February, 2008

The best for last:

The idea for this pattern popped into my head about a week ago, and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. This adorable pair is the final result of one of my most productive weeks ever. The most exciting part, for me, was completing a new pattern in under 3 hours from drawing table to finished product. Woot! I can already tell I have a new favorite. I hope you all agree as well!

As promised, here's another peek at what I've been doing these last few weeks:

I've reinvented my giraffe pattern!

My giraffe has been a fan favorite since Crabtree first started, but making so many of them started to get a little boring. Don't get me wrong, I think my original giraffes are adorable. But when you craft as often as Amy and I do, your creative energies itch to try new things, solve new problems, and just plain play. I had ideas about tweaking the pattern almost since the beginning— the neck needed to be longer, the body plumper, and the limbs needed to be fully poseable.

It took almost a full year, but a few weeks ago I was finally fully inspired to begin the redesign. It took a few slight tweaks to get the giraffe I had envisioned, and I'm still getting used to using plastic doll joints (what makes the limbs poseable), but I'm extremely pleased with the end result.

Okay, so maybe it's not that big, but there has been a lot going on behind the scenes here at Crabtree that I'd like to share with you. Namely, pattern revisions and new pattern development. I'll save that last exciting bit for, well, last, but in the meantime, I give you

Puppy 2.0

This started with a custom order for my wolf, but smaller:

Isn't he cute? He's about 30 percent smaller than my standard wolf. Turning the sewn pup right side out again sure was a pain with this super thick fur, but I'm very pleased with the end result.

With the smaller puppy pattern, I decided to branch out into fabric other than fur. Not only because the smaller the pattern, the harder the fur is to work with, but because I had some Dalmatian-print flannel that just begged to be used!

And finally, there's this petite cutie, also a custom order:

Once I had my template for the smaller puppy size, it was easy to tweak it slightly to accommodate the dachshund's long body and short legs. The recipient of this little guy has also requested an even more petite version to use as an ornament. I'll post a picture of that when it's complete.

Stay tuned over the next week for some more exciting pattern unveilings!