Hopper

Meet Hopper. She's the newest addition to the family.

Ava has been eyeing this green fleece with the red bugs material in my sewing room for over a month now. She would ask me repeatedly if she could have it. Ummm...no my new material is not for dragging around the playroom until it collects dust bunnies and gets all stretched out. So, I kept telling her I would make her something out of the material when I got a chance. The other day she asked about it again with forlorn little eyes. Oh, the guilt. I will sew for any old stranger out there but not my beloved little children. Sniff Sniff. (It goes without saying the kid can work her mother over like Tony Soprano with a baseball bat in his right arm.)

She wanted a stuffed animal. I wanted to make her a little skirt. Skirts are boring she informed me. I wish I would have known that when I donated all of her shorts last summer which she absolutely would not wear, instead opting exclusively for yes, you guessed it skirts. I couldn't see the green fleece being made in to a ladybug stuffed animal. Too predictable. Try explaining that to an almost 6 year old.

Instead we settled on Hopper. I pulled down scraps of material too precious to throw away and yet too small to usually be able to do anything great out of. I know most good crafters will save miniscule bits of fabric only to whip them up into something ready for a gallery wall one day. Me? I save them and then get tired of the bits of clutter and toss them every few months. However, Hopper is a reluctant savers dream come true.

Her little coat is made from Ava's favorite fleece material but the rest is just leftovers from handbags and Christmas decorations, ie. her hair ribbon.

Ava now sleeps with Hopper and carries her around the house after school. Ahhh, my heart swells two sizes.