Marcus

Introducing the newest addition to Minnie Millery, Marcus the monster! Marcus may be the color of mucus, but he's really snot a bad guy.

The Big Bow Accessory Holder: Bunny Love

As promised, I've added another hair accessory holder to my etsy shop.

The Big Bow Hair Accessory Holder

Vera's hair accessories have a new home...

I wanted something that could hold her hair clips as well as head wraps, so I added a loop with a velcro closure at the bottom. It can easily hold a dozen or more clips as well as several head bands or head wraps.

Want one? Lucky you! The Big Bow Accessory Holder is now available in my etsy shop. I am slowly but surely adding different designs and colors so check back soon for more options.

Felt hair bow

One of my friends got Vera the cutest little hair bows from Creative Kiddos on Etsy.

I was inspired to recreate one and give as a birthday gift to one of Vera's friends. Vera kindly took time out of her busy play schedule to model it for me.

Materials:
wool-blend felt
4 1/2" piece of 3/8" wide grosgrain ribbon
metal hair clip
hot glue


I won't go in to the details of how I made it since it's not my design, but I have included some close-up photos. It took a few tries to get the shape right but once I figured out the pattern it came together quickly.

Cat pencil bag

Last year I made Zach a pencil bag using this tutorial. After I finished it, I thought the zipper looked kind of like a mouth, so I made a few changes and came up with this cat pencil bag for my niece. It's made of wool-blend felt and a cotton print for the ears and stomach.

Mr. Frog

Do you have the time? Mr. Frog does!

Made of wool-blend felt with hand embroidered details. Complete with removable plaid trousers and gold pocket watch! Available for sale in my etsy shop.

Wool dryer ball tutorial

Materials:

Wool roving

Panty hose

Instructions:

Begin by tying a knot in a strip of wool roving. This will form the center of your wool ball. Wrap the roving around the knot and continue wrapping until a large ball is formed. Make the ball a little larger then the desired finished size because it will shrink when you felt it.

Put the wool ball in the end of a panty hose leg and tie it off with a knot. You can put more than one ball in the panty hose, just make sure to tie a knot between each ball.

Put the panty hose containing the wool balls into the washing machine and wash for 2 cycles in hot water, no detergent. Dry in dryer on high heat until dry. This will felt the wool and make the balls firm.

Wool dryer balls are a good substitute for fabric softener and also help cut down on drying time. They work great for cloth diapers too.

Googily

I had someone contact me about making a Googily doll, from the book Jumpy Jack and Googily, by Meg Rosoff. It's her grandson's favorite book and she wanted to give him a Googily doll for Christmas.

I made him out of wool felt, like my other monster softies, but chose to make him a rag doll, with floppy arms and legs.

Pea pod ornament

Eat your vegetables!

Vera's first Christmas ornament! Three peas in a pod. The peas are needle felted wool and the outside of the pod is made of wool blend felt, which I lined with a cotton print. I'm not sure if I will make this a yearly tradition, but I wanted to at least make an ornament for her first Christmas. It would be neat for her to have a dozen or so handmade ornaments to start her own Christmas tree one day.

Want your own? Custom ornaments available in my etsy shop!

Meet Olivia!

Olivia's got her eye on you!

Hand Puppet

Happy Birthday Mason!

Meet Harold!

My name's Harold, but my friends call me Harry.

Felt Corsage Tutorial

Supplies and Materials

Cut the following pieces out of your main felt color:

Corsage ruffle- One 3" x 9" strip
Ribbons- Two 1 1/2" x 6" strips
Corsage backing- One 3" diameter circle

Cut the following pieces out of your accent felt:

Ribbon accents: Two 1" x 6" strips
Corsage face: One 2 3/4" diameter circle

You will also need:

6 1/2" piece of pom pom trim
1 medium sized safety pin
Coordinating thread
Scissors/rotary cutter
Chalk or marking pen
Ruler
Embroidery needle and floss/sewing machine with embroidery function

Directions

1. Embroider the message of your choice onto your corsage face, either by hand or using your sewing machine.

2. Pin the pom pom trim onto the wrong side of the face, near the edge.

3. Temporarily sew in place with a basting stitch. Remove the pins and set aside.
4. Fold the corsage ruffle in half, lengthwise. If necessary, pin to hold in place. Mark off 1" increments at the top of the folded edge. Using scissors, cut 1" notches at each 1" mark.

5. Pin the ribbon accent to the ribbons, lining them up down the middle. fold in half lengthwise and make a mark 1/2" up the folded edge. Cut a v-shaped notch in the bottom, up to the 1/2" mark, through both the accent and main ribbon.

6. Topstitch the ribbon accent onto the ribbon. Match your bobbin thread to your main felt color.
7. Pin the ruffle to the outside edge of the corsage backing. Line it up so the bottom of the ruffle
notches are just inside the edge of the backing. Sandwich the ribbons in between the backing and  the ruffle, overlapping the tops of the ribbons slightly (you may need to remove a few pins, but I found it easier to pin the ruffle first, then add the ribbons).

8. Next, sew a safety pin to the back of the corsage. I placed a small piece of felt on the inside for reinforcement. You can do this by hand or with your sewing machine. I used my machine and sewed one stitch forward one stitch backward, multiple times, at three different spots along the safety pin.

9. Sew along the edge of the backing circle.
10. Pin the face to the front of the corsage, centering it within the ruffle. Stitch around the edge with a zig-zag stitch. Match your bobbin thread to your main felt color. (You could also use a straight stitch but I wanted to make sure I caught the pom pom trim in my stitch.)

11. Remove the basting stitches from the face.

I made two of these for the grandmas to be at my baby shower, but they would also be great as name tags at a party or for birthdays or bachelorette parties.

You can purchase your own custom corsage in my etsy shop!