Curiosity inspires Creativity

There is a great article about Nosey Nest in the Australian web-zine Living Creatively. Thank you so much Carolyn and Angela !

Hippo Herd

This Hippo Herd is off to online hippo shop Hippomojo.com, where they will meet a whole lot more very nice hippo's !

Imaginary Friends - a softie pattern series

Have you ever been afraid of the dark when you were a kid; of critters under your bed, squeaking stairs and shadows on the wall ? So frightened you couldn't fall asleep, woke up at night or didn't want your parents to leave you before they'd checked under your bed a thousand times ?

Did you ever suspect that these so-called scary creatures aren't that scary after all ? That you even could become friends with these monsters ?

Nosey Nest introduces the first two in a downloadable soft toy pattern series about children's fears.

The first in this Imaginary Friends Series is "Mini-Monster Manfred".



A little drama occurs nearly every night,
When a mommy says sleep well and turns off the light.
A tiny creature covers both his eyes and ears,
there is lots of sniffling and some very big tears.
Sitting up straight is poor mini-monster Manfred,
who is afraid of the children above his bed.



Complete pattern and instructions for a 6" stuffed mini-monster.
Full size pattern pieces and detailed, photo illustrated, instructions, 7 pages.

The second in the Imaginary Friends Series is the "Daring Dragon".



When a small baby dragon discovers how to spit fire,
breathing massive flames will be his one and only desire.
So to prevent the little hothead from wrecking their place,
his dear dragon daddy lets him practice on the staircase.
Therefore if you hear the sound of squeaking stairs late at night,
know it's a dragon fighting an imaginary knight.



Complete pattern and instructions for a 13" stuffed dragon.
Full size pattern pieces and detailed, photo illustrated, instructions, 10 pages.

If you would like to read more about monsters you could take a peak at the bookshelf.

Blue Barking, the imaginary dog

This book is about a boy named Bertie who wants a dog, a blue dog, more than anything in the world. But he doesn't have one so he likes to pretend; patting it, walking it, even playing both sides of a game of fetch. Everything a dog wants, you could say. But one day, Bertie finds a real dog, and it's puppy love at first sight.



It could have been the story of Blue. He's an imaginary dog, too, but he doesn't have a kid. And dogs, even the imaginary ones, need a person. So, as you probably can imagine, Blue is a little blue.



Blue is a positive little fellow, always wagging his tail. He likes to, out of the blue, sneak up behind you and give you a big hug. He also likes to swim in crystal blue lakes and chew his little blue bone. Blue is everything a person could hope for, so let's hope he finds a home soon. And, if not, he could always pretend...

Lucky Ducky Freebie

An original Nosey Nest Pattern.

© Copyright 2008 Nosey Nest. All rights reserved.
Please do not make money using this pattern.



In this post a little duck made a hippo happy by telling him how wonderful he is. Every once in a while there is somebody who could use some kind words too to make him feel better. So here's a tutorial for making a lucky ducky with a tiny pouch which can hold a nice note for somebody who really needs it.

The ducky in the tutorial is named Dunley. He is in the shop with his friend Henri.

Materials needed
- Felt ( three different colors are used in this tute; yellow for the duck, orange for it's beak and wings, blue for the little pouch ).
- A little scrap of fabric or felt for the heart at the pouch.
- Little black beads for the eyes.
- Some stuffing.
- Optional : some beads for decoration.

Parts ( download PDF )
1. Side ( cut twice, yellow felt )
2. Belly ( cut once, yellow felt )
3. Beak ( cut twice, orange felt )
4. Wing ( cut twice, orange felt )
5. Pouch ( cut once, blue felt )
6. Heart ( cut once, the little scrap of fabric )

Enlarge to every size you wish.

Description
- Cut out all parts. You don't have to include a seem.



- Blanketstitch the two sides together from the top of the beak * to the tail *



- Put the tummy in. Blanketstitch from tail* to beak ** and then from chest to tail. Don't forget to stuff the body before you close it.





- Blanketstitch the two beak parts together from * to *



- Blanketstitch the beak at lucky ducky's head.



- Blanketstitch the little heart at the pouch and the pouch at the duck chest.
- Also blanketstitch the wings to the body. Leave the tips open.
- Sew on the black beads for the eyes.



- You might want to decorate your ducky with some beads.



- Your done ! Put a tiny note with some kind words in lucky ducky's pouch and give him to somebody who needs .....some kind words.

If you've made a lucky ducky with this pattern please add a picture to the Nosey Nest Tutorial Group at Flickr.

Have fun !

A blushful hippo and his friend

Meet Henri, a hippo who blushes very easily. Not only when something makes him burp (quietly, of course) but also when he counts 1...2...4...3. Oops!

