Guess how much I loved doing this! ❤

Credit: Renee Fisher on Unsplash

Finally I have delivered a long awaited surprise... something I have been working on over the last few months (including an additional added extra from H when she was home).

Problem solving was something I relish when designing. This pushed my boundaries as I tried to make what I envisaged. The perfectionist in me wouldn't give up until it had to take a turn, but I am happy with the results, and more importantly, so is the recipient (although at 2 months old, most things are exciting and loved!).

What was it? Well, just a mobile to hang in his bedroom. It began with some cut off pieces of fabric in a little packet from the local sewing shop... "Guess how much I love you" fabric - his nanny's favourite book.

What could I make? I thought of cushions, teddies... maybe some bunting with padded hearts... but never one to make things easy, I pushed it a bit further. If you have ever worked with fishing line, you will understand!

So, this is a little taster of the processes I went through to get to a finished product, and although it took me ages, secretly I enjoyed every moment! 😉

First the hearts... I cut a template from a cereal box - I didn't do the star in the end because it was too fiddly being small - then I made a mock up with plain fabric before making with and padding out the rabbit fabric. Later each heart recieved a blue ribbon too.

In the meantime, H started work on felting some rabbits...

Once the rabbits were finished... A blu-tac mock up to see what it could look like... buttons on the ring allow the hearts to be attached independently. The rabbits look fab thanks to H - my superstar felter!!

Then I tried my hand at a bit of felting...

...and the hearts needed some fishing line in place of the cotton.

With a little star bead attached at the top, the finished result looked great!

Some changes needed to be made to the top of the mobile to allow the moon and rabbits to hang away from each other. Here I tried the cross bars... The ring is the inner of an embroidery ring. I used chalk paint in clotted cream.

Getting the mobile to hang level was a major task! The glue gun glue wasn't strong enough for my needs, but I didn't realise until the  morning when it had all fallen to the bench! Time for another plan...

So, now we have one bar at the top and ribbon instead of fishing line... 🤞 much easier to tie and also to get straight! It also gave me a "handle" at the top for attaching to a hook or pinning straight into the ceiling.

Finally! With all the additions attached, we made it! The hearts hook onto a small bead that is attached to the ribbon end and knotted. Each heart has a felt heart added and small blue start beads too!

Am very pleased with the final result (despite the "it won't stop moving!" photos) and am even more pleased to know that its new owner loves it too!

Whatever you do, never give up on your ultimate aims. Where creativity is concerned, a problem solved usually means a better outcome.

Keep on trying!

Deb x