What Has It Got In Its Pocketses? (Finger Hugs Tutorial)

Max recently started all day kindergarten and has been lonely for his mommy.  He can't have a picture, because it is distracting to others in his class.  But he needed something.  The idea developed after my oldest sister suggested something he could leave in his pocket.  Max and I brainstormed and came up with this:

original idea doodle

Then it ended up as this:

pocket hug

I like when an idea goes from concept to finished product fast and actually turns out better than I envisioned on the first try.


I don't want to make tons for everyone (though I'm sure now Max has one, I'll have to make ones for Sohvi and Lucy).  Soooo, I'll post the pattern and instructions so you can make your own.  Just don't be a turd and sell them en masse or anything.  That would be lousy of you.  Give them away as gifts all you want though.  Share the love!

Print out this:

print out full size (sorry I don't know how to attach the PDF file...)

Supplies: 
pins
scissors
fabric scraps (I used two different minky fabrics)
sewing machine (although he's small enough, you could stitch him by hand)
stuffing 
black embroidery floss (or thread)
embroidery needle
 
Use 1/4" seam allowance 

Cut pattern.

embroider eyes and mouth as shown on pattern.  Make sure to stay inside the seam allowance.  If using thread instead of embroidery floss, use four strands of thread (it will look exactly the same, I promise).

sew with 1/4" seam allowance all the way around, leave opening along bottom of one of the arms to turn.

clip curves in corners and trim off seam allowance around hands and thumb.

turn inside out.  I use the end of a paintbrush (skinny and smooth and not sharp..) to help turn it inside out.

stuff.  (do small amounts at a time).  don't make it super tight because the arms still have to bend, and you have to fit a finger in there to hug.


stitch the opening closed with a blind stitch (or slip stitch).

stitch the ends of the hands together with a blind stitch  (or slip stitch).

You're done!  At school put in pocket and when you put your hands inside, slip your finger through the arms and get a pocket hug!  At home you can wear it on your finger (or thumb) like a fat ring.  Feel the love.

You're welcome!

Genetic Narcissism: or the post in which I shamelessly tout my parental vanity

My kids are the most adorable mini humans ever. Seriously. (I am also fully aware of just what an incredibly original concept that is) What parent doesn't think that? Really though, MINE are!  (and so, begrudgingly are yours) I have a sneaking suspicion that it stems from one's own Freudianally suppressed vanity. Apparently you can't stuff things away in the closets of your mind without it eeking out somewhere else. The scientific data are as follows:
 
1- Obviously I think my husband is one sweet piece of man candy (as one can hopefully assume does everyone else at some point, so as to have agreed to marry them) The glint in his green eyes, his dimples when he grins, overshadowed by his mass of chocolate curls and all brought home with his fit bum and sweet, sweet calves.

fit bum and sweet, sweet calves not shown for your own protection

2- I also think everybody is vain to some extent or another, myself included. How can you escape it in our culture's appearance driven obsession. But seriously people, everybody at one point or another looks in the mirror and thinks "hey, I'm sexy." Sure its not everyday, or even once a year, but you always have the one or two pictures of yourself where you know you had it going on. (probably taken by Tracy) What could exhibit more of your faded youthful charm than your own personal mini me?

only infinitely cuter

3- My children are the equivalent respectively to:  Sohvi - Helen of Troy with her perfect hair and crystal blue eyes. 

Max - Adonis with a sly, ever so slightly mischievous sweetness.  

Lucy - a Reubenesque be-dimpled charm-your-pants-off Botticelli Cherub.  

And my darling Liam, well he's the baby version of Brad Pitt.  Only cuter.  I take the boy in public and teenagers swoon.  Its like anti birth control.  Dusty ovary cocaine.  

A couple of genetically-predisposed-to-be-your-own-brand-of-dusty-ovary-cocaine zygotes (and 9 months) later, you have cuteness (repeated four times and aged to perfection) that reasonably argues to be the very zenith of human evolution.   Makes you get all mushy inside and want to stuff them with goodies and lay down in front of trucks to ensure their safety and smother them with kisses and cuddles.  As you should.  It doesn't take too much wit to discern that this trifecta of scientific fact might not be such a bad idea to ensure the survival of the species.   The Powers That Be are pretty tricky like that.
 

kid project: growing sugar crystals

My kids are on a crystal kick such as the world hasn't seen since the early 90's.  Theirs runs more towards the cheaper plastic sort, but nonetheless just as crazed.  I thought I'd show them some real crystals.  They aren't too impressed by small ones we found in rocks, so I thought perhaps we could make some bigger ones.

Fortunately a while ago I scored a sweet Goodwill find of "How Science Works" and bequeathed it to my oldest filled with fantasies of doing science projects together and being that cool sort of Mom.  Then I got all nerdy and explained it all before we did it.

this is how:

1- we heated up water and slowly dissolved sugar into it until it wouldn't dissolve any more, and then we should have added a tiny bit more water so that all of the sugar would have dissolved and not acted as seed crystals all over the bottom of the jar.   ..and added blue food coloring

...BTW, this is AFTER the solution has sat and been poured out.

