Origami Animal Embroidery Patterns

I don't know what it is, but I've been really into "origami" style embroidery patterns lately. Confession: I was WAY too good at geometry when I was in school. I think I got 106% in that class (yeah, I did extra credit when I already had 100%--NERD). I sketched up some patterns from origami animal photos (you can find about any animal you want when searching images online--just sketch the fold lines to make it 2 dimensional). I modified them slightly, mostly leaving out any very tiny "fold" lines that I felt would detract from a final embroidered project.

I really liked this squirrel, so I made it into a wall hanging by gluing the embroidered fabric to the hoop once I was finished stitching and covering the back with a piece of trimmed card stock so you can't see the stitches from the back anymore. To cover the back, just trace around the embroidery hoop onto card stock and cut out the circle just inside the traced lines. I tied a piece of ribbon at the top and voila! Now I can hang it on my wall and smile at his geometric squirreliness.

Feel free to snag the .jpg of the squirrel pattern here and resize it to your needs, or you can download the .pdf of all 4 patterns I made here (it's free).

If embroidery isn't quite your style, I found these necklaces on Etsy! I got the squirrel (of course!).

Wrecking Ball Dog Costume

I have bragged about my pretty awesome cousins in the past, and they have impressed me with their cleverness yet again. McKenna made this "Wrecking Ball" costume for her pug, Tottie, for Halloween and I just had to share it with you all. I'm not a Miley Cyrus fan by any means, but talk about hilarious!

I love my cousins!

To make this costume you will need to measure your own pet to get exact measurements. Supplies used were:

an old Barbie doll
polyester fiberfil
1/2-1 yard dark grey fabric (depending on dog size)
scissors
needle and thread
Length of chain
A dog that is fine and dandy with wearing awesome costumes

A lot of trial and error went into this, but you start by cutting out two circles from the grey fabric to serve as the main wrecking ball shape. Cut leg holes based on your dog's dimensions, and leave holes for the head (and tail if necessary depending on your dog breed).

You will sew your circles together (as show above, leaving a large hole for your pups head. Tottie is kinda into wearing costumes, so she actually climbs in the neck hole. If your pet is not so into the dress up, you may want to cut the bottom circle open and add a velcro closure. Attach your chain to the center of the top fabric circle. You will add your Barbie to the chain after cutting her hair and dolling up her makeup. McKenna used red nail polish to paint on bright red lipstick.

As you can see above, the chain was sewn onto the wrecking ball with several overlapping stitches (you could also use a chain leash attached to a harness if your pet needs a better leash option--you would make a small hole in the top of your wrecking ball and pass the chain leash through). When attaching your Barbie to the chain, you can use some thin wire or twist ties if necessary.

This baby is stuffed up with plenty of fiberfil to make a nice stiff round ball shape. Don't skimp on this! See that silly grin on Tottie's face? She loves her new Halloween costume :)

Note: Take care to watch your pets when in costumes, do not allow them to ingest any kind of fiberfil. Pets should not be in costume for long periods of time to prevent any overheating. Be responsible.

I don't know about you, but I want to be Tottie for Halloween. Learn how to make your own Tottie the Pug mask here.