend. Also, I love how cute it is for boys!

But since I don't have a boy, and I loved the dolls so much, I adapted the Spaceboy to a Spacegirl for Darcy.


Besides choosing girly fabrics, the main alteration I made was making an apron style skirt instead of a belt that the pattern calls for. Easy peasy!


Darcy's response to the doll: "Oh my goodness! My Spacegirl is just so cute!" Now she wants a Robot, and I'm happy to oblige.