When The Small One was a very little girl, she had a t-shirt with the legend "I'm Off To Join The Circus"
printed on the front. It was an excellent kind of a t-shirt, because you could wear it when you were happy (and thought a bit of trapeze sounded fun); and you could wear it when you were sad and thinking about running away from home. It always worked.
We've been thinking about that t-shirt as we've been working on our felt circus. See, The Small One liked the felt farm so much, she thought she might like a felt something of her very own. And when Jemma suggested a joint project, I said - Genius! and we made a start.
You've already had a peep at the lion in Sian on Safari. He was getting a bit boisterous, so I've made him a cage:
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| The film is set in the 1930's - it looks like my Buggabugs pattern from Etsy will give us exactly the right look |
The Small One is on elephant duty at the moment. It was slow going, to be honest, until I showed her the pictures of Robert Pattinson's animal training act for the new movie Water For Elephants. Mmm..R. Patz modelled entirely from craft felt? Remember - you heard it here first..
And my caged lion is this month's entry for Annie The Felt Fairy's Monthly Make. The Big Top, The Ring Of Fire, the clown, the monkey? - all in production. At a blog near you soon.
33 comments:
Love this idea and definitely good to keep the lion caged.
Love it! So cute! Can't wait to see what else you add to your growing circus. :D
Truly lovely, Sian and The Small One! It will be a fabulous Circus!
I have a beautiful old book - from around the 1930's or 1940's - called "Toys for Your Delight". It is about making fabric toys, similar to your lion and his cage. It has some wonderful patterns in it, showing how to make a 3D animal that stands up. If you happen to get stuck with your creatures, my book may be helpful - just give me a shout; I wouldn't think the copyright applies any more, so maybe I could scan and send a pattern to you.
I adore the circus and this is going to be such a delightful project. I can't wait to see more!
The cage is brilliant - so stylish! I can't wait to see TSO's elephant; I'm sure it will be wonderful.
Looks like it will be quite the production when you are done editing!
What a great idea ... I think along with the circus, you should have a go at making a t-shirts for the family, with those words embroidered across it ... of course, after the big tent is made too :)
Oh good grief, R Patz in felt - don't start the craze Sian, don't go there!
Your circus on the other hand is giving me mental images of Tony Curtis in very tight briefs!
Carmen, you are right. I don't know what I was thinking..I actually need the real R Patz and a much bigger cage..
Lizzie, thank you. I like the sound of your book very much indeed.
SO cute, Sian!!! I love that lion! ♥
The lion is fantastic and I can't wait to see the rest of the circus :) xx
That sounds like a great project Sian! I'm afraid we're not so big on R. Pattinson here - DD Clara prefers the boy who plays Jacob, the wolf. But maybe you can make a wolf out of felt . . .
Rinda
That cage is amazing Sian, perfect for your boisterous lion:)
I'm a wolf girl too Rinda! Mr. Pattinson will always be Cedric Diggory to me!
Fiona x
is r pattinson life size felt or small size? if u sell him my friend luke will buy him as he thinks he's the beesknees however he might commission another life sized robert for his collection? do u deliver to sheffield i wonder?
loving the felt lion and his cage although i think he looks lonely, perhaps mrs lion and baby lion? and are u making a big top, that would be cool,
Jo xxx
Judging from the Marjorie Allinghams, there's a tiger on the way too? Not sure what you'll do about the smoke! Wonderfully creative work ...
Great cage Sian, i too look forward to seeing the whole circus.
Can i put my order in for a felt R Patz now though please!!! and when you've finished with the real R.P throw him this way....minus the cage, i don't want him locked up lol!!!
What a sweet lion and cage. very creative! xx
Oh I can't wait to see more. It's looking so great already and I love the fact that it's a joint project.
Sian, you're welcome to scanned pages from my book. It is one of my favourite books ever. It's so lovely and has beautiful illustrations and full-colour plates, showing wonderful animals, dolls and other toys, embellished with gorgeous embroidery. I learned loads of embroidery stitches from that book - and taught them to J's Year 4 teacher at school! The instructions are good and clear too, with great little hand-drawn illustrations (bearing in mind there were no computer graphics "in the old days"!)
Wow, they are fab! I can't wait to see the elephant! :)
Good to see the lion has a home now..can't wait to see what comes next!...and you've made me think I must write a post about Edward v Jake sometime soon!
Alison xx
That cage is amazing & sure to keep a boistrous lion in his place. Can't wait to see the whole kit & caboodle in it's entirity!!!!
They look fab!
i sometimes feel like i work at the circus so it's really not something i want to run away to! :-) i can't wait to see your circus additions. and i'm glad you caged up that pesky lion - he's so cute and obviously he knows it!
Lovely circus ideas Sian but you know what - I thought that lion looked like trouble from the first time I saw him, so good move to make him a cage!
LOve the circus. The lion and cage are fab x
How fun! That lion is just too cute! Can't wait to see the entire circus. :)
These are adorable. LOVE the cage for that fierce lion. Can't wait to see the whole circus.
Wow - love, love, *love* this project! Can't wait to see the next instalment :-)
What a super project for the 2 of you and that lion definitely needed a cage and what a great looking one it is.
Gail (from typepad even though it won't let me comment using that right now).
Those patterns look very addictive! Thank you (not sure really!) for leading me to them! I think they would be great to go with books like Dear Zoo. I don't know how old your Smalls are but I wondered what age you would recommend them for and what age for a joint project?
Your work is really beautiful Sian.
how absolutely wonderful! x
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