NEW, CUTE little Matchbox Cottages by LindyJ Design

My newest series for 

LindyJ Design at Etsy.....

Fairy Tale Matchbox Cottages. 

They were so fun to make and turned out really cute.

The Cottages are made of felt and are glued to

a standard matchbox.

Little Red Riding Hood

Open the little drawers to find the 

fairy tale figures!

The figures can be used in 3 different ways:

1. Leave the bottom open for FINGER PUPPETS.

2. Insert a small spool in the open end to make STAND-UP FIGURES.

3. Stuff lightly and sew the opening closed to make 4” DOLLS.

Find the PDF Pattern here:

The pdf patterns for two more sets are available in my store:

Goldilocks and the 3 Bears

Find the PDF Pattern here:

Hansel and Gretel

Find the PDF pattern here:

Home For a Bunny

Here's something new which I have just added to my Etsy shop...

the PDF Pattern for ...

a simple, but darling QUIET BOOK featuring Cadbury the Bunny

Just in time for Easter!

Get it here

This two page book is a cute CARROT COTTAGE
for a felt bunny. Open the book to discover
Cadbury’s kitchen and bedroom.... 

Cadbury can raid her refrigerator 
where she stocks removable) lettuce,a carrot and an apple.* 
Then she sits at her table to enjoy her snack. 
A little toadstool is the perfect perch for Little Mouse.

When it’s time for bed, Cadbury tucks Little Mouse
 into a spare Easter basket and then HOPS into her own bed.

Peek around her cottage and you will find 

Cadbury’s secret stash of carrots. 

There’s one under the kitchen table, 

another behind her pillow, 

and even one inside her night stand. 

(Little flaps are such fun to open and close!)

*Inside the fridge. This vinyl pocket is great since you
don't have to put velcro on the snacks.

This quiet book may be LITTLE but it is loaded with LindyJ Design WHIMSY!

* Little pompoms (a la bunny tails!) make cute door and fridge handles. 

* Carrots are growing in flower pots 

* A thread spool makes a cute lamp base. 

* The chair and bed headboard are rabbit ear-ish. 

* And don’t forget the fun ribbon carrot leaves along the binding!

Here it is:

Tiny Miracles finally has a pattern at Etsy!

I made this quiet book a year ago for Kaitlyn and Keira for Easter.

I wanted them to have a book about the miracles of Spring,

with the purpose of helping them realize that the 

greatest Miracle of all is the empty tomb...

and that Jesus had risen.

I'm glad I took photos of the process so I could share the pattern.

It is now available on Etsy here:

Here are more views with a little explanation:

Tiny Buds Blossom
Store the blossoms in the page pocket and have the
tree blossom again in the Spring.

Birds come back
2 little birds are stored in the birdhouse.
Directions are given for making them into
finger puppets.

Babies are born
2 lambs are stored in the Mama sheep pocket.
One lamb is a felt toy for play, and the
other lamb is for lacing.

Butterflies appear
A cute little butterfly puppet with netting wings
emerges from this cocoon pocket.

Grass turns green
Children can tie (or play around with!) the snowman's
yarn scarf. Then fold the page down to see the Spring
scene underneath....shown below.

Directions are given for making the butterflies
and flowers removable.

Dry bulbs bloom
Slide the tulips up the ribbon stems to see them grow.
Lift the "dirt" flap to see the bulbs in the ground.

Little eggs hatch
Lift the egg tops to see 2 little birds in the nest.
They are attached with elastic or can be removable.

Tiny miracles help us understand the greatest miracle
of all: When the stone was rolled away on
Easter day the tomb was empty...
(back cover: Jesus had risen!)
Pull the tab on the stone to "roll" it away from
the empty tomb

Tiny Miracles Quiet Book .PDF pattern is available here.

No time to embroider page titles???
Directions are given for a SIMPLE technique

for transferring titles to pages

WITHOUT embroidery!

New Quiet Books to Share!

RHYME TIME 2 now has a pattern available at Etsy

Get the pattern here

I love the pages in this sequel to the original Rhyme Time.

Match the shapes on Black Hen's eggs

Help the speckled frogs jump into the pool-where it is "nice and cool!"

