Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a new Beastie!
And not just any new Beastie – this one is a SUPERHERO!
Last year during lockdown, a customer contacted me to ask if I’d be able to make a Christmas gift for her daughter. This girl LOVES superheroes, and even has a secret alter-ego herself… When danger looms, she transforms into Superhero Max! Not content with merely fighting crime, Superhero Max is also a dab hand at fixing electrical boxes – you know, those anonymous grey or green metal cases you see on pretty much every street.
Well, with material like that to work with, how could I refuse?
First of all, I thought I’d better provide this little monster lady with some tools. She’ll need those if she’s going to fix anything!
Normally I’d pop magnets inside these so the Beastie can hold them securely… But since her human counterpart is still quite young, I went for elastic loops on the handles instead, just to be on the safe side.
As you can see, they still fit snugly into her utility belt, ready for action.
She also has a cream-coloured super-suit, based on Superhero Max’s own favourite outfit. And this one comes complete with a special custom-designed hand-embroidered logo!
But of course, it’s oh-so-important that her identity remains a secret. Don’t worry, Miss Beastie! I’ve got you covered.
With a red felt mask and starry cape (inspired by her human counterpart’s passion for outer space), she’ll be able to head out completely incognito.
But wait a sec… Doesn’t every SuperBeastie need a super-sidekick?
Yes, absolutely!
Just as Superhero Max never goes anywhere without her trusted bunny friend Hop, this Beastie has a cuddly rabbit companion to join her on her adventures, too. He even has the same uniform, including a removable mini cape!
I also had fun adding in special bunny details, like a fluffy white tail and carrot-inspired sidekick logo.
Well, I think that’s all the angles covered! Just as well, because it looks like someone is ready for takeoff.
Up, up and… AWAAAAAY!
Yikes, she’s flown right out of the teeny photo studio! Um, can I ask everyone to please keep an eye out and report any low-flying Beasties in your neighbourhood directly to Beastie HQ? Thanks and see you next week!
But while it could be argued that “clothes maketh the monster”, this woolly little gal has much more going on. Let’s take a look at what she took with her when she left Beastie Towers for her new home.
Is that a Beastie-sized drum? It certainly is!
“Oooh, a Beastie-sized glass of red wine? Don’t mind if I do!”
It’s probably not wise to drink on an empty stomach though…
Well, since she’s all set up with the proper cutlery and everything…
… We’ll see what we can rustle up in the Beastie kitchen!
Our vintage loving Beastie’s human counterpart loves a bit of fine dining… So hopefully her new monster friend will be suitably impressed by this needle-felted haute cuisine!
Check out the Beastie HQ store… Maybe your own monster friend is there waiting for you!
Look at this… A Beastie lady with THE MOST amazing hair. I had so much fun styling this – I think we’d better take a closer look!
I used two shades of pink yarn to give the hairstyle some depth, and added in some soft silvery yarn in the back to mimic her human counterpart’s ‘do.
Her scarf and sweet handknitted pink cardi are both removable, as you can see. And, because various lockdowns have forced me to improvise with my existing fabric stash rather than hitting the shops to find what I need, I ended up dyeing the scarf myself! Let’s just say I’m very glad my customer went for a nice neutral grey, rather than something more difficult to match.
And now that she’s not wearing long sleeves, it might be a good time to get on with a spot of baking. Her magic magnetic paws will help her to hold everything.
Thanks, don’t mind if I do! They look delicious.
Regular readers of this blog will be reassured to learn that, as usual, these delectable treats are free from sugar, fat, gluten, dairy products and palm oil. They’re also high in fibre – wool fibre, of course!
This Beastie’s new human friend is a fellow knitter, so I couldn’t send her little woolly monster out the door without a set of needles and a ball of yarn. As you can see, these ones a bit small for me to use anyway.
Her new human family has a strong connection with horses, and I wanted to include a big shiny felt rosette somewhere as a nod to that. Beasties have no time for modesty, so it’s a proudly-displayed “Best in Show”!
Thanks to Suzi for requesting this awesome Beastie as a special birthday gift for her mum!
Angel Olsen Beastie was created for Shane, who may be the biggest fan of human singer-songwriter Angel Olsen going. So this Beastification really needed to be a good one! Armed with some carefully-selected reference material (thanks Shane!), I picked out some wardrobe options for Ms Olsen-Beastie.
As you can see, the vintage-style green dress with beehive hairdo won out. And much knitting, stitching and hairstyling later…
… And I Beastified her dress too!
I had a tricky time trying to find an exact match for the green in the photo, but this light olive satin from 
She doesn’t have to play all the time though. The strap unclips at the side so she can put it down at the end of her gigs.
Sorry, no more encores… At least not until next Tuesday! Thank you and goodnight!
He’s certainly dressed to impress, in a crisp white t-shirt and hand-embroidered baseball cap. Let’s get a closer look at that, shall we?
