Hello! I am Muu, the owner of Muumade.
Making things by hand takes time and effort. Especially when an abundance of almost anything is a ‘click away’ and often at incredibly low prices, it may not seem worthwhile to make anything handmade.
But, I aspire to do just that!
Why?
When I work on a handcrafting project, the clock seems to slow down to a refreshing pace. Before I settle on the design for any stuffed animal, I start by imagining a variety of shapes and postures in my mind over days and sometimes weeks. Next I make paper models to study the animal from different angles in 3D. Then I start to experiment with felt, fine-tuning details and figuring out how best to go about sewing different parts of the creature. After all that time and effort, I get a stuffed animal. Is it worth it? To me, YES!
Making things with my own hands is very rewarding, but it also helps me appreciate the skill and effort of other makers and the value of their creations. Handmade products are more than mere “stuff” to buy on a whim and later discard without a single thought about them. So, I prefer to surround myself with a lot fewer things, but the things I have are a lot more meaningful to me. Less waste, more quality!
A great many of what-could-be-otherwise-considered “nothings” are potentially useful materials for handcrafting projects. Scraps of fabric, leftover yarn, old sweaters, worn jeans, corks, pretty wrapping paper, cardboard boxes… Hurray to reusing resources!
Ideas and thoughts is a place for me to share all kinds of handcrafting projects, ideas and thoughts on handmade living.
I also introduce the patterns and instructions for my creations that are available from my online shop muumade.etsy.com. To play a small part in the efforts to preserve our environment and its wildlife, I donate a part of the online shop’s proceeds to wildlife and environmental charities.
Please respect that my creations (including their images) are copyrighted and that they are for personal use only.
I hope you will find my posts enjoyable and useful.
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I can be contacted at: muu@muumade.com
Muu