Mark gave me this pattern for Valentine’s Day. Not very romantic, I hear you say? Perhaps flowers and chocolates are more traditional, but I have a felt toy I can keep forever, gave me a lot of pleasure to make and has added nothing to my hips – and I didn’t miss out as I ate some of his chocolate!

I didn’t have enough pale pink felt in my stash so while I waited I made her little dungarees

I used a scrap of lovely cotton which I had in my stash and was slightly frustrated I had to put them away. I also made some separates from scraps left over from my granddaughter’s outfit. This fabric had come from my DiL’s grandmother so is quite precious.

So she has two little outfits and I thought I might turn the dungarees pattern into a summer dress at some point as that will be cute too.

I also made her little snout whilst I was waiting. I had cut out all the dark pink and the burgundy (which looks brown) nostrils and knew I’d lose the nostrils so sewed them together. Now I’ve lost the pattern piece, but ah well!

There’s a reason the nostrils get sewn on after the head is together – it was quite tricky getting them straight and she will forever have a wonky snout. I did consider unpicking a nostril and redoing it, but the lovely supportive followers on Instagram claim they like it, so it stays.

Here she is, finished. I decided to use felt for her eyes rather than buttons. I can completely relax if any little ones play with her.

Speaking of relaxing, should anyone get too over-enthusiastic with her arms and legs, I can be fairly confident that the joint buttons inside will stay together as I use fray stop to secure the threads.

Mark doesn’t like clothes on the animals, so a gratuitous naked picture… I think she looks cold!

I dressed her in the ensemble and when I mentioned that she was hanging out on the piano with James Fox, Whendy7 over on Instagram suggested that they play a duet. How delightful that they obliged and they did make beautiful music together! I love that they look as though they are collaborating!

By the way they are sitting on a tea caddy – but didn’t find it too uncomfortable…

They did a jam session for all the toys in the toy box who seemed most appreciative. James seems more committed to the music than Florence – she was too busy posing 😂

I am now faced with choosing my next animal. I’m consulting the felt stash as I really don’t want to buy more felt. I might finish up with a colour blocked bunny or something!

These are such easy toys to make. They are designed to be put together on a sewing machine, but would also be fun to hand sew. The clothes are also really simple and straightforward to make. I find the hardest thing is working out the facial features. Trying to create a whimsical look without coming off as creepy.

Florence is available as either a pattern or a kit from A Sewing Life. I guarantee she will add joy to any household.