Fluffy Tiny Accordion ^^

This is my first post so hello everyone! I want to share my lovely accordion first. This cute little accordion is made of felt and stitched by hand. I made this accordion for one of my projects. If you'd like to see more of my work, visit us at; le petit yubbié !
See you soon ^^

Clive (Dolls for Friends)

This is Clive
He likes to sing
He likes to sing The Doom Song
Goes a little like this

Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom

Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom...

...feel free to join in when you think you've got a handle on it...

...Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom

Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom...

Chocolate Owl

Hello there! This is Stephanie (Queen Boogie) from the boogie bee. This is my first post on the needle.org and I wanted to share one of my plush owls I finished the other night. I'm very happy with the way it came out and I plan to make a few more similar to this one (since I have a lot of brown felt to use). I started making these owls a few months ago and they're starting to take over my home, but I can't help it...there a lot of fun to make. Happy Wednesday :)

Syd (Dolls for Friends)

ZZZZAAAAPPPPPPP!!!! Our lights dimmed heavily.

ZZZZZAAAAAPPPPP!!!! Our lights went out.

We rushed outside to see what the commotion was to find this little beauty perched on the bottom of our bug zapper. We were so surprised, and more than a little myphed at what we were looking at. I had to actually consult my rare collection of flora and fauna reference guides to even begin to get a hint of what she was.

It turns out that she's a Northwestern reticulated Electro-Rhopalocera. In other words she is one of the only nocturnal butterflys known to exist. They, like other butterflys, feed on nectar at night, yet they are also able to store large amounts of electro-kinetic energy as defense mechanism against predatory creatures.They are harmless to humans, but could be considered harmful to other animals of a lesser size if construed as being a threat.

After tripping the breakers in our house we brought her in to feed her some mangoes and honey. She has now been with us for two weeks. We call her Syd.

Back in game

Let me instoduce Henio, plush doggie made by lalootka . He's a puppy rather than an adult dog, but it makes him perfect companion for a child. In Henio's case, the child is a boy who wanted to have a softie that would resemble him his favourite Alsatian shepherd. I wanted to complete this request and make a softie in lalootka style (well, I'm working on style).

And here he is - grey puppy made of polar fleece.

Henio loves to play and you can see him ready to aport any toy, or a branch, or maybe a little ball.

His pink tongue is made of wool felt, as are his features. Safety eyes. I'm also proud of his claws - made of wool felt, so rather harmless.

I shouldn't say it about my own production, but I find Henio cute :) But maybe next time, I'll make my pattern for a doggie larger. Observing my daughter, I've noticed that toddlers love to have huge toys.

If you have an old towel...

...you can do this, obviously, wash it first though!

This one has been made using the basic body pattern from this soft toy kit, which I designed a couple of years ago for Anchor, I'm changing all the fabrics and have updated the face a little, now she just needs a dress.

G. Wilikers (Dolls for Friends)

Mr. Wilikers has long been a staple in the upper crust elite of England's finest social circles. Born with the finest pedigree and every opportunity at his disposal, he's made use of his vast wealth (he's a trust fund baby) and knowledge to create a very comfortable and regimented lifestyle. While his proper and methodical habits could be construed by some as being annoying, after a few days they become more tolerable and eventually can end up being quite comforting.

He will keep his hosts up for hours spinning wonderful tales on the history aristocratic life, and he knows the dirt on just about everyone. As a matter of fact it was rumored that G. Wilikers was deemed SO proper and SO wealthy that he was approached as being the original mascot for the world-famous game Monopoly. It was felt, however, that a more "normal and traditional" image should be used, so it was a no go. Oh well.

A Sustained Life (Dolls for Friends)

We've been working diligently on getting our next group of pieces ready for the upcoming 2nd Sunday Sustainability Fair being held in Portland on February 10.

We were approached by the fair and asked if we would like to represent using pieces made from reclaimed and recycled materials. Since nearly all of our pieces are in some way using reclaimed materials, we thought this would be a great opportunity to get out, meet some people, talk about what we're doin' and share some DFF love.

If you're PDX local and in the city on the 10th, swing by the booth cause we'd love to hear from you.

Percival (Dolls for Friends)

Percival is extremely fond of techno, dub, trip hop and down tempo music. He's been known to attend a variety of rave and house style parties, spending days grooving to the hypnotic, repetitive musical structures while hopping around in a semi-trance like state alleviating his cares and concerns.

He's extremely mellow, widely read and loves to talk about a variety of subjects. Despite being a bit squinty from a variety of strobe light induced corneal burns, Percy is extremely friendly and outgoing.

Magmador (Dolls for Friends)

Magmadors were known to be ancient producers of volcanic activity. Their job was to shake at tremendous rates of speed resulting in friction at the base of large volcanoes.

