Well, at the moment it is naked. And in the magazine it is called either "swimsuit frog" or "ballet frog" depending which version you make, so mine is clearly currently "naked frog".
The one on the right is a backpack. Apparently it's ok to be naked if you are a backpack.
It's the Australian Women's Weekly "Handmade" from November/December 1998.
I picked it up at an op-shop, drawn in by the Christmas delights it promised, but it was the frogs that sold me. 50 cents well spent.
So, with a need to motivate myself back into craft after my trip, and with miles of pale green fleece left over from the elephant, I got to it.
The pieces were confusing at first, and covered with markings that I largely ignored, but it came together pretty easily. Probably the only tricky bit was sewing the front and back together with those GIGANTIC and already stuffed legs attached and having to be kept inside and not caught in the seam. I basically had to squeeze them through the opening as I sewed. The instructions said, about leaving the opening for turning: You will need to pull the Legs out through this opening, so don't make it too small. What they needed to say was: Basically hardly sew any of this seam.
Want to know what a frog looks like without eyes? This is it.
I was tempted to skip the rather complicated-looking eye sockets and just make some googly eyes, but I had already cut out the pieces, so I gave them a go.
Worth it. I left off the embroidered smile, as its head/chin seam was already very smile-like and subtle.
So now we come to the issue. How am I going to dress it? The limb-to-body joins aren't very elegant and in any case my legs aren't in the same place on the body, so something's got to cover that all up.
I like the old-fashioned swimsuit idea, it reminds me of a Frog and Toad story, but I think I'd like to try something different.
Your frog looks musical to me. Beatnik frog or jazz musician frog. Not sure exactly what clothes that would mean ... Or perhaps a doublet and hose to be a frog prince?
ReplyDeletePrince frog seems like the most intuitive choice to me, though making a little doublet for him may be more work than it was to make the frog. Oh! ...and he would have to have a coronet.
DeleteBeatnik frog would wear a black turtleneck and a gold chain with a frog charm hanging from it, I'd guess. I'd be less sure about jazz frog.
I love the idea of prince frog and a tiny doublet and coronet, but as Damon says, it might be a lot of work! Mind you, even a tiny turtleneck would have its difficulties, I am sure. Hmm...
DeleteI see him in a bow tie with suit and tails, the tails being lily pads, either two lily pads overlapping or one big lily pad cut down the middle to make the two parts of the suit tails. I supposed that means I'm implying a green suit and actually the bow tie could be a lily for bow, so it sort of looks like he just stepped out of the pond with the best suit of his home.
ReplyDeleteBtw, this is Kaytee.
DeleteI was thinking bow tie, suit and top hat! Hehe we were on the same page.
DeleteAlso I really, really, really, really, really want to hug this frog.
Suit idea is good. Kaytee, your creative vision is excellent, I can picture it perfectly. Not sure I could make it!
DeleteAnd Sarah, it is a super-huggable frog. Those giant arms are perfect :)