Monday, November 30, 2015

TUTORIAL: Bacon and Eggs plush toys

AT LONG LAST.  A tutorial for the bacon and egg plush toys.

First, let me preface by saying this idea is far from original and is super simple but I did figure it all out on my own with trial and error.  I didn't use any existing pattern as a jumping off point, though I have seen plush bacon and egg toys and other kawaii food toys.  This "pattern" is just so simple that I don't want anyone out there thinking I'm merely recycling some existing tutorial (I haven't even googled to see if a tutorial for the way I make these exists, though I'm sure it probably does since this is such a simple design/pattern).

Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's start with a list of supplies:

SUPPLIES:

Fleece (red, white, yellow)
Embroidery floss (black, white are the minimum you need color wise)
Felt (black, I prefer wool blend)
Neutral sewing thread (I always use off white)
Ball point sewing machine needle
Sewing machine with/zig zag stitch option
Scissors
Marking pens
Pins
Cardboard template (for bacon)
Drinking glass (for egg yolks)
Poly-fil

For fabric sizes it will really depend on how big you want your finished products.  I tend to get my fleece from the remnant bin and base my finished items on the fabric I have on hand.  For the egg fleece I prefer a shinier type for the white and a nappier for the yolk.  For the bacon I prefer nappier for both.  (for those unfamiliar with fleece there are different qualities, I think the lower quality stuff is the shiny and the "anti pill" is what I refer to as "nappy".  For the bacon fat I highly prefer "nappy" so it looks more like sticky fat).

For felt and embroidery floss you only need scraps.

We'll start with the egg tutoral.

EGG TUTORIAL (click pics to enlarge):


Trace a drinking glass to make your egg yolks.  I use a disappearing marker when working with light color fabrics especially if the raw edge will be visible on the finished product.  Always test your markers on a scrap first (some don't disappear as well on different types of fabrics).

The size of your yolks will depend on the size of the drinking glass you use and will determine the size of your finished egg.


Free hand cut small circles from black felt scraps.  Size of the eyes will depend on the size of your egg yolks.  You could also fully embroider the eyes if you prefer.

Situate the eyes either low or high on the face.  I prefer low but higher up is just as cute.

Hand stitch eyes to face using matching floss (you could use colored felt for they eyes, but I prefer black).  I use prefer to use two or three strands of floss.  A running stitch makes a neater eye than a whip style stitch (where the stitch comes up under the felt and whips over the edge of the felt to catch the felt to the fleece).  A whip style stitch will make the edges pucker a bit and distort the roundness of the eye.


Using two strands of white floss, add the shine to the each eye.  Shine can be on either side but keep it higher on the eye and have both eyes match.

Using three strands, embroider the mouth using a back stitch or stem stitch (I prefer back stitch, and for this size egg I only need three stitches to make the mouth).


This is a great way to use up some of those little floss scraps in your collection.  For the egg yolks I use reds, pinks, darker yellows, and oranges for mouthes.


Using the prepped egg yolk face, free hand draw a fried egg shape onto the wrong side of the white fleece.

DO NOT CUT OUT THE WHITE.  If you want to make your fabric more manageable, cut a square around the egg white shape.  It will be easier to sew later if you DO NOT cut out the exact white shape.

(or you could make a template on paper/cardboard and have all your egg whites be identical. . .I like free handing them for variety).



Place the egg yolk face down and situate the traced white on top of the yolk so the yolk is positioned on the white as you want it on the finished product.


Flip the white over and top stitch the yolk to the white using a wide zig zag stitch.  Stuff lightly at about the half way point in sewing.  Make sure the zig zag goes from the yellow to the white to insure the yolk is fully attached (and you'll get a nicer finish if the stitch completely covers the raw edge)

(for the zig zag stitch, I don't change my standard stitch length I only change the size of the zig zag.  My machine has a very small choice and a wider choice.  I pick the wider choice for all the zig zag stitching for the eggs.  Test the zig zag on a scrap to see which option on your machine works best for you).


With the yolk now attached to the right side of the fleece, assemble the rest of the egg by placing the yolk side face down onto the right side of another piece of white fleece.

Using the same zig zag stitch setting you used for attaching the yolk, sew along the line you drew for the shape of the egg white.

Leave a small opening for turning.


Trim around the seam leaving a generous 1/4 allowance.  Clip any severe curves or dips as you see necessary.  Leave a bit of extra allowance at the opening (to make it easier to hand stitch it closed).



