Sharks! New Handmade Pincushion Cats

I wanted to get some fun new pincushion cats ready for Shark Week. And I'd always wanted to make a cat in a shark costume, so figured this was the perfect time to do it!

So I came up with 3 new pincushions: Shark Cat, Shark Pig and Swimming Cat. All my felt pincushion are handmade by me and from my own patterns. They stand approximately 5.5 inches (14 cms) tall and measure approximately 11 inches (28 cms) around the bellies.

First up:Shark Cat! I had so much fun making this one! What's not to love about the silliness of this?

This brown cat is showing his ferocious shark side by wearing his gray shark costume complete with hood, big teeth, shark fin and tail.

Next: Shark Pig:

This pink pig is happy to be wearing his gray shark fin and blue iridescent ribbon collar.

And lastly: the Swimming Cat! This one might actually be my new favorite.

This white cat is celebrating summer by going for a refreshing swim with his yellow ducky inner tube, blue fins and snorkel (which is on a pin so can be removed if desired).

All these cat pincushions can be viewed or purchased in my Etsy shop: CLICK HERE

Do you have a favorite one? Let us know in the comments!

New Spring Themed Fat Cat Pincushions: gardener, flower heads, hula dancer and frog costume

My sewing room has been full of activity lately! Along with working on the room redesign, I've also gotten a bunch of new spring themed Fat Cat pincushions completed. All my felt pincushion are handmade by me and from my own patterns. They stand approximately 5.5 inches (14 cms) tall and measure approximately 11 inches (28 cms) around the bellies.

First up: Gardener Cat!

This gray cat is ready for gardening in her blue jeans, lavender shirt, green apron, tan sun hat and purple gloves. She carries her trusty shovel and precious pot of yellow flowers with her.

Flower Head Cats!

These brightly colored cats are celebrating spring by wearing a big flowers on their faces.

Hula Dancer Cat!

This tan cat is ready for dancing in her grass skirt adorned with multicolored flowers, coconut bra and lei. She wears a flower by her right ear, which means she's single!

And last for now, Frog Costume Cat!

This caramel cat is showing his froggy love by wearing his two-tone green frog suit complete with hood, big eyes and frog feet.

 All these cat pincushions can be viewed or purchased in my Etsy shop: CLICK HERE

Tell us which Fat Cat is your favorite in the comments!

And there are still more to come throughout the rest of this month! Queen bees, Uncle Sam, George Washington, Betsy Ross with flag and and some special ones for shark week! 

Sewing Room Organization - on a budget! - The felt fabric corner

I'm happy to report that I'm FINALLY starting on my sewing room redesign! 

The goal: 

**To completely reorganize everything in my room and probably move around the furniture. 

**To find a space for my new embroidery machine.

**To put up artwork and other stuff I find visually inspiring.

**To keep my room neat and tidy. I need to be able to actually find what I'm looking for.

**To have my dream sewing room!

**And do it all on a budget. Reuse or refurbish anything you can.

First up, the felt fabric area! And I'm only talking about the 9 x 12 sheets of felt, not the ones cut off the bolt. Those I have hanging in my closet. But these sheets now have taken on a life of their own. It started out not too bad since I didn't have too many colors. So I just made something out of those metal cube things. 

But that fast became not too convenient anymore. 

So I got a scrapbooking tower, which proved perfect...for awhile. 

But then I got more colors and didn't have enough shelves or width in those shelves. 

And then comes my sister to the rescue who saved these 2 office paper dividers from the trash! Mine!

 See the huge pile of fabric on top? Yeah, I'm a fabric hoarder and I'm OK with that.

And they turned out to be the perfect fit for my felts!! All colors can be separated with plenty of room in each space for lots of sheets. And I still have some free spaces on the last 7 or so slots that I just filled with random patterned sheets that I've never used, but were too fun not to buy. 

Perfect size fabric organizer that are free! What can be better than that??

Price tally:

**2 office paper dividers saved from the trash - $0

Off to a good start! 

Air Force Fat Cat Pincushion

I feel like I'm on a role this month because I've managed to get another new pincushion completed: US Air Force! I think she's quite cute if I do say so myself. 

She's made from various colors of felt and is stuffed with polyester fiberfill. Due to the small pieces, a lot of these pincushions are sewn by hand. 

She stands approximately 5.25 inches (13.25 cms) tall and measures approximately 11 inches (28 cms) around the belly. And she, like all my other creations, is handmade by me and from my own patterns.

To see the Etsy shop listing for full details, CLICK HERE!

Or to visit my Etsy shop to view all my pincushion styles, CLICK HERE!

Italian Cat Pincushions

A new year means new Fat Cat designs. And I am so happy about this newest one I finished! ITALIAN CATS!!!

I knew I wanted to have him holding a plate of food, which my first thought was spaghetti and meatballs. But I'd had a few people ask if I would be doing pizza. So I opted for both options and then you can choose which one you want!

These tan kitties are wearing dark green pants, white shirt, red neck tie and of course a black mustache. They are made out of felt except for the occasional pom poms which are used for his feet and for the meatballs. But everything else is felt, including that pizza. Now don't hold it against me, but I find that pizza to actually look delicious...

Which version do you like better?

The cats stand approximately 5.25 inches (13.25 cms) tall and measure approximately 11 inches (28 cms) around the bellies. These cats, like all my other creations, are handmade by me.

To see the Etsy shop listing for the spaghetti and meatballs version, CLICK HERE!

And to see the Etsy shop listing for the pizza pie version, CLICK HERE!

Or to visit my Etsy shop to view all my pincushion styles, CLICK HERE!

2015 Highlights - Costumes - Padme, Bellatrix and the Riddler

Second half of the 2015 recap - costumes!

 I really wanted to make a new Halloween costume last year but, like usual, it didn't get finished. I at least got the base completed. But it still needs all the details put in - the question marks specifically. So resolution: finish up my Riddler dress and wear it to a comic convention this year.

The original design:

 Constructing the bodice with my trusty Riddler pincushion for inspiration

First try on of the dress

 Sewn up purple petticoat for underneath

Dress and waistband sewn up - missing straps. The waistband is separate from the dress and laces up in the back

 Dress now with straps

Would you believe I found lime green flats that match perfectly???

I thought I was going to hate the wig, but it turned out really nice. And since I hate having things on my face, I decided to to the mask as a headband instead. I think I'm more of a Riddler groupie than a girl version of him. 

Messing around on Halloween watching "The Worst Witch"

Sad on Halloween because hardly any kids showed up...

There was another Star Wars Reads Day at the library so the Padme costume got taken out once more.

Got my mom to attend this year!

Awww, and she made a new friend!

 And I made some new friends, too

Yay Star Wars!

I'm tired...

And sticking with the Padme costume news, I found out many many months after the fact that my Star Wars Padme costume was shared on a Facebook Star Wars Fan page and got close to 2,000 likes!! Not bad for a self taught sewer who needed to sew up a Star Wars costume in a few days for a library event!

And there was a Harry Potter Birthday Bash, so Bellatrix got to make her appareance as well.

Bellatrix caught awares...