Thursday, April 23, 2015

early bird/night owl reversible pillow for my Thing 2


At long last, this pillow has finally jumped out of my head and into real life. I've intended for a very long while to make my girls a fun accent pillows for their beds. They have repeatedly requested them.

I just didn't intend to make this one. I had decided to make a quick, simple animal pillow (think circle with ears) for Thing 2 since she's a bit younger, loves animals and would really dig that. And then the usual descent into madness:

Ooh, might as well make that reversible early bird/night owl pillow I sketched!

With woven applique! Felt applique! 3D elements! Hand embroidery! Trims! Poms!

And pockets! And removable accessories!

In fabulous perfect colors but all from the stash!


So after drafting/sweating/squinting/doubting/rethinking/redrafting (but having fun doing it in the weird way that we do) I'm really happy with the finished pillow! And I must say, Thing 2 freaked out over it in a very gratifying manner. She has been hanging around the craft studio daily. Standing at my shoulder, practically vibrating, saying 'Is it finished yet? Can I have it?'


The early bird gets the worm, of course. I guess the worm may not realize its precarious position, judging by its clueless little smile.


The night owl gets a mouse in a pocket NO too cluttered


mouse in its beak NO bit too gruesome


pocket watch! Of course. Look at that late hour. Tsk tsk, Night Owl.
(We are keeping the little green mouse to play with, though. He's cute.)


View from top of owl/bottom of bird showing both sides coming together. I thought about doing a gusset for the sides instead. Nah. It would be more trouble, plus might make the poms look weird.


Happy accident. The owl's eyebrows make nice bird feet. While I did design the pom plume on the bird to also make the owl's feet, I have to admit I didn't think about the bird feet until I started taking photos. Duh. On the next one I'll have to exaggerate it some to get it to work.


You can see the progression of the idea on these very professional and organized scraps of paper from the last two years (the ones I can find anyway). Cheese-shaped sticky notes – the choice of designers everywhere. There are two versions of on my computer too, the latest being the one I made. Now I don't have to worry: the pattern is digitized and backed up in triplicate.

I think Early Bird/Night Owl would make a nice pattern for the shop, so I'm adding it to my list. Or I might explore doing a Spoonflower pre-printed version? Something you could just cut out, add felt accents, sew and stuff? I've wanted to try Spoonflower for so long. I have some Twelve Days tea towels in progress for Spoonflower too. Oh, for more time in the day, people.


So next up is another fun project, a fur accent pillow for my Thing 1. She wants a bright, shaggy one with a stinkface. Giving me stinkfaces is her specialty, so she wanted the pillow to match. (To make a stinkface, stand in front of a mirror and bring your brows as far down over your eyes as you can while simultaneously frowning up into your nose. It's very attractive. Use them whenever your mother asks you to do something.)

We've ordered turquoise shag fur and I'm thinking through the best way to give the pillow a grumpy expression with sewn tucks. That's going to be a fun one too! Reversible! And with a happy expression on the other side, don't you think?

51 comments:

  1. AMAZING! THE DETAILS!! Also, I love the stinkface idea- I think your daughter and my 4yr old would be great ornery friends :)

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    1. Elonie, haha, yes, the Fellowship of Stinkface. I am excited about working with that fur. For now. Until myself and my studio are covered with fur tufts.

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  3. I am so jealous of your creative abilities. But in a good way. I can't want to see the stinkface. LOL

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    1. Hey, Skooks, thanks, in a good way! haha. I can send you a picture of Thing 1's face if you want a preview. ):o(

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  4. How hilariously cute this pillow is! Can't wait to see the stinkface! :) I did kind of like the mouse-in-beak. It wasn't gruesome at that stage. ;)

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    1. Grandma G, I did think it was a little funny-gruesome but I like the pocket watch better. It goes well with the night owl theme. I was going to give him a little book under his wing at one point.

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  5. I think the pattern in the shop would be great, so would a Spoonflower Version. I still hope you will do a pattern for the Cat & Dog gadget pouches too. I could give the Cat to my sister! Love your creations!