Turn the egg right side out and roll smooth all the seams to get a nicely defined fried egg white shape.  Hand smooth the egg to get it as flat as possible.

SWITCH SEWING MACHINE TO A STRAIGHT STITCH.



 Top stitch around the edge of the egg yolk, staying just to the edge of the yolk.

(pic shows back of egg)

Ladder stitch closed the opening.


Enjoy the cuteness!!


(I'll post the bacon tutorial tomorrow)

2015 Fluff Project Goal: MET!!

I just wanted to make this official (even though I know I showed these items off before).

I MET MY 2015 FLUFF PROJECT YEARLY GOAL

I set out to make a minimum of 5 items each month and a week ago (or so) I mailed out two bags of items which marked the completion of my 2015 bare minimum goal.



I got back up mailing stuff out but those two pics show my quota (plus a few extras) for September, October, November, and December.

I feel like I cheated for December because I made the pickles and they were SUPER easy, so I'm working on a few more (more involved) items for December.  I have three gingerbread men in progress right now so I want to (at bare minimum) get them done by the end of the year.  Then I'm going to make a Fluff Project year in review post and give a grand total (I know it's over quota a bit but not a ton).

I'm also hoping to get a few of the Ric Rac guinea pig pattern guinea pigs done for Fluff for December, too.  I'm set to make a pair for my friend's girls but if the pattern proves too fussy, I'm not going to push to get some made for Fluff (for this year).  I'll save the pattern and make a few for Fluff next year.

I have so many patterns I want to get to making, I'll have plenty to keep me busy for 2016.  (lots of Dolls and Daydreams patterns. . .they just had a sale and I snagged three more patterns from that).

2015 Softies for Mirabel: FINISHED

I mailed them out this morning and had been showing them off as I went (on instagram @madameugly) so now I'm making one big fat post about them.


THIRTY FIVE items.

Yes, I'm totally bragging and I don't care.  I'm damn proud that I set myself to producing a nice amount of toys (didn't set a number but I wanted it to be at least double digits) and I met it.  I treated this like a job but not in the boring torture yourself sense of the word and just LOOK what I was able to do.  Totally showed me how much time I piss away sitting in front of the t.v. (and this did not impact my t.v. watching at all, I still sat on my fat ass and watched a ton of t.v. but not quite as much as I normally do).

Ok, we need detailed pics.


12 snails.

I've made this pattern before for the Fluff Project (and might have even shown these off here as an in-progress pic).  The pattern is a free one I found online and I just picked through my stash to find the cutest fabrics (most of which were scrap sized).  This pattern is SUPER easy even though it looks fussy (the eye horns look tricky but really aren't, though you do need to go super slow when you sew them. . .I even turn the sewing machine wheel by hand for them just so they turn out really nice).  My biggest tip for this pattern?  DO NOT cut out both pieces (for body and shell) and then try to sew them together.  Trace the pattern once and then sew on the line (into two layers of right sides facing fabric).  Then cut out the sewn fabric (with pinking shears).  It's really the only way to do those eye horns and get a nice curl on the shell.  Also, leave extra on the opening of the shell.  You can always fold it up inside and crease it with your fingernail so you get a nice edge to do your ladder stitch.


7 pickles.

Only six are pictured since I'm recycling a photo.  I made 13 of these total and split them between Fluff and Mirabel (with mirabel getting the "test" one that turned out perfect).  I used fleece for these, the fleece that has the little raised fuzzy bumps.  I got it from the remnant bin.  The pattern is a free one from Abby Glassenberg (I used three of her patterns for this box of softies).  The original pattern is calls for felt for the body and french knots for the bumps (and felt eyes).  I used really small safety eyes instead and they fit perfectly.  BUT, I advise you put them on after you sew the pickle.  That's kind of backwards for safety eyes, but you have to put them close to the seam and trying to sew the seam with the eye stems all poking up is annoying (I had that problem when I was making the shark pattern I made for Fluff. . and it's not that hard to put the eyes in after you sew the item but before you stuff).



5 bacon and 5 eggs.

Nothing new here.  I made these for Fluff and they aren't that hard to make at all (I'm working on a tutorial for it. . .have the pics ready just need to type it up).  I hesitate to even use the word "pattern" because it's THAT easy (and there really aren't any pre-made pattern pieces, you can make the pattern pieces yourself then make the toys. . .it's stupid simple in that "holy crap, how dumb is that!" way).


