Monday, July 17, 2017

Frog Prince

 Once upon a time, I had a beautiful frog bean bag my grandmother made for me ( and all of her other grands!)  I slept with it on my pillow every night.  
You just never know where your prince will come from , you know!
He was made with heavily textured fabric on top and a leopard flannel under.
 The flannel gave way 
and the beans were bug infested so he went in a box 
and that was that some 40 years ago. 
 His glass button eye suffered an injury also.
   I searched my button box and some of the buttons I inherited from her
 but to no avail!
A quick call to Mom and she came up empty also!
Sigh.
 I decided to do a dissection and replace the old flannel 
since my mom had given me a scrap from Gram's stash long ago so I could do this surgery.....
 See some of the old bean detritus still inside! 
 When I removed the mouth stitching,
 I found that is where my Gram had closed up the opening 
after filling with beans here! 
Interesting to see the inside and how she constructed him! 
 (55 years ago, mind you!)
 I then washed frog's skin-he was looking a little frazzled
 but after a good press, he was ready for the new belly!
 Here is a hint to anyone trying to sew two odd shapes together, 
especially in stuffed animals and such; 
 only cut one layer to shape and leave the other a lot larger. 
 Then you stitch around the cut pattern
 and trim the other with pinking shears to remove the extra fabric 
and to snip for curves at the same time!
No holes or missed alignments this way!
 I did remember to make a pattern so I can make this frog bean bag for some more hopeful children!
Here is what I filled him with! 
And now he is all refilled and ready for his new eyes which I haven't purchased yet!
He was hugged right away to welcome him back !
My grandmother was a prolific seamstress and I loved everything she made me!
Was there handmade in your life from an early age?

9 comments:

  1. So cute. Glad you were able to save him.
    I have some Barbie clothes that were made by my Great Grandma - like yours she was a really good sewer. She used to make them and sell them to the neighbourhood children for pin money.
    I have a few sewn ones that Mom made me too, but most from mom are knit or crocheted.

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  2. Brilliant save!!! My grandmother was a quilter and I literally loved her quilts to rags. She also wove afghans on a little tiny Loom It. She made me one and I lost it along the way which makes me so sad. I used to love her pillowcases the most though. She embroidered the ends and it was so soothing to lie in bed and run my fingers over the french knots and other textured stitches. Such sweet memories....

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  3. I had the same frog! I don't have a clue where my frog prince is now, but I'm sure he's still loved.

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  4. What a great save! Glad you remembered to make a pattern too.

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  5. I'm so glad you were able to rejuvinate Mr. Froggy!!!!

    AND .........you can make NEW Mr. Froggies for the grands!

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  6. My aunt made me tops and matching ones for my doll. Oh how I wish I still had one of those sets left.

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  7. I love him, what a great way to honor your grandmother.

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  8. What a very happy accomplishment! I'm pretty sure I was born wearing handmade somethings...or at the very least, it wasn't too many minutes before you or one of my grandmas or great-grandma remedied that! 😉

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