Did you see we’ve been working with Raph, finalist in TV’s Great British Sewing Bee? if you missed it, click here to read our interview with him.
In this piece, Raph shares a new project he’s created which you will soon be able to make yourself in Cricut Design Space.
Over to Raph:
As lots of us making things from home know there can often be leftover scraps when we finish our projects. I personally amass piles of off-cuts at the end of each make. I try my best to limit this waste and I keep the left-overs in case they come in handy for future ideas. It’s the same when using my Cricut machine, I keep any excess material because you never know how it might come in handy for future ideas.
I’ve accumulated so many scraps in the past few months it felt like my craft room was being taken over so I decided to come up with a design idea to make good use of them. At the same time, I had been feeling quite guilty for not being able to visit a lot of my younger relatives back in France for a long time and I thought it would be nice if the design was something that could bring them a little bit of joy (and perhaps remind them of who uncle Raph is).
Raphy the Giraffe
I’ve had a family reputation for being giraffe obsessed since I was young, something to do with how funny and awkward they seem always appealed to me. They look at odds with the world with their long legs and interminable necks…so odd yet so friendly! (I also like that we kinda share a name).
So I’m very pleased to introduce you to Raphy the Giraffe, made with my leftover scraps. A soft toy that will (hopefully) remind my nieces and nephews who I am 🙂
Make it scrappy
I really enjoyed designing him and the making process is lots of fun. I particularly love the stuffing part and seeing Raphy taking shape. He takes on his own personality as he comes closer to being fully formed.
The design allows you to make good use of all your scraps. You could for instance choose to cut the body pieces out of some larger bits of leftover fabric, or you could use fresh fabric altogether, and then use the off-cuts from that fabric as some of your stuffing material.
If you have smaller scraps in the craft room, you could shred these into even smaller bits and use them to stuff your giraffe. You’ll be surprised how much you can fit in there; Giraffes are hungry animals, and you’ll find they’ll devour your scraps easily!
For extra fun, if you have any left-over Iron-on material you can use it for the giraffe print. Simply cut little shapes by hand, they can be irregular too so no need to be precise, place them at random on the fabric of the body parts, and Easy Press them on ahead of assembling the toy.
Over to you
I’ve gone on to make a few already in various colours, one is made out of a flowery fabric. I actually like him best for his own unique look.
I can’t wait to see all the giraffe’s the Cricut community comes up with – you can have a go in any colour combination! It would be awesome to see a multitude of one-of-a-kind Raphy the Giraffe’s popping up around the world! Some of mine are now settling into their new homes back in France.
I now feel a little less absentee guilt and much better, knowing something I made of waste from previous projects is putting a smile on the face of my nieces and nephews.
Be sure to tag Raph and Cricut UK on Instagram so that we can share your creations @raph_sew_and_so and @Cricut_uk.
