Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Twig & Tale ~ LEAF BLANKETS ~

Early this year I was thrilled to have the chance to help test a new pattern for Twig & Tale - a beautiful collection of New Zealand leaf blankets, that come in two people sizes and four doll sizes. While I initially only made the large blanket, I was happy to be able to test two of the doll sizes as well. So now, after waiting almost two months, I am so thrilled to be able to say that this pattern is now available on the Twig and Tale website and I can finally share my pictures. 😂

The Twig & Tale Leaf Blanket pattern sales help fund reforestation projects in
New Zealand, helping to maintain the habitat of jaguars. This beautiful
project was the idea of the pattern designers daughter!
The deadline for the test photos was early February and as it was terribly cold around that time, I waited til almost the last minute before bundling up the girls and heading to the woods to try to get a few pictures. The day we went out it had begun to warm up after a really, really cold snap - I'm talking a below-zero-for-a-week cold snap. On picture day it warmed up to about 40 degrees. Not terribly warm, but it felt quite balmy after such cold temperatures! The girls were wonderful models and I basically just followed them around as they darted here and there and played. After thirty minutes or so we were properly cold and very happy to get into a warm vehicle and drive home. 

The blanket can be draped over branches and used as a fort. . .

The leaf blanket is meant to be a beginner friendly project and really is very easy, although I found it a little time consuming and awkward, since it was so large and I am used to sewing smaller projects that fit better underneath my sewing machine. There are three layers: top, a layer of batting, and a backing. The layers all all sewn together and  turned right side out before the quilting of  the leaf veins  is  done. 
Sweet Anne

Twig and Tale patterns encourage upcycling materials so for my blanket I used a green tablecloth my mother gave me (I never use tablecloths as tablecloths - life  with six children make a bare  surfaced wood table  an absolute necessity!) and some  yellow cotton print for the back. I used  a  layer of cotton batting for the middle, although the blanket did  not come out very squishy.  Next  time I may use a loftier batting or several layers of thinner. 

It also serves very well as a blanket! :D

The girls have loved using the big blanket as a play area. They generally like to have it laid out on the living room floor in front of the fireplace, where  they set up little fantasy worlds with their dolls (they are super into the LOL Doll craze. . .😑) although now that it is getting warm outside they like to bring it out to put inside their tent in the back yard.  

Anne's doll blanket - can you spot the embroidered ladybug? 

My rock-obsessed youngest daughter used  hers to collect her prettiest
specimens!

The small doll size blankets were fun to make and a much quicker sew. For Anne's, I used a bright  colored cotton scrap left over from Rosie's  Petal Dress.  For Rose, she wanted  green so  I used an old button up shirt that  was  her big  brothers. Rosie's leaf  was  pretty plain so I added an embroidered  spider.  She was  delighted. "Oh Mommy, is it a FRIENDLY spider?" 😂 Anne then wanted   an embroidered bit of  something on her leaf, too, so we  added  a ladybug, although it's hard to see  due to the colorful print of the leaf!
Her hands were getting cold by this time but she was reluctant to leave the creek bed!

It was so much fun testing this pattern out. Twig and Tale is currently offering both the child  size  and doll size  blanket patterns as a bundle  for  a  great  savings.  The pattern bundle in on sale  til April 1st for $11.95. 

My sweet little pixie! 

Much love,

Sarah

2 comments:

Thank you for your lovely thoughts!