Cat Rabbit Workshop

On Tuesday I had a fun night at a workshop with Cat Rabbit, a Hobart based illustrator and toy maker. Cat creates such cool little soft characters and manages to achieve what I strive for......a unique style that really stands out from the crowd. Which I think is partly due to her choice of colours and materials and partly to her ability as an artist. Maybe that's what can be achieved when an illustrator sews, or did the sewer illustrate? Whatever came first, I think it's a recipe for success when it comes to crafting. This one's my favourite.

At the workshop there were about 20 ladies and gents sat around a large table laid with felt, pins, needles, scissors and thread and we each created a little character based on a template offered by Cat. It was really interesting how different they all were. I found myself really out of my comfort zone without 'my things' around me; my sewing machine, my vanishing ink pen, my embroidery needles, my 'box of tricks' and my music. But it was fun to create in company, sing to ourselves and each other and use a muffin as a pin cushion.

I was glad I got the opportunity to talk to Catherine about how she comes up with her characters and how she tranforms them into a three dimensional 'pattern'. This is something that I'm really struggling with at the moment. We also got talking about our mutual love of sewing/craft groups, craft blogs, and she gave me some really good tips. So thank you Catherine for a lovely evening and here are our creations. Can you guess which one is mine?