Hello friends!
It's still unbearably cold here in Michigan, but I'm starting to noodle out all of the fun things that will happen in the Woolly Mammoth shop this summer. The two biggest new 'lines' will involve a series of heirloom circus animals made from beautiful vintage fabrics from my stash, and a line of aquatic friends.
The circus idea is based on a toy I had as a child, that was a quilted drawstring bag that looked like a tent, and had a series of small plush circus animals inside. Sadly, the original disappeared ages ago and I have never been able to locate another one, so I decided to start over and make my own version!
The tent is a black and white printed cotton, and is fully lined with bright red satin, with a sturdy black denim base. It has stitched 'curtain's across the front, and is large enough to house at least three of any of the animals presented in this line, or could hold a child's sleeping bag rolled up!
The dancing bear is made from a beautiful piece of vintage cream wool, with a denim neck ruffle, and hand embroidered blue silk eyes.
Germaine the giraffe is made from a wonderful piece of printed flannel from the 1950's in bright circus colors. His underbelly is a solid quilting cotton and he has a braided yarn tail, safety eyes, and a fringe-trim mane.
The magpie cuffs are modeled after something I saw at Anthropologie years ago, and couldn't afford. I love sparkly jewelry, and these have been a great way to re-home a lot of the wonderful vintage costume jewelry I've collected over the years that is no longer in functional condition.
Each serene swan is made from a different fabric. They all have plastic safety eyes, weighted bodies to help them sit upright, quilted wings, and feathery beaded trim at the neckline. Each swan comes with its own gold faux leather crown!
The black swan is made from a glossy lightweight vintage brocade with a faint woven feather pattern.
The purple swan is made from a vintage lavender cotton sateen.
The white swan is made from a sturdy vintage cotton velveteen.
I've been having an incredible amount of fun playing with these new sharks! They are both made out of salvage denim from a local supplier here in Kalamazoo. In order to understand their scale, it helps to know that they are photographed in our larger-than-standard bathtub, and lying together they just about fill our full size guest bed!
The hammerhead is made from grey stretch denim with a red satin mouth and vintage button eyes.
The 'mammoth shark' is made of dark blue denim with machine embroidered gills, safety eyes, and a red satin mouth.
I'm having a ton of fun playing with new creatures, and I can't wait to show you more! In the circus line I am working on camels and elephants next, and will also be adding fancy flamingoes, a huge batch os small squids made from recycled sweaters, and hopefully some giant whales made of antique wool!
