This is Bright the Bunny

or 'Bright' the White Rabbit.

She... or he? (I haven't quite worked that out) is brand new and somewhat inspired by the pet white rabbit I had as a child.

Yes, that's me and one of my brothers (a long time ago...)

Having put the last little finishing touches to this hand and machine stitched bunny this afternoon, I quickly set up my makeshift photo booth and captured a few shots of Bright.

Bright is the first of her kind. She is 12 inches tall which is above average for her age.


I usually create my textile creatures at half this size and they are made entirely from felt but they tend to be incredibly time consuming with all those tiny pieces needing to be precisely hand stitched and stuffed... and I really wanted to get something made faster this week. 

I guess I must have decided it would be a girl having added all those bright pink buttons to go with her pink eyes. She is made from calico and quilting cotton with wool blend felt foot pads and paw patches and a cute muzzle with hand embroidered nose, mouth and long white eyelashes. Her big ears have a little stuffing in them but they still flop forward or back depending on her mood.

Bright's arms and legs are moveable so she can do a few fancy poses including the splits!... all made possible  with her button joints: made from pretty pearly pale pink heart shaped buttons. awww...

Here are a few photos taken during the sewing process...

I have yet to photograph my old machine but I will remember to do this next time. I need to get out the oil and brush and give the old clockwork a bit of TLC. My machine is a family heirloom and I absolutely love how heavy and steady it is. "They just don't make them like that anymore..."
;)

Bright will be going up for sale this weekend in my new website shop! www.thistleandfox.bigcartel.com

After much deliberation I decided to start combining all my textile projects, arts and crafts into the one shopfront so I can more easily integrate it with my website. Bookmark this blog because it will all be getting streamlined and prettied up over the next few months or whenever I can snatch a few hours to play with my web design!

I'd love some feedback so please comment and tell me if you like my shop design... is it easy to use? Is there anything I should add to it? 

There are so many exciting things about to happen... I can hardly contain myself but I am forced to try to hold it all in at least for the next few weeks... then there will be some BIG news!!!! :)
And lots of photos!.... Woo!