Just like human Tierney’s beau, this guy is showing some love for the Denver-based Colorado Avalanche ice hockey team… And how could any monster maker resist a team logo that incorporates a Bigfoot foot? I used 100% wool felt for the hat body, then appliquéd the large blocks of colour before embroidering in the finer details.
Yum! I’d almost eat this myself… If it wasn’t entirely made out of wool. The portion is probably better suited to a Beastie-sized appetite anyway. Are you hungry, Mr Beastie?
“Well sure… But in this shirt?”
Much better!
And how about a small digestif to round off the meal? It seems our Beastie friend is something of a bourbon connoisseur, and only the finest whisky will do – Monster’s Mark!
Here we go! He’s sitting at the card table, we’ve dealt the cards… And wow, he’s a high roller! Those are $100 chips he’s betting with!
It doesn’t get much better than that – a royal flush! And it looks like romance may indeed be on the cards… He’s got a pawful of hearts, featuring teeny-tiny embroidered portraits of himself, tierneycreates Beastie and Mikelet the (miniature) miniature Schnauzer.
Ooooh, is that an engagement band on your magic magnetic paw? And rumour has it that there was one in the box for a certain lady monster too… Congratulations, Beasties! May you enjoy many happy years of warm woolly happiness together.
Hey there, 
With libraries closed, getting her paws on some reading material was also high on tierneycreates Beastie’s to-do list. Human Tierney loves books about craft, personal development and home decor, so these titles should go down a treat.
Next, she realised that this hat…
… Needed a matching scarf.
“But hey, it’s not winter just yet! I should probably update my summer wardrobe as well. Oooh, polka dots!”
Into the cart it goes.
Look how teeny it is! I have enough trouble trying to type on the human-sized ones. This super-slim model is made from felt with a shiny reflective ribbon screen so it looks the part.
… She picked up a doggy backpack, just like the one Human Tierney uses to bring Mike the Miniature Schnauzer out and about!
The top of the backpack is open with a drawstring so Mikelet can peek out and stay involved in the action. It also goes rather nicely with the sundress!
… A sewing machine!
I just hope she still has time to help Tierney with her blog posts every now and again!
… And I was delighted to get a picture of Miss Beastie looking very summery in her new outfit!
Thanks so much to Tierney for this awesome project, and for enabling her Beastie’s online shopping addiction! For any of you who have also been (over)indulging in a little mail-order lately, you can confess all in the comments below. We won’t judge!
I created this Beastie as a very special birthday gift for an active lady who loves to spend time in the great outdoors. And since she lives in Scotland, I needed to make sure the weather never had a chance to rain on her parade (or hiking trail). That’s why she’s wearing a very fetching handknitted bobble hat…
… A rain jacket with handy hood…
(Did you notice the teeny embroidered zips?)
I stitched some felt treads to the soles of these boots to make them extra-grippy, and finished them with some embroidery thread laces. Now she’s fully equipped from head to toe!
This one is handstitched from 100% wool felt, and should hold everything she needs.
Why, you ask? Well, this Beastie lady also enjoys a game of 
Shinty sticks have a distinctive wedge-shaped head that sets them apart from the sticks used in hockey, hurling and other related sports like cammag (from the Isle of Man), bando (Wales) and Knattleikr (played by the Vikings in Iceland). In my quest to get the shape right, I was lucky enough to find 
Thanks to Anne for requesting this very special Beastification for her sister-in-law’s birthday!
Hello there!
WOW! I had so much fun with this! I used two slightly different shades of pink to give the colour extra depth, and unwinding the strands to separate the individual plies produced this tumble of luxuriant curls. Then a combination of carefully-placed stitches and a little precision styling with my needle-felting needle helped me to copy my human subject’s favourite swept-over-the-shoulder hairstyle.
… And as you can see, the long-sleeved version in a cute turquoise, green and cerise floral print with felt collar and buttons won out. Good choice!
It really complements her hair and healthy blue complexion, don’t you think?
… And a paintbrush, so she can let her creative side shine through too.
Finally, I copied her human counterpart’s cool glasses!
As usual, they have real clear plastic lenses and are removable. However, with this pair, I developed a new technique for making glasses that allows me to slim down the frames a little.
But hang on a second, Miss Beastie – don’t you have a birthday party to get to? Best get moving, you’re only sixteen once!
I’d say her future is as bright as her hair – what do you reckon?
Pretty rustic, eh? Back then I was using “graduate” sketchbooks – books with a thick paper cover that are stapled together in the middle like a magazine – and sending my customers photos of the pages. That’s why you can see shadows down some of the sides!
That said, I did keep on drawing by hand for a good while afterwards! Here are a couple from back in 2017 – do any of you recognise these Beasties?
Then when I figured out that I could scan in my fabric stash and show people the actual prints I’d be using for their Beastie’s outfits, I couldn’t have been happier!
And although I can now type most of the text, I still like to throw the odd bit of my own hand-drawn lettering into the sketches too.
How about you? Will you be cracking out your pencils this weekend, or creating artwork on your computer? Be sure to tell us all about it in the comments!