Cat-themed Apparel and a Real 'Cat Bird'!

I've been busy with custom orders in my Catcalls shop! Lots of fun!

Doofus Pet PJs. Do you know why they are 'doofus'?

And a cool Halloween skirt for a party.....

But what is this?????

Poor 15 year old Nipper! 

New Red, White, and Blue Art and Clothing!

I've been on the red, white, and blue kick lately and added these to my shops in the last week. 

This first one came into being as I was considering the plight of the greyhound. The good news is that only seven states still allow racing. But that is also the bad news. One day it will be just a shadow from the past. It can't come soon enough. 

Visit  http://www.grey2kusa.org/  and follow @grey2kusa on twitter for ongoing updates about  the state of the racing industry. 

This watercolor pencil work was just for fun. Kittens are just so cute, and I envisioned a little CAT-det hiding away on July 4th, taking everything in. 

Keeping with a red, white, and blue theme, I finally used this cheery polka dotted fabric to make a skirt. I love polka dots - they are always happy! Add a little bird and a few cats and it becomes triple happy!

Click on any photo to be taken to the listing in my shops. 

Weekend Skirt Creations!

Some new creations from the weekend! I found this lime green dotted fabric while at my local thrift store on Saturday (which I love). It was a sundress of sorts - rather ugly, actually, with this yucky green lacy stuff all over. But the fabric itself was very cute. So I bought it ,and after washing it, cut it into a skirt. I added some ribbing I had on hand and then mixed some fabric paint Itogether - red, white, and blue - to make the kitties. I had just had a customer tell me the day before that she liked my cat themed clothing in Catcalls, but there were no plus sizes, so this is, hopefully, the beginning of more of those sizes. It was quite fun to make! 

Not to leave my Dogbarks shop out of the fun, I pulled out the left over flannel you see here, and after looking it over, decided a skirt would be a cute creation for this remnant as well. So I did the same thing again, adding pockets and a waistband from a black t-shirt. It's very comfy! 

Just click on the pictures to find more info on them. 

So what did YOU create this past weekend? 

How to make a Wiener Wonderland!

I had a fun week creating  a  wiener wonderland here. I was constantly thinking about the next wonderful wiener I was going to make, whether for Halloween or Christmas. I started with some Christmas wienies.   

This is my very warn, holey pattern for the minis.

A close up of how bad it looks! I really need to make another before this totally disintegrates! The tail is about off.

These are my sophisticated stuffing tools. They were free. 

Berthold

I started with Christmas doxies. If you have a red wiener dog...

Bertram

you must also have a green. Unwritten rules of wiener creating. 

Burchess

And then because I had brown and pink felt , I made this one, which is my fave. 

All my Itty Bitties start with a "B"

The Welcoming Crew

I then added some Hallowienies. Boo....

and Batdog. Here is Batdog's description:

"Every wiener dog has large dreams...dreams of being able to look those Great Danes in the eye, of running with the grace and speed of a Greyhound, of flying to the rescue of all fellow wieners and small brothers. Every wiener dog wishes he were BATDOG! "

Now for the bigger boy. This pattern is a stubby version that I just lengthen when I cut. The pencil line is for the leg placement.

Willy

Willy was a bit time consuming as I had to sew together all the pieces (placemats in a former life) and change thread constantly. Then I gave him felt eyes to see with. No one wants to be blind - not even a Hallowiener. 

Finally, I decided to make a dachshund skirt. I have plenty of kitty skirts in The Cat Rack, but wanted to add one to Dogbarks since I sold the only one last week. This two piece pattern is also the one I use for pillows. I randomly cut out legs, tail, and ears. 

This fabric was a nice find at a thrift store. An unused bit of  yardage made of some natural blend fiber. It bled quite a lot when I washed it in hot water. But a cold water wash should be just fine now. The doxie is a wool houndstooth in black and white. Handsome little fellow! 

You can click on any picture to see them in my shops. 

Hope you all get a chance to have a Wonderful Wiener Week, too! 

Wearing the Cats and Dogs of Autumn

I've been adding some more fall and Halloween things to my shops. It is such a colorful time of year that helps us get ready to bed down for winter. Click on any photo to find out more.

Pumpkins in the cornfields
Gold among the brown
Leaves of rust and scarlet
Trembling slowly down
Birds that travel southward
Lovely time to play
Nothing is as pleasant
As an autumn day!

~anonymous

A fallen leaf is nothing more
than a summer's wave good bye

~anonymous

And this was just too cute to pass up! 

New Listings This Week from The Cat Rack and Catcalls

I was in a Mermew mindset at the beginning of the week!

Mermew blouse - everything is painted free hand. 

Mermew skirt - this sold after a day, so the blouse is all by itself now!

I created my own hand painted fabrics this week, this pocket being one of them. I thought it looked good on the gray fleece, so I made this sweatshirt tank top. 

This little jacket is made with a lovely pink linen - cotton blend fabric. I love the color!

And here is the other fabric I created and listed as fabric! One large fat quarter and one smaller piece about 6" x 7". These are made from a white cotton sheet - vintage sheet, I should add. Vintage sheets seem to be thicker.

So that's a little of what I accomplished this week! How did you do?

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Creations from Clutter Week 3

Third week of decluttering and feeling good! I hope some of you are doing your own spring cleaning and turning your clutter into creative projects. 

This week I found a good sized piece of white cotton that I had gotten from the thrift store some time ago. I was feeling like doing some art but knew I had to create something from my clutter, so I decided on something new. I would make a skirt and just start some random free stitching without any pattern or drawings. I would 'doodle' on my skirt with thread the same way I doodle on paper with markers. It just takes a lot longer! But I was happy with the outcome! 

Click on any picture and it will take you to The Cat Rack - my shop on Etsy. 

I challenge you to try something new this week and hope to hear back on how you did!