2- we poured the super saturated hot sugar water/syrup into a jar and hung a rough string (we used hemp because it was laying around, you could use yarn) into the jar (not touching the sides or bottom) 

3- waited.  Patience isn't a strong point in children, but they held off for two whole days while we were growing a seed crystal. 

3- we took the largest seed crystal (that Lucy didn't eat) from off of the rough string and tied it to a nylon string (fishing line works) and hung it from newly resaturated sugar solution. 

And then whilst on vacation, we grew bigger ones.

Saved the biggest ones in cool origami-sticker boxes, and happily ate the rest. 

They taste like little naked nerds. 

On patched jeans and other atrocities

I can't decide if this makes me a nice, loving and clever Mom, or a total dork Mom (or probably both).  But I am really bored with jeans being rendered useless after a month because my kids are.. well, kids.  Their knees are constantly hitting pavement, trees, carpet, furniture, gravel, you name it and surrendering their thread count.  I hate waste, and not so much in the trendy, crunchy, reduce your carbon footprint kind of way, but a deep mental aneurysm sort of way.  Call me cheap, or a tight wad, whatever you want, because its true.  But just don't throw something salvageable away in front of me.  I'm probably only saved from serious hoarding by the fact that I'm not a big shopper.  All mental issues aside though, I've officially declared war on the pesky lower appendage ventilation duct.  In honor of the weather starting to cool off I pulled out last years leg wear in all its tattered glory.  And then got busy.

Trying out new ideas all in the name of erring on the clever-mom I-did-this-on-purpose side as opposed to the point-and-laugh-at-the-dork-kid look.

now there are

Since discovering HeatNBond *cough, stupid name I am now re-in-love with appliqué.  And no, I am not being paid for giving them a blog shout out.  And since I was in a blog stupor at the time of the frantic baby-sewing, there are no pictures of said appliqué-love.

all two of them

I also recently started working as a sewing assistant for the incredibly talented fabric/pattern designer/artist  Sandi Henderson.  So I've matriculated back to some sewing projects, having sewing on the brain, but my Ted book illustrations are still forthcoming. 

wild Montana roses

Montana is good at wild roses. And pretty landscapes. And sometimes I get ridiculously lucky with lighting and such and can pretend that I know anything technical about photography.

Hemisphere Wars

My creative beastie is sick and tired of table scraps and wants something substantial to masticate, and is fed up with all of my measly little sewing projects of late. So, my left brain has had to toughen up and put the smack down on its cranial counterpart. My right brain protests vehemently that it is being unfairly stifled, and that structure is so boring! (in that awful high pitched whiny voice that kids are so proficient at). And my poor corpus callosum is stuck in between as the bedraggled referee.
The fact remains however that unless I schedule and organize my sorry tush, I don't get nearly enough (or any, lately) illustration done. So with my dominant hemisphere kicking and screaming, I dutifully cleaned my cluttered house, paid the depressing bills and cracked open my dusty planner and set me some schedule to illustrate more. Nice stiflingly specific goals with deadlines and all. (ok, ok, loose deadlines... right brain put up quite the fight and threatened to strike if things got too stringent)
Soo-o, I'm going to finish (yes, really) the Ted the Hamster book my sister Meg so cleverly wrote and gave to me to illustrate all those eons ago. Its been disgustingly close to completion for way too long. The plan is to print it out myself and hand bind it. It will have both hardback and paperback versions. And I'll be selling them through my decrepit etsy shop. And if my kids have any say in it, a Ted the Hamster plushie may show up there in the future (they really want one, I'm not horribly keen on it, so we'll see). Meanwhile I'll also keep plodding along with my "Cora's Perfect Pet" dummy book in preparation for its sacrificial offering to a endless ocean of potential publishers and multiple rejection letters. Hopefully little and consistent bits at a time will keep both beasties at bay.

sketches of my kids..

Illustrating my book has been greatly neglected of late. Not without good excuse, I've been rather occupied with gestating and then recovering from the birth of my newest little darling boy Liam. The latest sketching started when Lucy fell asleep a while ago on the couch, and looked so stinking cute it inspired me to draw her. Whenever I draw my kids, I always wonder why on earth I don't do it more often. It doesn't take much time, and I LOVE the results (I mean as much as I love anything I do that I can still totally pick apart, because its not perfect). It is however nice to have NOT done them on scrap paper at church, like half of the drawings I do of my kids.

Then of course Max wanted a picture of himself, and so he willingly posed, which I then took full advantage of.

Sohvi was the best at holding still, and I really like this picture of her. Though none of them are fantastic representations...

Liam, even sleeping wouldn't hold still for anything, so its not very good at all, but oh well. (and my scanner sometimes sucks and leaves gross dark borders on the sides..)