WickiDoodles

When I got started and pulled out some of the old shirts I had carefully saved, I became inspired. I realized that each part could be reused: buttons, obviously, but also the cuffs, pockets, collars, seams and box plates. Any bits that were too worn or wouldn't work I could use as stuffing.  This was my first "full-sized" WickiDoodle: the top made out of old curtain material and the bottom my husband's very well-worn shirt The "hair" is made from shirt seams   I reused the box plate (as I discovered it's called) as a front piece, with the button hole as a discrete feature.  For the feet I used more of the box plate. The beauty of using worn shirts is that it doesn't matter that the edges are ragged - just adds to the charm. And it suits my temperament - after all, I'm not aiming for perfection!

I had collected lots of textiles, buttons, yarn, ribbons and other stuff over the years and was determined that, except for thread, whatever I created would be based on recycled materials. That meant I had to figure out how to stuff whatever I was going to create:  old sheets or other natural fabric, ripping them into strips seemed like the only way, since shredding would involve machinery - but more on stuffing later. So I had materials for both the inside and out. Now what? Do some online research, of course! After looking at several sites on how to make a stuffed giraffe or other cute animals, I came upon a site that inspired me: https://mollychicken.blogs.com/my_weblog/2009/02/4th-attempt.html Thank you, Molly.  Once I put a face on my first attempt, that was it.

Didn't think it would happen I am not a handicrafts person. That is what I have firmly believed my entire life. Well, at least from the sixth grade when my teacher – who I loved dearly – laughed very loudly at my sewing, She said something along the lines of "You call that a backstitch", ha-ha-ha. Extremely embarrassing: I couldn't even manage the simplest of stitches.  Now, many decades later, I realized that she may in fact have been paying me a compliment, singling out my originality. Anyone can do a backstitch - not many people can make up something completely new. I like that revision of the story 😊 When I retired I wanted to do something creative, something with my hands, something with recycled materials. Over the years, I had tried knitting, nope ; tried crocheting, nope ; tried sewing my own clothes - definitely no . I've had various ideas, which I then dismissed one by one. In the mean time, I continued to collect material, piles of scraps of all kinds...