First, the dotee I made for the Under the Sea swap (I hosted):
It's a sort of octopus/jelly fish. I intended her to be an octopus but once I got it done it looked a lot more like a jelly fish. The fabric was a scrap I just received in a scrap swap. How's THAT for quick turn around on stash busting. The tentacles are just bits of satin-y cording from my dotee trim stash bag (I save bits of ribbon and such that come with other packages I receive, I think that's where this cording came from--it wasn't on a roll, that's for sure). The tail is more of the bubble beads with a little fishy button at the bottom.
Now, about those peepers. Those are the last two google eyes I had. And don't you know, the last time I was at Joanne's they didn't have any. Who would have ever thought I'd be WANTING google eyes. Wait, let me specify SEW ON google eyes. They had the glue on kind but I prefer sew on. Behind each eye is a shell shaped sequin, giving this jelly fish a very girly look that I enjoy.
Next up, for the Dotee with Two Faces swap:
Basically you had to make a two sided dotee with a face on each side. Easy peasy, right. . .yeah, that's why this one took some thinking on my part. Not so much detailed planning but just some serious sketching. I wanted to experiment with my cloth markers. I tried out the sharpie ones again but they were just too wet. The color bled a bit too much for the detail I wanted. They're good for simple features like a little line mouth or some eyes but not this much detail. I used my other pen (I don't know the manufacturer) for these. The tip on that pen is harder and made more for writing on fabric, which it does really well.
Here are some of the faces I rejected:
So you can see that pen was worth the $3 or so I paid for it (I think I paid that much). I'm going to have to go back to the art store and see if they have more of the same brand in different colors. I really like them. The only trick with them is you have to heat set the finished drawing. But that's simple (just use medium heat, no steam and a scrap of buffer fabric so ink doesn't get on the iron or ironing board--hold for a few seconds and bob's your uncle).
Had to whip out the heat and bond to get the faces onto the bodies. Made a bit of a misstep there and put them on BEFORE I sewed the bodies together so they pulled up around the edges as I turned the body right side out (and I left a rather stingy opening for turning, so that didn't help, either). I need to get some heat and bond that's NOT for applique. The light stuff I have is for items you want to adhere and then top stitch the edges, so sometimes the edges don't stick down super tight. For this dotee, I just got out a dot of glue and tidied up the edges as necessary. Since dotees are usually just for display, I don't forsee any problems with faces popping off all the way. I need to experiment more with bonding products. I have some stuff called Misty Fuse but it claims you need a silicon ironing sheet to use it and I don't have one of those so. . .maybe that's something I could treat myself too the next time I feel I need to buy something (or if I can score one at Joanne's with a 50% off coupon).
Closeups of those cute mugs.
I was going for an "old guy" look for the green side. Hence the comb over and three liver spot dots on the head. And the very "dad" looking tie to go with the argyle print fabric. The tie is just some bits of satin ribbon. The collar is attached at the body seams (pin to the right side before you sew the bodies together) then I tied a second bit around the collar and stitched it to vaguely resemble a tie. Snip the bottom into a point, add a tiny bit of glue to prevent fraying and done.
The pink side was more of a "baby" look. I had a hell of a time making a baby face. None of them were cute enough (as you can see in my sketches--babies tend to end up looking like monkeys--what's up with that?). The collar was the last of the towel cake ribbon (yes, that 12 year old trim I found in my junk room--the same stuff that I used on the sea horses I made last month). Again, it was attached at the body seams. Then I added a cute flower I had in my dotee stash (it was a flower someone sent to me as an extra).
The tail is just beads. I think the bigger plastic ones came from Wheezie's Cove (best thrift store EVER!) and the green are just from my generic seed bead dish.
They're both packed up and ready to mail. I have a few more packages to put together before I make a mail run. I found a new home for the cat dotee. I couldn't do the swap I made it for (dropped it before it was closed so no harm, no foul) but someone mentioned they wanted it so I'm doing a private swap for it. Love that.
What's up next?
I'm angeling for the Regretsy swap I'm in. So as soon as I get the info, I'll be pulling together a package for that person. I'm happy to report my first package made it to the UK without a hitch, so I'm excited for the reveal thread to see if they liked what I sent. I'm kind of hoping the person I'm angeling is into things I can easily craft for. I'm in the mood to make a little stuffed toy or something (but not necessarily for a certain show or anything like that--I want a more generic theme). We'll see!
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