3 crabbies.  That's an Abby Glassenberg pattern (and a recycled pic from the ones I made for Fluff. . .I used up all of that fabric making crabs or I would have made more than three for Mirabel.. .that pattern is easy and turns out a GREAT finished item, I used cottons instead of fleece with zero issues)



2 jellyfish

I made one of these for a swap before and (again) they are stupid simple.  They look like an Abby Glassenberg pattern but they aren't.  There's really no true pattern for these, either.  Just trace something that's circular (top pieces is about an inch larger than the bottom) and assemble.  They only tricky part is dealing with the tentacles.  I totally ran one over while sewing the side seam and had to fix it.  Annoyed the crap out of me.  Big tip for these is to put the eyes in after you sew them and before you stuff.  You don't "sew then turn" these so the eyes would totally be in the way as you're trying to ease the two different sized circles together while sewing (oh, and use a ballpoint needle and zig zag stitch when working with fleece).



1 flying squirrel.

Yup, totally an Abby Glassenberg free pattern (made for Wild Olive).  This is a simple pattern but pay attention when doing the ears (to make sure you put them in the correct direction) and be careful when you get to where the feet are.  I basted the feet to the body fabric but still accidentally caught the side of the paws (two different ones) in the seam and had to pick it out and fix it.  Not a huge deal to fix but annoying (the feet are felt so totally forgiving when it comes to picking out stitches).  I used a rather slick minky/low pile faux fur for this which was annoying but made for a kick ass cute finished product (so it was worth it).  OH, watch the grain of your fabric with this, too.  You could totally eff up the tail if you didn't mind the grain (the tail shape curves a lot).  Thankfully with the faux fur there was a lay to the hair so I had to cut a certain way which matched the least amount of stretch on the fabric.  (that's another thing I dislike about faux fur. . .you have to mind the pile).

I mailed this bunch out priority mail so they should totally make their destination in time (they need to be there by Saturday so I'm confident they'll make it with a bit of time to spare).

HUGE thank you to Spoonflower for taking the donations.  There is no way I could have mailed 35 stuffed toys to Australia for $12-ish (don't remember the exact total, but my whole postage bill for that trip was $25 and I had this box and three big bag style envelopes, one of which went priority as well).

For some swaps

Just showing off a few things I made for swaps.

First up is a ninni for a swap on swapbot.


The swap was for a winter/christmas themed ninni.  Once I got this idea in my head I had to do it.  I tried to convince myself to do a gingerbread man ninni instead but I ultimately went back to my original idea.  Christmas Tree Ninni!

The body is cotton, ric rac smile, felt eyes, button star, pre-packaged miniature decorative light string (held on with a few stitches here and there), fleece tree skirt (just quickly made from trimmings from the bacon stuffies I made earlier in the weekend) with little packages sewn on (store bought packages, those ones you get to hang on mini trees).

SUPER easy to make and SUPER cute.

Next up is for a secret santa style swap over at the FJL forum (that's what the regretsy forum became when regretsy closed up shop).


Pusheen style kitty made from a felted cashmere sweater.  The same sweater I used to make the spoon for the dish and spoon stuffie set I made last year for a gift for my spouse's niece (I need a nickname for the lone golden sproglet niece, I'm leaning toward The Princess or Her Royal Majesty aka HRM since that's about how she is treated. . .not to be confused with The Bratling, the eldest of all the nieces/nephews, his nickname started as a diss but is now a term of endearment with me though his nickname is reserved for use only in my household, I don't call him it directly unless he's actively being a crazed brat, which happens often).

Pusheen kitty joins some socks (my swap partner wanted a bunch of different socks so that's what I got her but they weren't that exciting so I didn't take a pic), some candy (again, boring so I didn't take a pic), and THIS:


Cat toy sized versions of my bacon and egg plushies (sans eyes because I'm too lazy to put eyes on something a cat is just going to destroy).  I used scraps from my bacon and egg production.  I truly did just use random scraps (free hand trimmed the bacon but didn't make exact fat strips, just free handed those then scooted them around as I sewed them down).  The egg does have a stuffed yolk (with catnip in it) and catnip in the white.  Catnip all through the bacon, too.  I think they'll be well received by my swap partner's feline overlords.

AND. . .I got pics for the bacon and egg tutorial so I'll have that up (hopefully in a bit but at least by the end of the week. . .it's not fancy at all but it does explain how I make them).

