Reading Buddies

I give away Reading Buddies at the library as prizes for our Read and Grow program. We were down to a couple very badly made creatures so I ran off a whole bunch. These still need to be stuffed and sewn up. Or, in the case of the gingerbread shapes, hand-sewn as they are hard to do on a machine. I've learned that fleece is better than felt. Most of these were cut by teen volunteers, so I had to trim some a lot and the ones cut on our die-cut (the horses) don't have matching sides. Then again, a kid took the "swamp witch" I accidentally made so... 

 

Reading buddies

 Finished a few more reading buddies for the library

Reading Buddies

 Um... I forgot what people-shaped softies turn into when I make them. Maybe a kid will want a swamp witch? 

Reading buddies

 Someone donated a whole bunch of terry cloth (blue and green) to the library and we used our die cuts and teen staff to cut them into shapes for take home kits to make softies. However, we ended up with a LOT left over, plus I discovered that the needle and thread kits I included had faulty needles that are impossible to thread.

So, as I was revamping our Read and Grow: 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten as well as thinking of a whole new slate of summer take homes for summer reading, I decided to recycle most of the softie sewing kits. I am working on sewing them up myself and they will become reading buddies that kids "earn" for our Read and Grow program. We've got about 5 or so that I and my staff have made and these are the first terrycloth ones I've finished.

Another elephant

 This one I sewed the ears first, but I think they're too small when hemmed.

Little creatures

 Still finishing projects. These will be added to the stock of softies I'm building up at work for kids to take as reading buddies that they can keep (as opposed to the circulating plushies).

I backstitched most of this - it's a cotton print - sewing in the yarn for the mane and tail. I then turned it inside out and whipstitched it then added the eyes afterwards. There are two little felt ears buried in the yarn too. I didn't get the legs stuffed quite right. This pattern is from a Jane Bull book but I made it into a die cut so it was easy to cut out.

This elephant is from a pattern in a Jane Bull sewing book as well - "doodlephant." I made it with leftover scraps of corduroy and felt ears. 

Mini fox

 Finally finished this off - it's about 2 inches long, a minimal from Jane Bull's Crafty Creatures, but I embroidered the details instead of sewing on felt pieces.

Soft felt cat

 I used scraps of heavy, luxe flannel left over from a project and a pattern that I honestly don't remember where I got it from. First time I've finished a project in a while! It's about 6 inches high.

Gingerbread people

In Progress: Gingerbread people

Psychotic dragon-frog with sleeping bag

or a dinosaur. Depends on how you look at it. I used the basic body pattern from Jane Bull's Craft Creatures. The rest is all me.

First try at the teeth. Not quite right.

Second try at teeth. Much better.

Halfway point.

Hmm. This is the point where I realized I had created a psychotic dragon frog. Oh well.

This was just a piece of extra knitting I had. I crocheted up two sides, leaving a little poky hole at one end. And not because I ran out of yarn (I totally ran out of yarn)

Giraffe

I didn't end up adding a tail or buttons over the joints of the legs. I will be honest - it's carefully balanced. It does not really stand up on its own too well.

Mini Birds

Finally finished these. It's been two months...