Live Dream Create

Something a little different than the plushies we’re used to and why:

While we were going through the process of packing/unpacking to move last year, we discovered a *mountain* of fabrics, scraps, and project leftovers that we need to do *something* with…

Since the art teacher in me hates to just throw usable things away, over the last several weeks I’ve been going through and experimenting with ways to up-cycle and breathe new life into these fabric stashes.

It’s been a fun way to get back into the swing of things, experiment with new techniques, and try things I don’t usually get time to do otherwise!

These tend to be “quick”, “smaller” projects, so they’ve been keeping my adhd/focus in-check since I can see/feel that I’m accomplishing things - especially with being limited to doing most of my sewing in short bursts while the kiddo is napping, and normal plushie projects are still taking me *a lot* longer than usual to complete. (I’ve tried several times over the past year to get plushies going again like I was doing full time before… the timing wasn’t right yet, and there have been many false starts in the process.) It’s been very helpful to have some things I can go from start to finish within a naptime or two!

These pics are from today’s sewing experiments… I’ve been on a bit of a fish-kick this week for some reason. 😅 (Probably because the family finally noticed that I snuck a thrifted vintage “ugly” wall fish into our bathroom decor… it took about two weeks for some one to notice my “weird” dollar bin find, and now my brain is stuck on fish. 🤣)

I am experimenting with some ways to turn old scraps into new, mis-matched “quilted” ornaments and decor items. I’m still getting used to the free-motion sewing and using the sewing machine to “draw” - there’s a lot more freedom to “go with the flow” than I’m used to with the precision needed when sewing plushies. It’s been quite freeing!

I’m fairly happy with how the first few fish turned out so far, and I have some more things I want to try with embellishments and stitching. I have a few ideas for turning these into mobiles, garlands, ornaments, and some other plushie-adjacent things! 🐟🐠