Crazy about Maisy

Little One is just crazy about Maisy! Now I must admit that I have definitely encouraged this craze, because I too am a big fan. I discovered Maisy a number of years ago, when Big One was my only little one :)  My first introduction was not a book, but one of the delightful Maisy Dvds. What I love about the Dvds is the beautiful, clear, well-spoken English, narrated by Neil Morrissey (also the voice of Bob the Builder), as well as the simplicity of the pictures and of course the fun, playful way that Maisy goes about everyday activities. On the Maisy website, she is described as "a colourful, lovable mouse, with a nose for adventure". A perfect description I think.

Little One really started to enjoy the Maisy books at about 18 months of age and what I love to do when I read them to him, is to leave out some words and wait...as he becomes familiar with the story, he fills in the missing words.

Now I have never ever seen a Maisy toy of any sort here in our shops and so I thought it would be ever so cute to make a Maisy doll out of felt. You may recall me saying that I just don't sew, well I decided to give it a bash and am surprised to say that I actually enjoyed  it! Here is a little tutorial:

I traced Maisy's body from the book, "Maisy Big, Maisy Small", directly onto the white felt. I then pinned two pieces of white felt together and cut out the body. This is not a great photo, but this project was done at night.

I then traced the clothing onto paper, attached it to my felt with pins and repeated the cutting out, each time pinning two pieces of felt together. (I wanted Maisy to have a back and a front). I stitched the body together by hand (filled it with batting) and then glued all the remaining pieces to Maisy on both sides. 

My only regret is that I didn't sew the clothes on too, as I used quite a bit of glue and am uncomfortable with the glue smell, especially as I am aware of the toxins that glue can release. Other than that, I thought she turned nicely.

If you are not familiar with Maisy, be sure to check out her lovely website, called the Maisy's Fun Club. It has awesome colouring pictures, games and best of all, a few of her books that can be read online! To read "Maisy Makes Lemonade" , click here.

PS. I've linked this to

 StART 

Show and Tell @ ABC and 123 

Tot Tuesdays @ My Delicious Ambiguity 

Kids Get Crafty @ Red Ted Art's Blog 

The Imagination Tree