Monkey madness - link to free pattern

My cousins are expecting within days of one another and I wanted to send something handmade for their little bundles of joy.

I found a pattern for 'Molly Monkey' by mmmcrafts several years ago and have been waiting for an appropriate time to give it a burl. Larissa has been so generous as to offer the pattern for free/donation.

I love this pattern. Having made lots of other softies, I love how easy this one is to turn inside out. I altered it a little bit to make the ears bigger and the faces easier to complete. I tried to make gender neutral versions as I'm not sure what 'colour' these new babies will be.

As a kid, my favourite toy was a monkey puppet my Dad bought me so this seemed like a nice gift to pass on.

And here they are - not quite finished, but almost ready to take their long voyage over to Europe to be with their new little owners :)

Handmade dolls

I finally caved and bought a great doll-making pattern. I usually enjoy the challenge of working out how to make things on my own - like my mermaid pattern or my babushka dolls but this time I just couldn't get the result that I wanted.

My dear friend Jo and I sat down a couple of afternoons in the holidays and cut and sewed some dolls for our daughters. It was really fun, and the pattern from Dolls and Daydreams was super easy to follow.

This doll was mad for a first birthday with a ladybird theme. I hope she likes it! You can definitely buy a doll a lot cheaper than making one, but I enjoy the process of creating and gifting a one-of-a-kind item to someone special (especially someone who has two older sisters and loads of toys at her disposal).

I can't recommend these patterns enough - even for the beginner sew-er. They are simple, have full colour instructions and they arrive via email very quickly.