First up, for the Patriotic Dotee Doll swap (I hosted).
Per the swap guidelines, the dotee had to represent your country in some way, be it with your flag's colors or with a symbol of your country. It was an international swap but most of the folks were U.S. I wanted to do something fun and a little tongue in cheek.
Derpy eagle is so patriotic!
Yeah, he really does have a derpy face.
Told you.
The body is made from this odd fuzzy fabric I got from my sister. It's the leftovers from the Domo costume she made herself for last Halloween (that costume was fabulous--and my sister tries to act like she can't craft/sew, she makes kick ass cakes, too--we're a creative family).
The head is felt with felt and embroidered features. I made it hood style, so it's layered over the fuzzy fabric (with a spot of glue on the back pieces so I didn't have to stitch across the bottom of the head area and have ugly stitches).
I made a template for the body (it was just a simple egg shape) and the wings were just free form using the curvy scrap bits left after I cut out the egg shapes.
Bead feet and oh so patriotic tail (dotee tail that is--he does have a real fabric tail, too but I didn't get a pic of it--the fabric tail was made from a scrap).
What patriotic eagle would be complete without a wee American flag? This was a free printable I found online. Just glue the paper to the toothpick and viola, it's a flag. It was sliding a bit on the pick, so I added a little bead at the top (and put a bit o' glue at the bottom of the paper).
I plan to send along another copy of the flag image and extra toothpick just in case this one gets mashed in transit. Or if my partner wants to add a second flag to make this the most patriotic eagle EVAH. Their call.
I really love how this one turned out.
NEXT up:
For a Damnit Doll swap. (damnit dolls are just dolls made to be abused--google it if you're that curious)
The basic premise is it's a doll shaped stuffed toy large enough that you can get ahold of it and slam it around or throw it so you can get out your frustrations.
As you can see, this fine fella is a good size. I'd guess about 10 inches or so (not including his hair).
Speaking of that hair, how fabulous is it, huh? It was a bit of a bitch to turn out mostly because I was dumb when I stitched up the doll. I should have left a hair gap at the top of the head and then hand stitched the hair in OR made the doll's neck wider and I wouldn't have had the struggle I did when I turned the doll. I did manage to get it done (duh) but I blew out a bit of the seam at the neck doing it. Not a huge deal, I fixed it up with no fuss but I need to be learning smarter ways to sew, not just stubbornly muscling through.
A face only a mother could love (or someone who wants to abuse you).
This fabric was just so great I didn't want to add anything like buttons. Also, the more chunky junk you add the more chances for those items to fall off should someone actually abuse the doll. And, come on now, that flower looking mark is PERFECT as an eye. I just needed to enhance it a bit with some embroidery. So I stitched over the flower shape and then over the backslash to make the eyes. Ric rac for the mouth (really, it's the easiest way to make a squiggly "oh no!" style mouth).
Ok, I have to just add this. How great is that fabric? It's all kinds of punctuation which looks so much like cartoon swears. The minutes I found this in my stash I knew it was what I was going to use. (and my stash is so much bigger than I like to admit--holy crap, I need to stop buying RIGHT NOW and get sewing, NOW).
I just have to add a poem to the Damnit Doll before I send it. There are "official" ones online but I think I'm going to amend mine a bit. The "real" one is kind of long and dumb. I want to get mine down to four lines. I think I have it just about figured out.
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