Softie Sweaters!

It's Softie Sweater Day for me on the Papertrey Ink Countdown. You saw how I used the Softie Sweaters to make ornaments back on Day 2. We've got the softies wearing them today and looking quite cozy if you ask me. Along with all that fun, I've got a few tricks along the way to share with you. 

I made two softies this month, we've got a hippo and a kitty with patches. Both were made with specific little kids in mind. Makes it so meaningful when I'm stitching away. 

I've put together a video for you on how the sweaters come together. Just click to learn more.

Here's Snowflake the Hippo. She's for my Eliza. One of my favorite holiday songs is "I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas". All last Christmas, Eliza would sing along to it. And we teased her horribly about getting an actual hippo from Santa. After all, she was saying the words, right? I did end up getting her a plush hippo last year wearing a tutu to fulfill her "wish". Figured it might be fun to make a softie one as well.

Miss Snowflake is made out of the new Soft Blush felt, of course. All hippos should be pink. I used Heat-N-Bond to treat pink polka dot fabric for die cutting on her inner ears and snout. Because she is a girl hippo, big girly eyelashes were a must. As for her teeth, I used the Rounded Label Dies. Just one cut which I trimmed in half did the trick and it is sewn in between the snout and the face.

 

Her sweet sweater is out of Simply Chartreuse felt and beaded with a motif from the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit. I added a lot more bugles and beads than the original design. It's all up for interpretation. Once her sweater was sewn on (side note: these are not removable, you literally sew them up with the softie inside), I turned up the cuffs and hot glued some dot trim. I think if you use a wider laced trim here, you could create the look of a "skirt" very easily. 

I added a little holiday touch to her ear using leaves from the Seasonal Stitches: Holiday Wreath die. A sequin and bead carry over the theme from her sweater. A girl has to coordinate after all, even if she is a hippo. 

Next up, a patched cat softie. Hank didn't receive a handmade softie back when I was working on making samples for the Design-A-Softie Stitch Kit. And I've been hearing about it ever since. He had requested that I make one that looked like our cat Hamweenie. Now that's a bit of a tall order, considering Hamweenie is black and white. We call her a "cow-kitty" because she looks just like a Holstein. And the personality to match, I might add. Trust your own kid to lay down a big challenge like that. I don't think anybody else would have the audacity. 

It ended up being easy enough to do. Once I had a white cat all sewn up, but before I added the sweater, I hand cut black patches out of iron-on transfer material from Silhouette America. Then I just ironed them on, even over the stitching in some places. Worked like a charm. And thus, here you go, Hamweenie in softie form. 

The sweater on this cat is the one I demo in the video. I stitched on a monogram using the Sew Stylish Alphabet 1 and 2. Does the "H" stand for Hank or Hamweenie? You decide. 

If you are new to this blog and Papertrey Ink and wondering what I'm talking about with these softies, let me provide you a little more info. I introduced the Design-A-Softie Quick Stitch Kit in May. My original blog post is here and Nicole's, providing even more info, can be found here. The kit did sell out, but the majority of the dies are now available in the Papertrey Ink store. Here's a list of what is available:

Softie Die

Softie Ears Die

Softie Expressions Die Collection

Softie Glasses and Mustaches Die

Softie Kerchief

Softie Collar and Tie

Softie Patches

Yesterday was video day at my house and I thought it was needed to make a quick video on some tricks putting together the Seasonal Stitches: Holiday Wreath Die. I made this ornament in the video. The main body of the ornament was created using the Stitched Circles and the Limitless Layers 2.5" Circle Dies. Too add some variety, I added beads as berries. You can do this with any color theme you want. And I've even seen little flower sequins here and there, which could expand the seasons this die would be suitable for. 

To learn more about the Seasonal Stitches: Holiday Wreath, just click play. 

And lastly, I put together a very quick video on how to put together the Softie Hanger Die so you can turn your Softie Sweaters into ornaments. Click play below to learn more.

Thanks for joining me this week. I hope you are inspired to get crafty. All my new dies will be able on November 15th at 10 PM EST at www.papertreyink.com.  

For more inspiration on the November Countdown, click on over to Nichole's blog.