Some of you might remember this clockwork elephant?

I won it on ebay for £4.90, listed as not working, missing one eye, one ear and a tail.

She is circa 1950s and is made by a company called Alps, in Japan.

Well at long last her hospital appointment came up, an operation for ear and eye transplant in the clockwork medical shed. She already had an intravenous drip (sewing machine oil) and does actually move, very slowly as elephants tend to do.

I managed to find some tiny glass eyes so she will look a little more 'balanced'

operating table

it was a quick job, the only fabric I had that was nearest in colour was some grey wool felt. I drew a rough shape, sewed it, cut it out and turned it inside out and pressed it with iron and...

and a felt tail...

here is a rough clip of her plodding along...

Liberty 's do different patterns for their fabrics every season, and this season's new designs happen to be based on an Isle of Wight theme. All the local sights are featured within the pattern, it's pretty strange to see the hut outside a pub where I used to sell surf clothes, illustrated on fabric! Anyhows, what with my niece turning two, I thought it would be nice if the two cousins could have matching I.O.W dresses, so I tried my bestest to make some.