Once, when Henri was hiding behind some books on the bookshelf (because he didn't want anybody to see he was turning all red again) he found this old book, all covered in dust.


The book was about a hippo named Roosevelt who also has a tendency to blush. Luckily Roosevelt also had a little friend, a bird called Lombard, who reassured him that he was not a bashful hippo; but was instead hopeful, mindful, thoughtful, and wonderful. And with each new, kind word Roosevelt stood taller and prouder.

Of course when little Henri had finished reading this book, he also wanted a friend like Lombard. So he went to the duckpond and met Dunley, a nice little yellow duckling. Dunley was tired of being small and unimportant and was very happy to hear that Henry was looking for a friend. He made him self comfortable at Henri's head while whispering some kind words....



Because there must be more souls in this world who would like to have or give a bird like Lombard and Dunley ( with room in his tiny pouch for a nice little note ), a tutorial for making one will be posted here tomorrow.

Little Longneck

Little here is the first Nosey Nest member who is completely baby friendly ;
he has little felt eyes and buttons.
Little went to life with newborn Tim ! No doubt they will have lots of fun in the future.

Piggy Bank Freebie

An original Nosey Nest Pattern.

© Copyright 2008 Nosey Nest. All rights reserved.
Please do not make money using this pattern. Just store it in the piggy bank...





It's obvious pigs are very nosey animals. So a free piggy bank pattern is the logical thing to do..... isn't it ?

Parts ( download PDF part 1 and part 2. )
1. Exterior side A ( cut once, exterior fabric )
2. Exterior side B ( cut once, exterior fabric )
3. Lining side A ( cut once, lining fabric )
4. Lining side B ( cut once, lining fabric )
5. Nose ( cut once, lining fabric )
6. Ears ( cut four times ; twice lining fabric, twice exterior fabric )
7. Tail ( cut twice; once lining fabric, once exterior fabric )

Enlarge to every size you wish. This one can hold a creditcard and some money.

Materials needed
- Fabric ( print for lining, plain for exterior. Of course, you could do all solid or all print, or a variety. )
- Button
- Little black beads for the eyes.
- Embroidery floss to make a little loop to hook around the button.
- Optional some stuffing for the snout.

Description
- Cut all parts out of the fabric. Include a 1/4" seem.



- Sew together the ears and tail and turn right sides out ( Be patient, the fun starts after this ).
- Pin en sew parts 2 and 4 together up to the arrows ( see picture below ). Back stitch at each end to secure.
- Same for part 1 and 3.



- Pin both piggy sides together with the lining facing ( see picture below ).
- Put the tail in the right place.



- Sew together from forehead to tail. Leave the nose open. Back stitch at each end to secure. Make sure the lining doesn't get stuck.
- Handsew the little circle for the snout in the right place.



- Turn everything right side out.
- Sew the ears on ( don't sew through the lining ).
- Sew on some beads for the eyes ( mind the lining again ).
- Make a knot in the tail.
- Make a little loop for the button with embroidery floss.
- Sew on the button.
- You might want to put some stuffing in his nose.



Pin and sew together the bottom of the lining.



Put the lining in his belly.
This piggy is ready to be fed ! You're done !

For anybody who wants to own a piggy bank but doesn't want to sew; the piggy bank you can see in the pictures above is now in the Nosey Nest Shop. More piglets will be added later.

If you made a piggy bank with this pattern please add a picture to the Nosey Nest Tutorial Group at Flickr.

Have fun !

Timmy knows what he wants

Recently Timmy Trunk pulled this book


out of the Nosey Nest Bookshelf. He sat on a pillow in a cozy corner for what seemed like forever with his trunk in this wonderfull picture book.

The book is about Hugo the elephant who becomes an unexpected hero when he saves a house from fire by skywriting FIRE above the house with his plane Wilco.That way he alerts the residents and the fire department to the danger. With his handy elephant trunk, Hugo is then first on the ground to help put out the flames.

When Timmy was finally finished reading this exciting story, his chubby cheaks seemed a little red. He had this faraway look in his eyes. He seemed a little bigger. Timmy knew what he wanted to be; he wanted to be a firefighter !



To reach his goal he trains daily in his fire fighter uniform. The other Nosey Nest members, especially the dragons, don't like this at all. (There is so much water involved!)

Owen & Mzee

If you know this story, and you probably will ...


( In case you don't know it it's about a little baby hippo, Owen, who was swept away from his mama in the tsunami & has adopted the 130 year old tortoise Mzee as his new mom )

...you know that hippo's dare to see further than the end of their noses. Real Nosey Nest members ! That's why the Hippo Herd is added to Nosey Nest. The first Hippo is Hugo. A real hunk and daredevil.



And of course a book about Owen and Mzee is added to the Nosey Nest Bookshelf. You can find out more about Owen & Mzee here