I just mailed off all the swaps I recently posted about and this was among them.
LBOE: It's in the bag #2.
For this swap you had to make (or buy) a bag of some type, make one stuffie, make two patches, and make (or buy) a profile based surprise.
The whole shebang right there.
Now the breakdown. First, the patches.
I got some of the Dear Stella Dress Me Up fabric (the first prints, not the second set they did) and some of the clothes. So I traced one of the cats and embroidered it. I didn't want to cut into the yard of fabric I had (and the cat was in the center, of course).
Then I made a few outfits.
The clothes don't fit exactly. I think the original animals were a tiny bit smaller than the second round. Or by tracing it and embroidering it it turned out a tiny bit smaller. Still cute but annoying (when I have a bit of perfectionism when it comes to stuff I'm trading, especially).
Then I made a pocket on the backing fabric to hold all the outfits.
The other patch is one of my favorites.
I just love this fabric so much. The artwork it just so cute and pretty at the same time. I have a half yard of this (it's Wee Wander) in white (I think) but then I got this aqua version in a scrap pack I treated myself to (when I bought the dress up fabric from Hawthorne Threads). (the backing fabric was in the same scrap pack, it was a really good one but I forgot to review it and I already added it to my stash so too late now--but Hawthorn Threads' scrap packs are good quality especially when they're on sale).
I didn't want to do much to the fabric since it's just so great on it's own. So I just embellished it a tiny bit with some embroidery using this satiny floss I got a while back. Holy crap, using the satiny floss was so NICE. No tangles at all. Though when you pull the stitch through it likes to slip back out a bit so you have to pull it taught again right as you take the next stitch. Then I added a few opalescent sequins (with french knots using silver satiny floss) to kind of look like fireflies.
Next up, the stuffies.
Got an itty bitty jackalope, in my hand!
I used the pattern from the book pictured and then took the antlers from the mini santa pattern at the Nuno Runo blog and just stitched them into the head as I was assembling this mighty mite. Worked like a charm!
I was excited to make this and thrilled with how it came out BUT. . .the swap gave a size requirement on the stuffie and this wee fella was way under (it's only about 3 inches tall).
So that's why I added the shark in, too.
True confession, I had the shark made and just hanging out at my house. It was my test run of a pattern gifted to me by Jodie (from Ric Rac). She posted it on her instagram and I tagged Kristy (of Hopeful threads) so she could see it and it got mentioned that I sew for charity and Jodie gave me the pattern. SO SWEET! So this shark (in the full size not the smaller version I made when I printed the pattern out sized to a regular sheet of paper, not big like it should be) and the whale that is also in the pattern are March's Fluff Project items. (I'm working on them now and will make a big ole official post about it and give more big fat thanks to Jodie then. . .also, I'm making some for the Sew Mama Sew charity thing going on right now, too. . .but again, more on that later).
So I tossed sharky into the swap, too. I wanted to keep him for myself but then I realized I can make a zillion more for me any time I want and to be honest, I probably won't so that means I really don't adore it as much as I think I do. It will be MORE loved given away then just gathering dust at my house.
Last but not least, the bags.
I only had to make one but. . .I couldn't decide which fabric to use and this bag is so freaking simple that I felt like I was cheating making it. It's not even lined for crying out loud! But it's a great bag for grocery shopping (shout out to Green Bag Lady, where you can get the free instructions). So since I was going to iron and cut fabric for one bag, why not just make two.
Can I mention how much I love those fabrics? And how freaking great the timing (for the character one) buying it was?
The ship pattern one I wanted since I first saw it but couldn't justify it since I'm not really a huge Star Wars fan. I think the movies are annoying but I do like some of the characters and machines (Imperial Walker? how freaking cool is that thing, right?). I was in the Joanns (yes, I always say "the joanns" like an old lady) one day with my sister and I was talking about how much I loved that ship blueprint fabric (she agreed it was super cool) and then doesn't she find some in the remnant bin. PER-freaking-FECT! And it was just shy of a yard, too. So I got that for a song.
The character fabric I spied on Missouri Star Quilt's website when I treating myself to a shopping splurge (when they had a free shipping no matter what you spend deal). I had to have that fabric because I love real photo images on fabric like that (like my Star Trek fabrics!). And it had all the best characters (again, not the stupid cartoon versions you see all over the place or those newer movies which are shite). I figured I'd use it for swaps or make something from it eventually. I also got some super chicks fabric, too. It has Wonder Woman and Super Girl and Bat Girl (can I mention how much I hate the "girl" thing for female superheros? they should all be WOMEN, thanks and bye). I'm a sucker for super broads! (I also got some wonder clips which are freaking awesome!).
I bought the fabric just because and then I got a swap partner who likes Star Wars so BAM, half a yard of my fabric found a great use. Because, let's be honest, I don't really need that fabric at all let alone a whole damn yard (but Missouri Star only sells full yards--or maybe I was dumb and couldn't figure out how to order less, that's always a valid option with me).
So, I made two bags because it wasn't any more work than making one.
I'm not going to show the "surprise" item in any details because I want it to be a surprise. But I always buy something (up to $10) for that so I had an excuse to make a trip to my local card store (shout out to Wild Card) and buy some fun stuff. Of course I got some stuff for me, too (but I shared it with one of these big swaps because there was no way I'd use it all myself so better to share).
Damn, I got chatty there.
No comments:
Post a Comment