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    1. Aunty Stitches, thank you. I may do both, a quickie sew one for Spoonflower and a not so quick but more awesome sewing pattern. I'll consider doing a Dog/Cat pattern in future!

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  6. Oh man! That's so great!! You are so creative. :) My husband is really creative too, dernit. I'm really good at.. copying stuff. *ahem* Or at least taking something that already exists and making it my own. But coming up with something like that owl/bird pillow?? That's awesome!

    I've been meaning to make your tooth pillow (also genius!) for a little while now but haven't gotten around to it. You are so talented, Larissa! :)

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  7. Oh I forgot to ask--what kind of stuffing do you use to stuff your pillows with? I made a pillow and the stuffing wasn't that great. Maybe I didn't use enough?

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    1. haha, Catie! Thanks so much. Stuffing: I used regular ol' polyfil. And I really hate to stuff. Maybe I would not hate it so much if I stepped up to a nicer stuffing material. Polyfil compresses so much that it takes forever to stuff something firmly. Things always seem to dimple where I don't want them to and bulge where it looks weird. And it takes forever. It's not my favorite part of the process by a long shot. Maybe its time to try wool stuffing.

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  8. STINKFACE!! Can't wait! I have three that would love a good stinkface to snuggle.

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    1. Victoria, I'm impatient for that faux fur to arrive so I can start experimenting! Stinkfaces make me smile.

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  9. Puh-leez put this pattern in your shop and I will buy it

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  10. Oh I love it so MUCH! Is this is where we start nagging you for the pattern?

    'Is it finished yet? Can I have it?'

    *G* I'm freaking out like no 2 :D

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  11. Wow…amazing and all those details!!!

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  12. Ainda bem que não tenho que escolher entre essas duas almofadas: adorei as duas! Você é muito criativa e talentosa!!!

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    1. Haha, Rebeca! Ola, thanks for your comment. I can't decide which I like best either. :-)

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  13. This pillow is awesome. I might even begin sewing again if I had the pattern!

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    1. Evmiles, Wow, I'll have to get on it so you can get back into sewing. :-) haha! thanks.

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  14. Larissa, what a great idea! Love your pillow so much! Realy want to sew the same :)

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  15. This pillow is great - the colours/facial expressions/ everything! My 11 yo daughter has also been a terrific stinkfacer for many years now too! Can't wait to see your take on it as a pillow.

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    1. Julie, the fur just arrived and it's so fantastic! Can't wait to get started on Mr Stinkface.

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  16. I see you'll be working on a pattern. GOOD. I wanna. ;-)

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  17. I love it! I'm so impressed to be honest. Wouldn't even know how to go about it myself. Super cute.

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    1. Hey, Carole, thanks. You saw the part where I carefully thought about it for two years, right? haha.

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  18. So much fun! I love how creative your designs are, very inspiring :).

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  19. This is totally cute! I love the little worm with the early bird! :)

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    1. Hey, I'm Feelin' Crafty. Thanks a bunch! Mr Wormy is one of my favorite parts too.

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  20. Cute beyond words!! I'm so glad that there's creative people like you in this world. :-)

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    1. Florida Girl, haha, thanks, me too. However I'm even more glad about the doctors, computer nerds and coffee growers.

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  21. This is SO COOL! :) I especially love the owl. (sorry if this gets posted twice)

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    1. Jessica, I think you are pretty flippin fantastic yourself.

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  23. This bird pillow is divine. Love It and the little mouse and worm. So clever.

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  24. I'd so get that from spoonflower.

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    1. mjb, I'm planning to send a test file to Spoonflower and we'll see how it goes!

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  25. I would definitely purchase a sewing pattern- my kids would love it!

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  26. This is one of the cleverest things I've ever seen! I think I need the pattern. Please consider making one. I saw it on Shiny Happy World and couldn't believe the details of it. It is just charming. I love it!

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    1. Leslie, aw, thanks so much! I'm working on a pattern for it! Wendi was so kind to include it in her newsletter. Thanks for visiting!

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  27. This is the most fabulous pillow Ever!!!

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