Ok, I have more posts so let me just get to them.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Fabric.com is a RIP OFF

I just have to get this out of my system right now.

fabric.com is a huge stinking rip off.

Oh, they have sales and lowish prices and free shipping (all the time) if you spend $35 (which is so freaking easy, am I right?).

BUT. . .you have to buy full yards to get the best price.  And that's a NEW policy.

I got their fun black friday sale email so I went to go sniff around the sale stuff.  Thought I'd grab up some half yards of some fun stuff on my wish list.

But wait, when I select half yard it's not just half the price of the sale.  It wasn't even half of the REGULAR price.  "Ok," I thought, "it's because it's a sale.  Let's check a regular priced item and see what's what."  Same damn thing there.  Full (non sale) price was $9.48/yard.  For a half yard it was $7 (and change).  

WHAT?!

THAT'S JUST NUTS.  Who on earth is going to agree to pay THAT much more for less.

Oh, fabric.com, I used to enjoy going on little spending splurges with you.  Yes, I learned to avoid buying panels from you because you have some poor cutting quality with panels (but good customer service trying to correct it but even the corrected panel was still cut into. . .*sigh*).

I guess I always knew I shouldn't be buying stuff there.  It's better to go to smaller stores and all that but I'm cheap and if I could score a deal I was all about it.  Those days are now over.

So, all those smaller shops out there, I'm ready to do some shopping.  Whatcha got in the way of sales/deals this holiday season?

(for the record, I was hoping to score some Highlands cat prints and I was willing to buy one of the shades in a full yard because I knew I could use it but I wanted other prints and I know I won't use a full yard of any of them.  Oh, well.  Their loss, some smaller shops gain!)

Monday, November 16, 2015

Sewing for Charity: Softies for Mirabel and Fluff Project (updates!)

I've kicked it into high gear to make sure I have something to send to Spoonflower for their Softies for Mirabel drive.

Here's what I have so far:


Sweet and sour pickles!

It's a free pattern courtesy of While She Naps' Abby Glassenberg.  HERE.

The original pattern was for felt with french knot bumps and felt eyes.  I mixed it up a bit with textured fleece/minky (got it in the remnant bin and it made 13 total pickles and there is a bit still left over--my first test pickle is not shown here but it turned out great so it's part of the donation pile)

I also subbed out small safety eyes and then did embroidered mouths.



Half dozen for Softies for Mirabel and half dozen for Fluff Project.  The extra will go to Mirabel (yes, I was tempted to keep it but these are so easy to make I could make more for me any time I want so no need to keep the tester since it turned out perfect).

More pics because I can (the color is a minty green despite what these pics show--I still have horrible lighting in my kitchen and I'm too lazy to make a light box and all that shit).



Holding it in my hand to show the size.  It's small but even with the small size was not hard to sew at all.  The pattern is three pieces (to get the good shape) which had me worried it would be a pain to sew (more dimensional stuff can be a pain in the ass and when I want to assembly sew for charity sometimes I prefer patterns of least resistance).  I was also concerned the eyes wouldn't fit but they did.

TIP:  Put the eyes on after you sew the pickle but before you stuff.  That's not normally how you put on safety eyes but since this sucker is small, the stems of the eyes would get in the way.  And you won't have to fight with them getting too close to the edge.  That's a super pain in the ass when you're making something and the safety eyes are already on and when you're trying to do the seam the eye is all in the way.  No, just no.  Put the mouth on after you stuff but before you close (so you can best hide the knots).


Pickles aren't the only thing I'm up to.

(I'd like to note that since I made 6 pickles for Fluff Project, technically I've met my five stuffed toys for December goal AND met my yearly goal, too. . .but I still want to make some other stuff for Fluff if possible and I've already started on something else for Fluff).

I've also been cranking out stuff JUST for Softies for Mirabel.


I got all that done this weekend.  The crabs (also an Abby Glassenberg free pattern. . .I think I forgot to link it before so HERE it is--I make mine with quilting cotton not fleece but that's my only change--I just don't like fleece for small fussy pieces since it stretches a lot and annoys me).

The snail is one I've done for Fluff Project before, so the TWELVE here are all for Mirabel.  I'm going to googly eye them all since I love that look.  Now I just need to close the crabs (then they are DONE) and finish up the snails (close the bodies, put on eyes and mouth, and attach shell to body).


"Mom, hurry up and leave the room, I want to nose around in that scrap bin and see what I can find to eat!"

