Recently, I have been hard at work on a very special project. A dear friend of mine got married last week, and I wanted to give her a gift. I wanted it to be something small and light, as she’s only in the US for a brief time, and something she could keep forever. I pretty much knew straight away exactly what I wanted to make for her – wedding kitties!

Most of you probably don’t know this, but making felt plushies is actually how I got into sewing in the first place. I got a bookstore voucher for my birthday a couple of years ago, and browsing the shelves, I came across The Softies Kit, and I couldn’t resist the cuteness. I made the penguin on the front cover, and then a cake. And then a cake for my housemate’s girlfriend. And then I broke away from the kit and made a sheep, and a cow, and I was hooked. I’d done a lot of cross-stitch as a child (I was even in the cross-stitch club at school…oh, the shame!) so stitching wasn’t completely new to me, and I really liked (and still do) the relaxing nature of hand-stitching.

I used a combination of stitches to make the kitties – whipstitch, running stitch, backstitch and ladder stitch, plus some satin stitch for the noses. Their bodies are made from eco-felt, and groom-kitty’s clothes are also made from the same type of felt. For bride-kitty’s outfit, I wanted it to somewhat resemble the real bride’s wedding dress, which was quite difficult considering I hadn’t seen it, and only knew it was “knee-length, champagne-coloured and had long lace sleeves”. So, I worked with what I knew! I got 1/4 yard of champagne taffeta, 1/4 yard of a cream lace and 1/8 yard champagne sparkly tulle from Jo-Ann. As it turned out, I didn’t need anywhere NEAR that much, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. I wasn’t sure if she would wear a veil, and leaving bride-kitty’s head unadorned didn’t look right, so I went with a layered tulle bow over the left ear. The photos don’t quite do it justice, it really is quite sparkly and pretty.

 

Working on this little kitty couple reminded me just how nice it is to step away from the sewing machine once in a while and create something with my hands, needle and thread. And, of course, how nice it is to do something special for someone else 🙂