This is Martin the Pig, in his Yule finery:
(He has no Hogmanay finery; it was all I could do to finish this. Maybe by next year . . . )
He is a pleasantly chunky 6"x4.5", constructed of pink velveteen purchased for a quarter from the Kiwanis Thrift Store in Black Mountain. He's made from a vintage pattern, Circus Stars to Sew by Joan Russell; I ordered the original from Woman's Day in the late 60s/early 70s, and I also have another copy I bought on eBay. (Why? Because I stupidly cut up the original instead of tracing the pieces—I was considerably younger and more ignorant then, not to mention having much more faith in my ability not to lose small pieces of paper. I did the same with another Joan Russell/Woman's Day pattern, called A Toyfull Little Santa, but I have been unable to find another copy anywhere. If anyone has one they would either like to sell, or like to sell a copy of . . . )
His festive wreath is nothing but a piece of pink bias tape from the odds-and-ends bag with a snap on the ends so it's removable. The leaves are cut from a scrap of wool felt, and the beads are some I had in a little box, waiting to be used. I had intended to make the leaves from some vintage holly-leaf-shaped sequins I have, but they stuck out oddly and the effect wasn't at all what I'd intended, so they have gone back into the box for another day. I spent the better part of an afternoon cutting out bits of felt, and another evening sewing them on (which is more fiddly than you'd expect; on the other hand, I didn't feel like doing much of anything anyway other than blowing my nose and sneezing, and I was tired of reading, believe it or not, and tired of sleeping).
Here he is without any clothing:
And because someone asked me: his tail is wired; it's a piece of pipe cleaner rolled in a scrap of velveteen and sewed on, then curled over a pencil. His eyes are beads. His ears aren't wired: the pattern showed them just straight out from his head, but that made him look like he was attempting (unsuccessfully) to take off, so I ran a thread around the outside (after I'd sewed them on) and scrunched them until I liked the way they looked. His ear linings are cut from a piece of fabric I just liked and bought only a quarter yard of, then got it home and realized it was perfect for this. Maybe I'll make him a ruff one of these days; I probably have a piece of vintage cotton rickrack (which is SO much nicer to use than that nasty polyester stuff they make now) lurking about somewhere . . .
Happy New Year! You know I love your little pig! More than I can say:)
Posted by: linda | Saturday, 01 January 2011 at 02:20 PM
Martin is fabulous!
Posted by: Jo-Anne | Sunday, 02 January 2011 at 08:52 AM
Ooooooh! That is the CUTEST lil' piggy! I love him! He looks so soft & cuddly, and - of COURSE - I like him with his Christmas 'attire'! You are so darned talented, my friend!
Posted by: Kai | Monday, 03 January 2011 at 09:19 AM