Match the muffins using color and number identification

Old MacDonald's favorite critters hide in his pockets.

Find all the plums in Jack Horner's Christmas pie and 

put them on your fingers.

The Crooked Man and his crooked cat and mouse live in this crooked house.
Have fun bending the moustache and tails.


Hope you like this version of Rhyme Time!

Say Cheese! and Hi! to Mozzarella!

I am so-loving my newest project....Sweet Wee Mozzarella and her 8-Outfit Wardrobe!

                                 And the pattern is available now in my Etsy shop!
                                                       Find it here at LindyJ Design

I wanted to make a little mouse doll and clothing that would fit in a little suitcase that I found at Target. I also wanted to design the simple clothing that I could make out of wool felt and sew by hand.

Mozzarella is 7 1/2" tall. She has an amazing (cat and) mouse-y wardrobe that is whimsical and fun to make. I especially enjoyed the little embroidery details on most of the pieces.

My brain leans toward THEMES,...so of course I had to dream up various ways to play up the whole cat-and-mouse idea. I love the:

1. "swiss cheese coat" with leggings! I cut circles out of the felt coat and backed it with fabric. This outfit was the perfect opportunity to use some PRINTED felt in my stash. The black/white houndstooth check was so fun to use for the collar and leggings.Here's the back:

2. I am still giggling over the "No Fear" Kitty Cat Dress. A felt cat wraps around the seam of the dress. A ball of yarn has unwound and the yarn drapes around the dress and ends up wrapped around the cat tail on the back of the dress. Cute!

3. I made a pocket in the romper for a sweet little mouse baby doll. And a pocket in Mozzarella's nightgown holds her bedtime snack- a nice wedge of cheese!

4. Of course there had to be an outfit for a "Wee Christmas Mouse." I made a simple little skirt with a candy-cane striped border, and added a festive jacket and a headband with a jingle bell.

5. This collection even has a Halloween costume! Mozzarella adores her mouse-idol Minnie Mouse and wears an adorable Minnie outfit....a felt dress with circle skirt, Minnie Mouse hat (which was interesting to draft the pattern for!) and little yellow Minnie shoes. This outfit was another chance to use the red/white polka dot printed FELT that I have been saving for awhile.

Here are a few more pics of the whole collection: You can see the cute suitcase in this photo.

The pattern for all of this is only $7. 

(Keira is getting Motzie for her December birthday and I can't wait to give it to her.)

My Felt ZOEY DOLL is now on ETSY!!!

So the reason it has taken so long to post the newest Max quiet book pics (A Home for Max) is because of this....

Zoey Felt Doll PDF PATTERN

After 2013 Christmas I had the idea to make my Zoey paper doll into a 3D doll. 

From this:

Zoey "paper" doll

To This:

Zoey is made from wool felt and measures 12" tall. 

She is the perfect size for little doll lovers. 

I purposely made all of her clothes EASY to put on. To me it is always kind of sad when little girls take their dolls to Mama or Grandma to dress. So the outfits all have felt bodices (which gives them some body/structure) that close with velcro. No tricky snaps or buttons!  

And with the exception of rompers, the backs of the outfits are totally open. 

And I was REALLY committed to making all of Zoey's clothes easy to sew. 

So there are  no facings or set-in sleeves. 

And tons of photos in the patterns help with the sewing process too. 

I just have to mention that my favorite part of the whole project was working with wool felt. 

It is absolutely heavenly! 

I go through too much felt when making quiet books and felt board sets and always use craft felt, but this was the perfect chance to use the GOOD STUFF!
And besides, if you are going to put time into doll clothes you want them to LAST for future generations of little doll-lovers! Which means using the best quality fabrics and felt.

So, to me, Zoey's outfits are Heirloom Quality...and the little embroidery details make them

SUPER SPECIAL.

Of course I got carried away with the outfits!!! Several months later I had 24 different ensembles grouped into 6 collections. That was the fun part. 

Here is what KEIRA is getting for Christmas 2014......

4 Seasons Girl Collection

Feels Like Fall Collection

Fairy Tale Fun Collection

Summer Time Collection

Grandma Love Collection

Daddy Date Collection

It took MONTHS to get all the patterns ready for Etsy. 

But they're now available and just in time for holiday gift giving.