Garden Flower Fairies

I mentioned a little while ago, when I had made my wild flower fairies, that I was also going to make some garden flower fairies. Here they finally are. While my other fairies looked a bit like elves in the woods, these fairies do rather look as if they are older ladies, off to a wedding. Perhaps I have made myself.

I am not going to say the garden flowers they represent, but thought you might like to leave a guess in the comments box, I will reveal each fairy, with their own flower, over the next few weeks. This is just for fun, as there is not prize. But you can get a better look at their hats, here is a back view, which might help you spot the flowers.

Just a reminder that there is still time join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for July. Click on the photo above or at the top of the page to find the party. I would love to see what you have been working on this month.

A Flutter of Fairy Folk

Forget-me-not

Spring is in the air here in England, and with flowers appearing I just thought I would put all my fairy folk together, for a bit of a fairy gathering. What to call a party of fairies? After a bit of research I decided a flutter sounds nice. These are all knitted and adapted from my Mermaid and Flower Fairy pattern.

I do like it best where I have managed to photograph them in a natural setting. Most of these fairies have already found new homes, although one or two are still in my shop. There is such variety in nature that I have only once or twice repeated a design. I am already thinking of a few new ones: primrose, blackthorn, or honeysuckle.

So if you have a flower or tree that means a lot to you, please get in touch and I will have a go at making it.

Holly

Dandelion

Oak Tree

Lily

Apple Blossom

Stitchwort

Bluebell

Lavender

Cherry Tree

Snowflake

Mermaids

Christmas Fairies

Pohutukawa (New Zealand Christmas Tree Fairy)

Echinacea (but photographed on a sunflower)

Daisies

Mermaids

I've been knitting a few mermaids, from my Mermaid Flower Fairy Pattern.

This mermaid really reminds me of Cher, although perhaps this is just because I am thinking of the film Mermaids. This has given me the idea of making some new Tiny Icon dolls.

Pohutukawa

I promised one more fairy, and here she is. She is called Pohutukawa, and is for my friend from New Zealand. My friend is not going home to New Zealand this year, so I am hoping she will remind her of home (in a good way) and not make her too sad.

She is the fairy of the pohutukawa tree (Metrosideros excelsa), which is known as the New Zealand Christmas tree. I had a lot of fun researching the flowers of New Zealand, before discovering her. She lives in this little red velvet bag.

Snowflake

This is Snowflake. I found the wool for her hair in the bottom of my stash. No idea where it came from, but it is just perfect for this vibrant girl. Her dress is much more blue than it looks in this picture.

She lives in this sparkly, embroidered bag. I love embroidering snowflakes, as you can quite legitimately make every one different.

The other fairies of my self-imposed Fairy Week are, Dandelion, Holly, Christmas Fairies and Lily.

There will be one more fairy, but since she is a gift for a friend I will not show her quite yet.

Lily

Meet Lily, the next of fairy of Fairy Week. She is a very special fairy, for a girl whose name you can probably work out. 

When I was asked to make her I started researching lilies. So many types: water lilies, lily of the valley, tiger lilies. In the end I decided to make a calla or arum lily. It is so distinctive and cannot be mistaken for any other flower. As well as the lily on her hat, she has a little lily to carry.

The other fairies so far are Dandelion, Holly, and the Christmas Fairies.

Who will tomorrow's fairy be?

Christmas Fairies

Here as promised are two fairies today. No flowers this time, they are simply Christmas Fairy Friends. I am going to put them in Etsy together, and have made and embroidered a slightly larger drawstring bag, which fits them both.

I'm still having problems with the light in my photographs. I really hate flash, so had to rush up to the top of the house to try and photograph them directly under the skylight. "Can't talk children, I've got to photograph fairies."

You can also see the other fairies in Fairy Week, Dandelion and Holly, and there will be more tomorrow.

Holly

So it is Day Two of my attempt to have a new fairy every day this week, and I am already slightly regretting my rash promise. Dandelion was yesterday's fairy. Holly is a much more Christmassy Fairy. She has holly leaves for wings, and some bright red berries on her hat.  

I sat up quite late last night doing the embroidery on her bag. The dupion silk has a lovely rough quality, and although once again the light is not good for photographs, I think my photos do show the real (not too brash) gold colour.

I really wanted to photograph her with a sprig of holly, and although there is a lovely holly tree with lots of berries in someone's garden in my road, I was too chicken to reach over and pick a sprig. My daughter was extremely embarrassed that I even considered doing this, so instead I hope her fluffy dressing gown gives a snowy background.

There will be no fairies on Sunday, but hopefully on Monday (light being suitable) there will be a duo.

Dandelion

Meet Dandelion. She is not very seasonal, I know, but I have some more fairies (some of whom are a bit more Christmassy), and am going to feature them all over the next week. Hopefully there will be a new one to see each day. I started off thinking I will make angels, but they have ended up being fairies again. 

My problem has been photographing them, as the light does not seem good before I go to work, or when I get back.

 

For some reason I keep humming Barry Manilow's Copacabana. Can't think why! She just looks like a bit of a show girl to me. She is off to Etsy later today, where I have had a bit of a run of sales on my fairies recently.

Some More Fairy Folk

As promised a few more fairy folk for my shop. Meet the Oak Tree Fairy, my first boy fairy. Do you like his little acorn hat? Perhaps I should call him an elf or pixie rather than a fairy. 

Many thanks to my husband who so patiently held him in place while I photographed him. Goodness knows what passers by thought we were doing in the bushes.

Next is the Echinacea Fairy. She is the main reason for my not posting these fairies sooner, as I have been hunting around my neighbourhood for a yellow echinacea flower for her photoshoot. I think it is a bit early for them here, so she has had to make do with a sunflower. As I also couldn't find any sunflowers locally I took this photo between the aisles at my local garden centre. Hubby was my lookout guy! But as you will see from her little embroidered bag, she is definitely an echinacea. All these fairies are for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Finally I have photographed the Lavender Fairy again, as at last the lavender in my garden has some flowers.

Cherry Ripe!

Meet the Cherry Fairy Twins. I was delighted by Frankie's reaction when I first showed them to her. "Lady Gaga!" she exclaimed. Not my intention, but I can see what she means, although I had thought of them as more in 1940's dress.

Sorry about the seemingly never-ending stream of fairies. I do love making these little girls, which are still my basic pattern. It is such fun deciding on the flower or fruit and how to give them their character. There are still more on the way, and even when made I have to hope for a sunny day and seek out the right flowers for photographs.
 

These ones also come in their own little dupion silk bag. The cherries are hand embroidered, and the drawstring made of suede leather. They are also off to my Etsy shop. I am still working on a slightly bigger toy pattern, but whenever I need a bit of a break I return to my fairies.