Yes, Murray likes to dine at the scrap bin buffet.  Butt.  I have to dump it every time I sew (or make sure there isn't anything desirable like long pieces of thread or crinkly plastic or paper or cardboard. . .you get the idea. . .in there).  I can only leave a few fabric pieces (not bits, they have to be larger pieces, I like to save them to test my machine when I have to change thread) in there since that's the only thing he seems to not care about, though he'll still get up on the table and rummage about.  I think he's part raccoon.  OH and I have to cover everything too, especially if there are little bits cut out.  If they don't actively cart them off, they'll push them off the table and play with them (meaning they get lost) or just generally get into shit.  Cats, gotta love them.  (or just not have them because you're never going to win with them.  Never.)

2015 Quilting Goals: Drunkard's Wife QAL

I decided to do a quilt along to force myself to work on my quilting skills.  That and I happened to stumble onto Sew Scatterbrained's blog (via IG).  She's doing the work of setting the QAL up so all I have to do is play along (no signing up or any of that, which is just my style).

I got all caught up (there were only two blocks to do) this weekend.


The fun twist with these is you're supposed to make an error (because you're drunk, right?  yeah, that's too dangerous for me to mix alcohol and fast moving needles, thankyouverymuch.  that and alcohol makes me sleepy, again, not good to be drowsy when playing with fast moving needles and rolling cutting implements).


This was a churn dash (I believe that's the correct term) block and I deliberately put one corner and one of the "two bar" pieces on wrong.  You really notice teh corner error but the bar takes longer to notice.

OH and double challenge for this, I'm trying to use up three scrap packs I bought on a lark from Pink Castle Fabrics.  They had a bundle sale (they do that a lot) so I grabbed a cool, a warm, and a neutral.


And the other block.  I don't remember if this has a "real" name (I know all of the blocks are standard patterns, nothing too outrageous though the next block looks complicated and I'm worried I'll really cock it up good just due to incompetence).

That block is supposed to have all the points the same so it makes a starburst in the middle.  But I deliberately turned the two side ones to make stripes instead.  I really like the starburst way and this alternative version.

My only problem is these are supposed to finish at 12.5 inches (pre-trim) and mine simply do not.  I know I cut everything accurately so it has to be my seam allowance.  I consistently used the same for each seam and I did check it before I started BUT (now that I'm thinking about it and given my general fail at math and mathy related things) I could have messed that up.  I really did measure it with a ruler and all that but I could have measured wrong.  I'm just going to keep making them all the wrong size and then trim them all the same when I go to put them together.  No harm, no foul I suppose.

See, I can't even pull this off when SOBER.  Maybe I should have a little nip of gin before I try the next one.

Friday, November 6, 2015

FLUFF PROJECT: October and November DONE!

Holy crap on a cracker, I'm AHEAD on Fluff Project stuff.  Yes, I finally got the crabs and the chameleons done so that gets me all caught up.

Blah, blah, blah, pics or it didn't happen.


Crabs and chameleons attacking my sewing machine!


Aww, too cute to eat.

Yes, yes, yes, I know my quota is five items a month and there are only four crabs here.  Rest assured that after I took these pics (and realized I failed basic counting *headdesk*) I sat down and made ONE CRAB straight through.  Yes, I actually completed a project (every. step. even closing it up!) in one go.  It was shocking, trust me.  So I DO have five crabs (but that last one just didn't want his pic taken!)

Chameleon close up time.


Looking all innocent as they crawl all over my sewing machine.





Get down here you naughty lizards!

I was so tempted to keep the first one of these I made (still might!) but I wanted to have five for Fluff so unless I make more chameleons (which I'm thinking about doing for Mirabel) then there will be no chameleons for me.  If I do keep one, it will be one of the green batik ones.  I really love that fabric for this project.

Speaking of fabric, again I have to point out that my crazy fabric stash made these wild chameleons possible.  They also made the variety possible.  Since I have a lot of fat quarters in my stash, small projects like these are perfect.  If memory serves, I can get two chameleons from one FQ (with some left over but I don't think enough to make one full toy).  Since I don't (as a rule) hoard batiks, I can rid myself of them in the perfect way.  (yes, I said rid myself of them.  I still don't like batiks much even though time and again I've used them for projects I love including not only these chameleons but some other fluff toys and the backing of my Ollie Memorial Quilt. . .yeah, what's up with that?)

Now I just need to make December's Five for Fluff and I've met my yearly goal (actually, I'll have exceeded it by a few since I made some extras here and there).

