It's been a while since I shared a creative project. This is a pattern I came across on Pinterest. "Miss Maggie Rabbit" is the design of Alicia Paulson, of Posie Patterns and Kits to Stitch (aliciapaulson.com), and the pattern is available to purchase as a digital pdf file for $7.00. She's actually something I made for Nettie's Christmas, but I didn't share her because Net basically had no interest in it. (Note to self: Toddlers are NOT the ideal recipients for detailed handmade gifts that took weeks of arguably tedious work to create. "Handmade" and "one-of-a-kind" mean nothing to them.) Granted, Net has plenty of other dollies and stuffed animals to bash around with, so she can probably be forgiven for not warming up to her rabbit doll right away.
Even though she's super cute. I mean, look at these little boots. Of course Nettie won't let poor Miss Maggie Rabbit wear her cute little boots, because as she says, "her feet are NOT cold." And she doesn't call her Miss Maggie. It's just Bunny.
The pattern is very simple to follow, but does take a number of hours to finish, since Miss Maggie is hand-stitched. The pattern suggests using a particular kind of wool blend felt and a particular line of cotton lawn fabric for her dress, but I just used some things I had already. I think she would be cute made of corduroy or velveteen or any other sturdy fabric.
Hand-sewing is relaxing for me, so I thought this was fun. If you like to work on something in the evenings, this might be a nice little project for you. I'd like to make more "softies" in the future, and having a pattern in my hands for the first one was definitely helpful. It was worth the seven bucks to not have to pull my hair and my seams out trying to make something up.
I think the boots are my favorite part. I've been trying to figure out if I can somehow make a pair small enough for some of my felted animals. They remind me so much of The Country Bunny's little gold shoes. (The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes, by DuBose Heyward, illustrations by Marjorie Flack. Don't know that one? You should check it out.)
How about you all? Have you been creating or crafting anything fun lately?