Banjo, too, thanks you for your concern. He's doing just fine - holding his own against the new one quite well, and lodged permanently and snugly in Adelaide's 'best pet' status. The kids are all loving Nellie right up (besides watching her sleep, the second favorite activity is making Nellie obstacle courses in the yard). And for now, and at least until Nellie learns some family manners - Harper and Nellie are enjoying each other from a safe distance.
So the top-secret full-family crafting project(s) I mentioned earlier this week? For Nellie, of course! In the anticipation leading up to her arrival, there was a lot of preparing for Nellie. Talking, planning, cleaning, and crafting too. A bed was first.
After much debate about what Nellie's favorite color would be (they each lobbied for their own favorite) I hauled out a bin of fabric scraps and told them to pick out some favorites. Handing them to me at the sewing machine one after another in quite a flurry, we came up with the first log cabin square. Amazingly, it sorta/kinda/maybe had a color theme going on. So from there, the bed grew. It's a quilted cover of sorts, with about 25 snaps on the bottom (oh yes- that snap press was used to all it's glory) to make it easy to remove and wash. The insert is a cushion I made out of an almost vinyl-like material. I wanted something tight that I could wash with a cloth without getting all the stuffing wet.
And then, onto collars and leashes! This one has that oh-so-sweet red riding hood ribbon from Rosa.
The leashes have become such a great, successful kid project around here - simple webbing and ribbon, a few straight lines of sewing, and they're done.
Just how many collars and leashes does one pup need? Hmnn... With everyone wanting to make at least one of their own, I think she's plenty well supplied.
And they have plans for lots more.
{Some details: The bed, collars and leashes I made without a pattern, for better or worse. But I've since remembered there's a pattern for a dog collar in Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing, and a pattern for a doggie bed in Anna Maria Horner's Seams to Me. The "hardware" for the collars and leashes can be found on Etsy - search for "dog collar hardware" or "swivel snap" in the supply category. Most of my embroidered ribbon comes from Les' Bon Ribbon.}
