Hello there, Beastie readers! Now, any of you who tuned in to my previous post would be forgiven for thinking that all the accessories I showed off last time around would be plenty to keep even the most active Beastie occupied. But as the title says – there’s more!
Much, much more.
First of all, let’s get a proper introduction to this little felted sweetie who made a brief appearance at the campfire cookout a couple of weeks back:
Hello there, Mini-Sadie!
Mini-Sadie is a needle-felted miniature of Cindy Beastie’s human’s own canine companion. She’s a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and she has a penchant for dressing up, as you can see.
Unfortunately, she doesn’t walk so well… But that’s ok, because she has THIS!
Hop right in, Mini-Sadie! Let’s take a stroll together.
Good girl! And awaaaaaay we go!
Mini-Sadie’s “tail wagon” is made from felt, and features net windows so she doesn’t get too hot.
For extra realism, those wagon wheels really turn, too… And that ended up being the trickiest part of the design! I raided Dublin’s toy and charity shops in search of suitable pre-made wheels, but they were all the wrong size. After much experimenting, the winning solution turned out to be home-made – a thick wire axle, with button wheels held in place with tubular beads. And I think the embroidered felt “spokes” fit in better with the woolly, fuzzy Beastie design aesthetic as well!
So, that’s walkies done for the day… What’s next?
How about a spot of sewing?
Cindy Beastie’s human counterpart is a quilter and fibre artist, so obviously only a top-of-the-range Beastnina sewing machine would do! Let’s get it set up…
…And then she’s ready to stitch!
Human Cindy’s artwork also inspired an extra addition to her Beastie’s wardrobe. When I began her Beastification, she was creating a series of miniature art pieces, using small segments of fabric embellished with embroidery. You can see some of them on her website, here. Miniaturising already-miniature artworks seemed like a non-starter, but incorporating this idea into an item of clothing for a little monster? That might just work!
I used pieces of felt, printed cotton and ribbon, and the design continues across the back and over the sleeves!
The jacket fastens with snaps in the front, so it’s removable as well.
Surely that’s everything now though, right? Nope! Not quite. I’ve one more final touch to add to Cindy Beastie, as requested by Human Cindy.
Snazzy yellow specs!
I love how fun and bright these are… Don’t they complement her lovely pale blue complexion beautifully?
And phew! That’s everything accounted for! Thanks to Cindy for this awesome and challenging Beastification project – it really expanded my monster-making skills in all kinds of new directions. And cheers to all you readers if you made it this far… Next time, I’ll be introducing you all to a simpler (but no less special) Beastie friend. See you in a couple of weeks!
PS…
You may have noticed that my Beastie store is looking a little empty these days.
But fear not! A fresh crop of woolly monster friends is assembling as we speak, and will be landing on the 22nd of this month at 10m Irish time. Set your alarms… Or, better yet, head to the Store and sign up for restock updates!
And not just any new Beastie – this one is a SUPERHERO!
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.
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.
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.
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!
The only solution here is to provide these little monsters with their own Beastie-sized snacks, in the hope that they will leave your plate alone… At least long enough for you to eat a couple of mouthfuls. So here are some of my favourite adventures in Beastie cuisine, collected together in one menu for the first time!
This 
You’ll notice that 
Or, for the more daring diner, we’re also serving 
Sometimes they’ll even opt for fresh fruit!
They’re always eager to start the day off on the right paw, anyway, whether that’s with a 
… A big ol’ 
… Or a fry-up of their very own!
So, did your favourite food make it onto the table? Or do I need to update my menu? Be sure to let me know in the comments!
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?
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.