Once the pressure and tension had reached a maximum stress level, the volcano would spew fire and molten lava into the air and give way to molten rivers that would eventually become the base of the land masses we now inhabit. Over time as the all of the major continents became formed the small, but mighty magmadors went into a perpetual state of hibernation, awakening every so often just to let us know they are still there.

This particular magmador was found in an old lava tube in the Pacific Northwest. He is rather gentle and just likes to lay around and smolder.

More photos can be seen on our Flickr page.

Harutori (Dolls for Friends)

Winged and majestic, the Harutori species is rumored to fly in the early morning right after sunrise. They are habitual sleepers and clock in at a whopping 22 hours of sleep per day. The other 2 hours are spent in solo flight and gathering food. And while 2 hours may sound like such a slight amount of time to be seen, it's really what happens in those two hours that makes the species stand out from the rest of the "tori" species.

When asked to describe the experience most people cannot adequately put it into words without some type of emotional outburst. It's said that the experience differs for each person that witnesses the flight of Harutori. I wonder what your's will be?

Hey, I have a question,

There has been a little bit of discussion so far covering making plush and where this kind of craft fits in within the artistic community as a whole.  Are there any rules or guidelines when it comes to issues like health and safety with regard to selling what could be described as a soft 'toy'?

Here in the UK, the manufacturing industry is governed by Trading Standards requiring a CE mark and/or the Kite Mark, which basically means the toy has been tested to European Standard BS EN 71.

But, how far into all this as a designer, maker, and seller of handmade plush would you need to go?  

polar bears

polar bear in the sea, originally uploaded by lalootka.

Last year it was Knut - the most famous polar bear in the western world. This year another Berlin zoo cub has a chance to become an icon of environmental foundations and organizations. I wonder what the name it will have. This polar bear of mine was made in April 2007, and his name was Tony. I'm planning to make some more of them soon.
But what I'm interested the most righ now are: how long will it take me to have another camera to pop my NEWEST toys? Is it better to remain OOAK toy maker or make a mass production? Propably all of us have similiar problems to consider.
Have a nice day!

Is it too early...

...for a baby hedgehog to be out of hibernation?

Roger (Dolls for Friends)

Roger is a young jelly just starting out. He is a Medusa, aurita of the well known South American Medusa Auritas, one of the most prominent jellyfish families in deep blue sea. Born with a silver nettle in his mouth, Roger is used to getting what he wants. Although, this would tend to make other little ones, Roger doesn't put any stock into those types of things. He would rather chillax in his nursery playing with his exquisite train sets and other toys.

More photos can be seen on our Flicker site.

Hi, my name is Michelle!

Hi, I'm Michelle! I'm a Boston artist/crafter designing desserts, soft sculptures, and generally cute things. I picked up my very first crochet hook during my last year of Art school, and I've been addicted to amigurumi ever since. I'm always cooking up new ideas for rediculously adorable softies & new cupcakes.

View more photos @ Flickr
Visit the Etsy Shop

Let's be friends! Visit my Myspace page.

Floyd the farm dog...

... most definitely comes under the 'cute craft' banner!

I would place what I do as craft and not art, at the moment anyway.

My husband is an artist of a different kind, he is a portrait painter (there is a link to his work in my blog sidebar), and he usually just laughs at everything I make in an 'ah, bless, isn't that cute' kind of way!, so I have a fair bit of competition at home as to what is 'art' and what is 'craft'.

When good softies, go bad!

In the process of making this...

...this happened!. I suppose, when designing your own patterns, it should be chalked down to design development, as it's not always a case of right first time is it?.

I liked the idea of joining this blog as I love making soft toys, but didn't want my own blog to become too softie orientated, I think it works better being quite varied. It is great to now have here to totally indulge the world of plush!

And whilst it's lovely to see comments posted like 'wow, thats nice...', I'm also just as happy to receive constructive suggestions, you know, like 'try doing the legs this way', or 'I don't think those eyes work like that, have you though about doing them like this instead' etc...

You know what I mean?, I hope!

Hello from the UK!

Hi, this is my first post on here. I am Amy from Lucykate Crafts..., and after working as a designer in the needlecraft kit industry here in the UK for many years, I am now freelance and am able to indulge my passion for making softies.

Everything I make is using my own, original pattern...

and I like to experiment in using the same body shape templates, and see the different animals I can create by altering the applique decoration.

I am really looking forward to posting more of my designs on here, and seeing what everyone else is up to.

Olive (Dolls for Friends)

Olive is one of the younger jellies that we've come across during our adventures. She was found during a recent trip to Bora Bora while swimming in the warm, tropical waters. We were surprised at first because seldom do we see a specimen as cute as she is while still in braces. But seriously, what's a girl to do when she's battling such a serious overbite?

Orthodontics aside, Olive is a vibrant, rambunctious teenager who will love you one day and question you the next. Yet, her sweetness and loyalty will never be one of yours.