BUT. .. I need to get the stuffies for Mirabel done (and mailed before December 1) first.  I think I'm going to see how many crabs I can get out of the last of that polka dot fabric (I'm guessing at least 3).  Then I want to double dip and make some bacon and eggs (and take pics as I do so I can get that long neglected tutorial done before the year is up).  I also want to try out this idea I have for pickles.  I have a promising pattern but it was for a felt pickle and I want to use fleece so I'll have to see if that will work out for me.  But first I need to make my final decisions on what I'm doing so I can put together a felt order.  I need black felt so I'll just go through and see what other colors I could use (because paying shipping just for one color is nuts).  I know white will be on the list, too, since it gets used a TON.  (hmm, I also want to make some more jelly fish, too. . .maybe I'll do that first since those are pretty easy. . .and the stuff to make them is already at my work table).

Ok, that's all I got for now.

For a Swap: Disney Patches JKL

Showing off the patches for the ongoing Disney patch swap.


The whole group right there.  Now for the closeups.



J is Jafar.  I always knew I'd do this patch for J.  I love this line and my sister and I will crack each other up saying it to each other (totally randomly, too).

It's embroidered letters with fabric marker beard.


PERFECT backing fabric.

I've been doing so great with backing fabrics for these lately and it makes me smirk, all proud like of my crazy fabric stash.

In my defense (hoarding wise) that arabian nights fabric came in a mystery fat quarter bundle.  I think it was one of the scrap vomit bundles I bought YEARS ago.  And I used the majority of the two FQs of that print (one was buildings, one was people) for a pencil pouch for a charity thing.



K is for King Louie.

I love the Jungle Book and I was tempted to do Baloo for B but I ended up doing all villains for that group.

Louie is crayon tinting with single strand embroidery for all the lines.  The colors are more defined in person.  (and this time I remembered to put the white crayon layer first. . .forgot that on the last ones I made).


Backing fabric.  Of course I had to do crazy monkeys to go with King Louie.  That and I didn't have any "jungle" fabric (meaning something that looked like palm leaves/jungle growth).  I love this fabric and have used it for other projects (patches and a stuffed toy).


L is for Lumiere.

I was about stumped for L.  It took me a long time to realize that Lumiere was the best choice for this one.  Then when I was scouting for images I got the "oh crap" feeling when I saw how detailed he is.  I wasn't sure I could pull it off with crayon tinting so I opted for felt cut outs with embroidered details.

I cut out the image and used it as a template for the felt.  The yellow is one continuous piece (then I added yellow details--you can't see them that well in the pic).  I glued down the felt then did the embroidery through the felt, fabric, and batting.


I have to admit, I like this patch but I also see the flaws in it like big red flags.  Lumiere's eyes look SUPER drunk, which amuses me more than it annoys me.  What annoys me are the wee smudges on the felt.  That's what I get for using ball point pen to make my not-so-light (it turned out) stitching lines.  It doesn't look horrible, but it irks me because I know it shouldn't be there.  His tongue annoys me a bit, too.  It's not sized quite right or something.  Again, not horrible but irksome (just a bit).


Another backing fabric WIN.  Silverware, of course.

And this is where I have to admit that I'm nuts.  I REMEMBER what's in my stash, to a certain degree.  When I had decided on these designs, I stared thinking about the backing fabrics and I immediately thought of the arabian nights fabric and the silverware.  Nevermind that I hadn't used that arabian nights fabric in about a year!.  I wasn't as clear with the monkey fabric.  I hadn't forgotten I had that fabulous fabric but I was stuck on finding something "jungle" so I hit my greens first but nothing was right (I was thinking about a fabric I had that had big palm/leaves on it but I think I must have used that all up).  Once I gave up on that idea I remembered the crazy monkeys and that was that.

So, what's up next?  Well, the M, N, O round is next for this series and I already know what I'm doing for all of those.  So while I wait I'm working on a Winter/Xmas themed Ninni (have my idea all worked out for it, might need a trip to Pat Catan's for one supply) and a winter/xmas themed art doll (no clue what I'm doing for that. . .right now I can't shake a carousel horse idea but I'm not sure about that).  Then I need to work on some stuffies for Mirabel (a charity in Australia but Spoonflower is taking donations so that would mean cheaper for me to ship so I'm in to make some stuff) and then my December quota for the Fluff Project.  Speaking of, that's my next post so. . .off we go to that.