Yuletide spirits may have long since faded into precious memories and the luster of the New Year has been burnished by daily activity but that doesn’t mean that the gifts made and given have become any less dear or sweet to share…or so I hope at any rate, hehe. This past holiday season saw me a bit less ambitious than usual when it came to gift making because my old, hand-me-down sewing machine bit the dust (I still have hopes of refurbishing it at some point and I now have a new one, but more on that in a later post) so it was hand-sewing all the way. I actually adore hand-sewing, however when one is on a rather tight time-line it can cramp one’s style and in more ways than one. With that in mind I decided that mini, hand-sized stuffies would fit the bill quite nicely and what could be cuter than a wee teddy bear (I mean besides a wee-anything. Tiny = Cute in my book any day!)? I grabbed some felt and went to work. I free-hand cute out my pattern so each bear is highly unique and then I used a blanket stitch to pull it together and then gave them string-jointed arms and legs. A set of small, black safety eyes gave a bit of soulful personality and *bam* a gift was born.

These are two of the bears - the blue one was my first

All-together I made 4 bears, although one had such a wonky set eye that I didn’t feel right giving him and so he was adopted by my sis and now has a wee pair of pipe-cleaner glasses.

This one got a tutu and ballet slippers

I also made a wee Zazzel (which is my Mom’s dear Maltese doggie) and did it ever turn out adorably (not to toot my own horn, but, hey, there it is).

See ~ How Cute is the Zaz?!?

All-in-all I am quite delighted at how nicely they turned out (though, of course, I can see about a million ways they could be better – isn’t that the way it goes, doh!) and the recipients seemed delighted as well and that’s what truly matters in the end!

The wonky-eye is on the other side and the glasses were off for this pic.

There are a few other, small things I made as gifts but they shall wait for another time. Until next I write I hope everyone has a lovely time!

Namaste ~ Ella