Mollie Makes Hedgehog & Fabric Leaves

AH, check out this issue of Mollie Makes!

I've never bought this magazine before, but this cover just got me all excited... I couldn't resist.

Do you see what I see? A Skunkboy Creatures hoglet*! 

*hoglet in British speak = hedgehog in "American." I looked it up. 

Skunkboy Creatures are made by Katie. Her creations are so creatively put together and expressive. 

I love how their little droopy button eyes make them look sad and depressed. 

Is that weird? I don't know why, but I think its cute!

Since Katie's creations cost a pretty penny, I had to take this opportunity to make my very own. 

So here are the two hedgies I made!

But let me tell you. This project is NOT for the faint of heart, or weak of finger. It was a seriously challenging project! All those tiny pieces, all that precise cutting and hand-stitching... 

I'm surprised I even finished them at all, let alone made two! 

I have a new respect for Katie's work, and can tell you without a doubt, that her work, is worth the cost!

Hedgehog love! I decided to make two hedgehogs to represent my husband an I, and to use them as my Thanksgiving table centerpiece. 

I also decided to make the Liberty fabric leaves to go with them. While normally these leaves aren't something I would make, they just went so well with the hedgehogs that I had to do it. 

Here is me, with my brown button eyes. 

From this angle my hedgehog kind of looks like a depressed chihuahua. 

Those ears. 

But hey, that's one of the reasons I love Skunkboy Creatures. And chihuahuas! 

Who can resist those teary, trembling eyes?

Here is my man hedgehog. He has blue button eyes. 

To make him larger I photocopied the pattern pieces and enlarged them 1.5x.

Even though the pattern pieces are all the same, he came out looking like an angry hedgehog! How you sew the eyes on really impacts the "emotion" of your final creation. 

Here are my four leaves in all their glory. At first I thought they were a total pain to make. But once I got going they were easy and fun to do while watching TV. If I had more time I would make more so you could scatter them down the middle of the table. I would even make a few in larger sizes! 

Another good idea: make this new branch pattern that the Mollie Makes blog just featured.

Note: to save time I didn't stitch the leaf veins in the middle. I thought that doing this would make them too "busy" and would detract from the awesome fall fabrics I picked. Love you fat squares, you save me the time of waiting in the cutting lines during the holidays, eeeeek!

Double Note: I also didn't use the "wadding" as called for in the pattern. I used the thickest interfacing I could find and left it at that. Using batting or felt to stuff the leaves made them too thick. 

If you own this issue already, you can find the templates here. 

If you missed out and want to order this issue, you can do so here.

You can also download digital copies for your iPad. I need one of those. 

You know. For crafting purposes.

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Have you read Mollie Makes... what do you think? Have you attempted to make these little guys? If you are or want to, let me know if you have any questions and I will try to help!

Happy crafting :)