You may have heard of Operation Christmas Child. It’s run yearly by Samaritan’s Purse and involves donations of toys, books, clothing, and personal hygiene products placed in a shoebox and given to children living in developing countries at Christmas. Some of these children have never received a gift in their lifetime. Last year they distributed over 7 million shoeboxes to needy children around the world. It’s a wonderful way of letting these children know that despite their circumstances, there are people who care about them and want to give them hope, even if they live hundreds of kilometres away.

The church I’m a member of is involved in the campagin again this year and as I gathered a few things together, I pulled out a pattern of chibi kitties from the wonderfully talented Myra and thought that they would make a great softie for inclusion in the shoeboxes.

Myra’s pattern is really easy to follow and this is one of those softies that can be completed in an hour and is quite addictive – so you never can stop at just making one! I used some brown flannel, assorted cotton prints, buttons, trim and wool felt embellishments. Because I enlarged the pattern by hand, they didn’t turn out as rounded as Myra’s original chibi kitties and rabbits, but I quite like their final shape and I hope their recipients will enjoy their new little friends.

You can download chibi kitty and rabbit pattern for free here.

In a sewing frenzy at the moment, happily getting through my To Do list :-) So here’s a quick post to introduce you to Baby Chibis Giselle and Grace, both named after their future recipients. One is a custom order and the other is for my god-daughter.

If I owe you an email, thanks for being patient – will reply soon!

Meanwhile, please check-out the amazing drawings by Pyglet Whispers – love them! Don’t you think they would look fantastic on fabric? If so, don’t forget to let her know :-) .