Muppet Nostalgia

Well, this blog is supposed to be about my crafts, but today I want to indulge in a little nostalgia brought on by going to see The Muppets (it's my blog, so I can do what I want, right?).

I always loved watching The Muppets.  One of the first movies I ever saw was The Great Muppet Caper which, as I recall, featured such wonderful scenes as Miss Piggy doing synchronised swimming, and saving the day by smashing through a window on a motorbike.  There are so many wonderfully zany muppets, but my favourite character was Miss Piggy, of course.  She always looked beautiful with her frills and feathers, her blonde curls, and her jewels.  And she was fiesty!  If anyone got in her way, she could take them out with a "Hai-ya!"  I loved everything about her.  My other favourites were Beaker, Rowlf, and Animal.  I liked the Swedish Chef too, and I remember a scene where he was shredding cabbage by throwing the leaves in the air and shooting them with a shotgun.  After a while, he decides to throw the whole cabbage in the air, he shoots, and down comes all these brussel sprouts (and that's the only thing I ever liked about brussel sprouts!)  When I was a kid, I had no idea that the special guest stars were actually famous people!  I had absolutely no clue who they were!

(Here's the bit where it gets crafty, well a little crafty, anyway)  My mum always used to buy last seasons pattern books, and I used to pore over the pages of them.  I had lots of favourites...the wedding dress section of course, the party dresses, and first communion dresses...I can still picture them so clearly!  When I found Miss Piggy among the patterns, I was in heaven!  Mum bought me the patterns for a Miss Piggy costume, Miss Piggy soft sculpture doll and clothes (you had to buy those patterns separately), and I think I used my own pocket money to buy the Muppet Babies patterns.

For some reason though, we never made any of them!  I so wanted a Miss Piggy of my own...so much so that when we were in Disneyland a few years ago, and I saw a Miss Piggy, I just couldn't help but buy her (er, for my daughter, of course!)  Saddly for Piggy, Miss Missy didn't really take to her, and she was eventually relegated to the top cupboard of the wardrobe.  Well, I just had to rescue her from that obscurity, so here she is, in all her glory.  Hmmm, actually, I don't think she really looks glorious enough...I feel a make-over coming on!  She really should be wearing a long, frilly gown ~ something a bit more Miss Piggy-ish than that hideous purple mini dress she came in.  Lucky it's detachable.  I always hated dolls with stitched on clothes.  Thanks to the movie, Miss Missy now has a renewed interest in her, and it turns out the Young Lad has also taken a liking to her, and wanted to take Piggy with him for a nap this afternoon :)

Well...I also dug those old pattern out of my stash, and Baby Piggy looks just as cute as ever!  So does Baby Kermit. Maybe one day I'll actually make them.  I think the kids would like that... (the kids? you say)

Vogue Patterns still has some cute toys, but no Muppets 

I'd love to know if you're a Muppet fan.  Who was your favourite character?  Do you have something from your childhood that you always wanted to make, but never did?