Hartford Craft Company: Octopus Hair Clip/ From Thought to Creation

Last week I was talking to a coworker about her adorable 2 year old and she told me that her princess who likes mermaids and trolls, was extremely upset because they were reading the story “Good Night Mermaids” and she didn’t have an octopus hair clip to put in her hair like the Mermaid in the story. My response without even thinking about it was… well I can make her one out of felt. After a couple seconds of searching on Google, we came across a cute clip that was being sold on Etsy which I copied and pasted into a word document and resized based on the size that I thought I would need for the clip. I then printed it and used it as my rough template. (I really tried to find the image for this post however 15 minutes later I still couldn’t find it…. Sorry guys). I could have easily sewed it on the sewing machine but I actually prefer hand sewing as I can a.) complete projects while I watch TV and b.) it’s very relaxing for me. Since this was a very small project that I was doing for free for a 2 year old who wouldn’t judge me, I decided to just use items that I had in my studio.

Here’s the Final Product:

Item Listing:

Scrap piece of felt –cut out a front and back

Star shaped button- to add to the bow on top

Black yarn- which I used to make the eyes

Black thread- which I used to make the eyelashes

Purple Yarn- which I used to make the mouth

And finally

Pink Yarn- which I used to decorate the bow and sewed around the octopus

I did all of this with an embroidery needle and a hand sewing needle for the eyelashes.

My coworker loved it and commented on how impressive it was that I was able to go from concept to octopus hair clip in such a short period of time. When designing the back of the clip where the hair pin would go, I just created a small stitch where the hair pin can easily be added and removed in case her little one wanted to just play with her new octopus friend without getting hurt. My coworker though this was even more ingenious….. I wonder if she will show up at my desk with Starbucks one of these days. Lol

Now on to my next little project Halloween Sewing… My Journey Doll now renamed Aziza is trying to come up with some ideas for her Halloween Costume meanwhile I am trying to come up with a simple costume idea for my 3 year old son who is currently a super fan of the show Paw Patrol. Maybe she can write down some of the ideas for his costume in her handmade notepad made from card stock, printer paper, a scalloped punch, and flower shaped brad.

In reviewing my archives I found some Halloween projects from last year to either refresh your memory or share with you for the first time.

Pillow Case turned Pocahontas Costume

Now that was an unexpected but awesome project. My friend came up with the idea but was having trouble making the cuts for the arms and the head/neck. She planned on using glue to attach everything on but then I took over the project added some felt, cut some fringe, and sewed everything on. It came out better than I could have imagined.. I would’ve modeled it but I think the pillowcase was an odd size or something so I couldn’t get it that far over my head LOL.

Cat Headband Kids Craft Class