So I was leafing through my numerous Japanese Embroidery books when I thought, "how can I encapsulate these sweet little designs into a self contained piece of wearable art?"

I thought of fabric covered buttons, but wanted my rings to be a bit more special than the usual button rings you see quite a lot in markets and online. So I came up with the idea to wrap some embroidery around a glass cabochon, setting it onto a pretty silver plated ring blank.

I was happy with the end result; I love the texture, colour and utter cuteness of each individual ring.

I will be trying these with different fabrics , perhaps some natural linen, some pin dot fabric, or some sweet mini gingham?

I have uploaded a sewing themed page from my favourite Japanese embroidery book for you here.

So I had to come up with a pattern that is easy enough for my young crafters to make without compromising on cuteness and looks! 

I think my finished pattern is pretty good in that sense.. a nice round body with no fiddly ears or wings for when they use the sewing machine and simple shapes such as the face, eyes and feathers which will be made out of felt and sewn on with a big eyed embroidery needle and some perle cotton thread. I figured that the round eyes can be secured on with the buttons to save time and make it a bit easier too.

Little details like the eyelashes make all the difference and I am sure they will all add their own touch with ribbons, buttons and trim.

Please feel free to comment if you would like to make your very own Cree Owl and I will upload the pattern pieces.

Last week we made some drawstring bags, which provided a perfect blank canvas for the girls to express their creativity and fire their imaginations. They personalised them with ribbons, appliqué, embroidery, trimming and fur! Each one reflected the personalities of its makers perfectly and, once again, they amazed me with their quirky, mad, wonderful creations.

This book introduced me to the wonders of sewing with felt and after making a Samurai Cat, a sweet Babushka (both above), a pretty Mushroom Girl and a Sleepy Fox I was officially hooked!!

Felt is my favourite medium, it doesn't fray and the fact it comes in a huge range of gorgeous colours makes it so much fun to sew with.

If you use a wool blend mix its wonderfully soft too..long gone is the horrid, scratchy acrylic felt from my school days!

I wasn't as into taking photos of everything I made back then so you will have to make do with seeing this little guy that I just had to keep for myself...