Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Hedgehog’s Wear Perfume or the Hedgehog Pin Cushion Experiment

Lilly, David. sonic31.jpg. 22-Aug-99. Pics4Learning. 16 Apr 2012
Okay, not exactly. Scientists don’t know why, but when a hedgehog finds a new and interesting scent, they lick and bite into the object then lick their “scented” saliva into their fur.

My four-year-old son is obsessed with animals and mysteries, so somewhere in between checking out every known animal book at the library and the kid’s series Mysteries of Alfred the Hedgehog I decided that a hedgehog would make a lovely pin cushion.

A quick internet search told me that my idea was far from original, so instead of starting from scratch. I found two nice inspiration pieces to work from.

Braddlebury Crafts' Felt Hedgehog Pin Cushion

The first little cushion I fell in love with was an image from a project by Sarah at Braddlebury Crafts, a crafter in Milton Keynes, UK who sells on Misi. I loved how the pinked edges gave the little guy a spiky faux hawk.

Fiona Marie's Free Hedgehog Pin Cushion
The next discovery was this little guy from Fiona Marie’s Thread: a piece of my mind. Perfect! It came with a free pattern.

I decided to use Fiona Marie’s pattern, but attempted to execute it more like Braddlebury Craft’s pincushion.  The pattern looked smaller than I wanted, so I enlarged it on my printer as large as it would while still fitting on a single sheet of paper. I used recycled synthetic felt for the exterior and stuffed it with wool scraps. I did a little needle felting to give it the shape I wanted.


But no project is done in a vacuum at this house, so my kids wanted to join in the fun too. My daughter, six years old, went for a vibrant green and yellow, but ran out of steam when it came to sewing on quills. Hers was cut using the original FM pattern, but her cutouts had considerable seam allowance.

Post Nuclear Meltdown Hedgie
My son couldn't be bothered to sew his eyes or nose on, let alone his quills. He just stuck pins through some buttons and called it good. No amount of needle felting could salvage this little fellow. He still looks more snail than hedgehog. He’s what I imagine hedgehogs might mutate into after a nuclear leak.

Normal Hedgie

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12 comments:

  1. My daughter ADORES hedgehogs and has been begging to get one for quite awhile. Would you please stop by and link these adorable pincushions up to my new linky party, Dare to Share.

    Pam
    http://pamspartyplanning.blogspot.com/2012/04/dare-to-share-party-3.html

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    1. Thank you for the invite, I will be sure and check it out. :-)

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  2. I have been looking forward to seeing you post! Lovely hedgehogs... I love your description of the spikey Faux Hawk!

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    1. I wish I had more time to create and post, darn that family, always wanting and needing attention, but without them who would inspire my work? :-)

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  3. These are adorable, nice work!

    Shannon@SewSweetCottage

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, I really like your Eliza Jane quilt.

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  4. Just as I thought, once Kara saw your hedgehogs she was in love. She chose her as her pick of the week feature on Dare to Share. I hope you come back and link up again this week on this weeks party that will start later tonight.

    Pam
    http://pamspartyplanning.blogspot.com/

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  5. Love your project!!!
    I currently have a Craft, Create and Inspire linky party going on, i would love you to stop by and link up this project...
    http://polkadot-pretties.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/you-inspire-linky-party_21.html

    Claire x

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  6. very cute round up, thank you!!!!

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  7. Thank you for linking up this fabulous project!!!
    This week’s Linky Party is up!!!! http://polkadot-pretties.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/you-inspire-linky-party_28.html
    I hope you will stop by an link up another lovely project..
    Claire x

    ReplyDelete