Book 'em Danno!

 The Endeavourer's theme this month is portrait. As usual it took me ages to come up with something for the theme!

After ruling out all ideas that involved any kind of artwork, I finally decided that my portrait would be a mugshot and the criminal portrayed would be that well known scourge of the seaside and renowned chip and ice-cream thief - Mr C Gull!

 As with all mugshots there is a face-on and side view of the criminal :) The seagulls are appliqued felt, with button eyes and embroidery detail. 

I used the reverse side of this beige/white striped fabric for the background of my mugshot as it had the sepia tones that I was looking for to convey that old photo vibe.

This beach hut fabric from my stash was perfect for the back of my mugshot. The "ghost" seagulls from the applique/quilting are quite threatening I think, don't you?

Of course, every mugshot needs it's identifiers so I used the alphabet embroidery option on my sewing machine to add the crucial name, crime and date beneath the images :)

As you can no doubt guess, I had lots of fun working on this project, although thieving seagulls are not so funny when it is hot and sunny and that lovely ice-cream you have been looking forward to disappears before your very eyes :)

If you would like details of the Crime Report for our hardened criminal check it out on The Endeavourers Blog and whilst you are there have a look to see the wonderful interpretations of the theme from my fellow Endeavourers.

Readers of a certain vintage will, no doubt, be able to identify the title of this post as being a catchphrase from the TV series "Hawaii Five-O". Sadly, in the course of my research for the project I discovered that there are no seagulls on Hawaii, as the islands are too far from land for them to travel to. I couldn't resist the title though, so used it anyway with apologies to ornithologists and Hawaiians alike!

Spooks and sewing

 A couple of months ago our younger grandson put in a very specific request for his next granny sewn outfit. He wanted a vampire outfit for Halloween, well how could a granny refuse? I came across a couple of paper patterns for sale on a Facebook group that were exactly what I needed. An online fabric shop later and I was ready to start stitching. 

There were so many new to me's involved in the making of this, it was a real labour of love! Attaching the stand-up collar to the cape definitely taxed my poor brain and there was some fudging involved in the end, but the recipient will not notice I am sure. The pattern had the cape attaching with a tie at the neckline and the shirt collar closing with a hook and eye, but knowing nearly 4 year old boys as I do I thought they might be an accident waiting to happen. I, therefore, left the shirt collar open and made the front fastening with red ribbon and velcro so that said nearly 4 year old could put it on and off himself, and it could be removed easily in a hurry if the need arose :)

The pattern also included dress knee length trousers but I decided instead to make a pair of black joggers on the basis that they would be more comfortable and that he would get use out of them afterwards too. 

Of course, I couldn't make for one grandson and not the other but as the 6 year old was already sorted with a costume I made him an appropriately themed warm pullover instead. The shawl collar on this took me 3 attempts to get right, but we got there in the end.

And now I have a granddaughter to make for too! One Halloween romper for a little miss who cannot be left out and will, no doubt, in the not too distant future be putting in her own requests for outfits. A whole new world of sewing awaits :)

On the basis that I really need to use up my fabric stash before I invest in any more fabric, I used up the last of my Halloween fabric on Halloween underwear to keep the boys warm as they head out to their friends for treats and fun. I only realised after I had cut out the vests that the fabric is upside down on one (mummies on their heads!) but hopefully the grandson won't notice!

I have another Halloween make but that will not be revealed until November 1st when the next Endeavourers Challenge is unveiled here

Happy Halloween to all!

Hairy Companion

 The theme for this quarter's Endeavourers Challenge is Animal Kingdom. As ever, it took me ages to decide what to do for the Challenge but, a recent trip to Mull provided the perfect inspiration. 

Our younger grandson shares his name with a Highland Cow character in a series of books that we have bought for him over the years. Living in Northumberland he doesn't get the opportunity to see real-live Highland Cows that often, so he was delighted when we sent him this photo from our holiday trip. 

His bedtime story pick often features his namesake books, so I decided that my project for this quarter's challenge would be a reading pillow featuring his favourite character :)

Given that it needed to be fairly robust, little boys are not particularly known for their care and consideration for cushions and pillows (at least not in our family!) I opted for simple raw-edge applique for the face and horns. 

Two black button eyes peek out from behind that mass of hair. The fringe is a piece of faux suede stitched in place and then cut into strips. I like the tactile nature of the suede and thought that it would not fray, but it seems to be fraying already on the cut edges, so it might not be as small boy proof as I had thought :)

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My original intention for the background was to create some sort of landscape with various different fabrics, but when I came across a piece of this lovely AMH fabric tucked away in my stash I thought that it was a much better idea. Spiky, thistle-like plants and Highland Cows are the perfect match, don't you think? 

The boys are coming to visit this week and we have a new book in the series to read, so with our comfy Highland Cow pillow behind us we are all set for bedtime reading :)

Head on over to the Endeavourers blog to see all the amazing makes my fellow Endeavourers have produced for this month's challenge, you will not be disappointed!