July 29, 2016 - Ruffing’s Artist Dolls and Toys

I have a new batch (litter?) of Hug Me Kittens in my toy shop. They are fleece and they have my new two-tone custom-printed eyes.

The eyes have one color on the outer rims and another closer to the pupil, with one blending into the other. I made them in all kinds of combinations, many not existing in nature, like lavender fading into purple. I don’t know of anyone who has had eyes like that, except maybe Elizabeth Taylor.

I added some neutral shades of fleece to my collection. An online Etsy course suggested that neutral colors were important, and I realized I hadn’t thought to include them before. I asked friends and they liked the idea.

So here are vanilla cream, oatmeal, and charcoal gray kittens. The oatmeal color reminds me of the adorable Pusheen the cat.

Like all my toys, these are handmade, stitched mostly by hand with a needle and thread or embroidery floss. These kittens have just two machine-sewn seams. The rest is done stitch by stitch.

They come with hang tags that can be personalized with a name and a message.

The kittens are about 9 inches tall.

I couldn’t resist adding color to the charcoal gray, bright yellow-and green-eyes, and teal and rose-red, polka-dotted hearts.

I have been watching movies while I stitch, staying out of the heat as much as possible, but when I have gone out, I’ve spotted some surprise wildlife. This baby robin was out learning to fly. I kept watch to make sure none of the real cats who were outside interfered.

A beautiful fox has come to visit, three times so far, while I was outside, toward the evening. She must be used to me because she stepped out of the woods in front of me and watched me mowing the lawn. I missed her the last time she came for a visit, but my mom saw her walk behind me while I was petting cats. She walked over to our deck, looked around, and then trotted back into the woods. I was sorry I missed that. I tried getting a camera one time she was watching me out walking Jude, but she was gone by the time I came back outside. Jude missed her that time, even though she was about ten feet away from us. I picked him up and took him inside with me, and then went back to keep an eye on the other cats who had shown up for a visit. She is so quiet and graceful, I am not sure who sees her and who doesn’t. But I know she sees us.

Hi there. I’m catching up with my toys and catching up with my life too, I guess. I have to break down my post into three parts, to catch up with the toys I have made.

I finally have Hug Me Monsters! These are chenille, soft and fuzzy, sock dolls, and I have had them in progress, in my workroom, since January! It feels good to be pushing through to the other side, finishing toys and showing them to you.

This pink one with turquoise horns was my mom’s favorite. This Hug Me Monster got adopted by the time I woke up the next morning, after putting her in my shop.

My mom was so kind and patient to photograph me with a monster, so I could show their size in relation to a person. We have been having such awful heat, as I am sure most of you have, and it wasn’t too much fun being outside, melting while trying to look pleasant. It was so humid, my hair began to frizz and stick up in the air. Photoshop Elements is handy for neatening one’s self up after the fact!

This royal blue and turquoise Hug Me Monster also found a home already.

These have the first incarnation of my custom-printed fleece eyes, which I designed and then had printed by Fabric on Demand. I sealed all the colored parts with non-toxic Liquitex fabric medium to make sure the color was secure. Then I hand embroidered around each color of the eyes with floss, using a blanket stitch. The monsters are almost entirely stitched by hand, with a needle and thread or floss. There is only one machine-sewn seam in each horn, which I attach by hand after I stuff them. The monsters took me a while, hours each, as do all my toys.

My Hug Me Monsters come with hang tags, that can be personalized. I can print a name or “For + a name” on the front of the tag, and I can print a message on the back of the tag. I then insert the tag into a clear vinyl sleeve, run a satin ribbon through it, and tie it to the monster.

My dad especially liked the pink-and-tan striped monster with the gold horns. When my mom and I were taking photos, he started laughing. I didn’t understand why. Then I realized he was laughing at the monster. He got a big kick out of it, which made me feel good. If they make someone laugh or smile, then I am doing my job right.

I really like these cuddly chenille socks I used for the monsters. I have a couple pair I put on my own feet in the winter, socks not monsters. I reserved most of the chenille socks I collected for Hug Me Monsters.

Their horns, along with their eyes and hearts, are made from fleece. I used pearl cotton floss to chain stitch a smile on each one.

I have been feeling better, still tired a lot of the time, but better. I’ve been having my blood retested every six weeks at the hematologist’s, and although my white blood cell count is still high, it is going down. It remains a mystery. I was a bit alarmed when I realized I had been referred to a cancer center, and they sent a sample to the Mayo Clinic for testing, but they don’t seem to think it is anything like that, since normally it would go up in that case. I feel sad and a little scared when I go there, because I know the other people there are sick and trying to make the best of it. I was drawn to all the pillows in the lobby that people make and donate. I instinctively grab one while I wait and it is comforting. That is a kind use of a craft. One had kitties on it, and you know I love kitties. I took the measurements down from the pillows, about 9 x 18 inches of fabric, a convenient size to cut from a yard or fat quarter of cotton, two pieces, sewn together with about 1/4 inch seams. They are a good size for hugging.

My next blog installment will be…Hug Me Kittens. I have more of those finally too. I had hoped to be well stocked by now, as I wanted to make the August submission deadline for the Brown Alumni Magazine holiday gift guide, but I don’t want to apply and then run out of toys by the holidays. I have a feeling I cannot sew that many in time. I’m trying to focus on the fact that I am getting things done, and trying not to dwell on how much time it takes me.

Day: July 29, 2016

Hug Me Kittens, stuffed animal fleece art toys

Hug Me Monsters, sock monsters