Little Grey Rabbit Purse

I've taken a short break from knitting this week and sewn the above little rabbit purse. It is based on a Japanese pattern using dark grey felt for the body. The legs are thread jointed, so can be posed. She is wearing a red polka-dot dress, with back-stitch embroidered around the edges. On the dress she has a hand-stitched felt daisy, complete with bead ladybird. She has a red satin bow under one ear - just out of sight in the photo.


From behind you can see the zippered opening to the purse, which has been lined with red and white starry cotton fabric. You can just see her little white tail poking out under the dress. The dress is designed so that it allows full access to the zip, and although it has a button at the neck, I'm afraid it has been sewn on so you can't take it off!

The whole thing has been hand-stitched - I'm basically just too lazy to get the sewing machine out when I could be sat in front of the television in comfort while sewing! She will be in my Etsy shop very shortly.

Today sees the start of the Fleet Art Society exhibition being held at the Harlington Centre in Fleet. I have four framed paintings on show as well as three in the folios. If you are in the area, come and have a look - the standard of work in these exhibitons is generally quite high and worth a visit. Various artists will be painting on site throughout the weekend (myself included on Sunday) which is always interesting.

On a more serious note, I am in the throes of planning another blog, this time about Down's Syndrome. Some of you already know that my own daughter has Downs and over the past 22 years I have had to learn a lot about dealing with the condition. I am also a learning assistant in an infant school to a small boy with Downs and have been doing this job for 6 years, with more to come as I take on a new child in September. As a result, I feel that I would like to share some of the information with other parents - most of the time you are not informed of half the things you are entitled to, both in and out of school. Also, 'experts' know the text-book side of things, but it's a whole different kettle of fish dealing with your child at home on a day-to-day basis. I would like to share tips and strategies I have learned and used successfully and give other parents a chance to share what they have learned too. It may take a while to get off the ground, being a very personal subject which will mean a bit of soul-baring along the way - it's certainly not been plain sailing, particularly the early years. But I feel compelled to get it up and running soon - wish me luck!