For Swaps: Patches and a dotee

Long time no post.  I haven't been finishing as much stuff lately.  But I had some swaps coming due so I had to get my create on.  And I had a day off work so. . .sew time!

First up, two patch swaps.

This one was a puzzle piece theme:

Super simple, flat style patch.  I just embroidered around some of the puzzle pieces using varigated rainbow floss and then some solid color floss.  It gave a nice quilted effect but isn't super visible.

Next was a random patch for a monthly single patch swap (so no theme, just size constraints).

This one is a little larger but I think still within the size guidelines.  To be honest, I didn't measure it and I don't really care.  Bad attitude?  Yup.  I think the finished product looks great at this size so I don't care if it's "too big" (though I don't think it is).

It's puffy style but came out very even on the edges.  I left the backing fabric a bit larger than the top fabric (for classic puffy style they're normally the same size) so I could fold the backing fabric down on itself to get more of a flat style frame then a super curly frame you normally get with a classic puffy.

The design was super basic, just embroidery around each of the circles.  I love how it turned out.  It reminds me of bubble wrap.

And the back looks pretty cool, too.

Last thing to show off this round. . .a dotee.

This one is a monthly swap.  The theme this month was cats.  (so my bag)

Cashmere kitty for the WIN!

Eugene was my inspiration for this one, too.  That's why he has the green eyes and a nearly invisible nose (and no mouth).  Gene is all gray so his facial features are sometimes obscured (though he is very silver so you can usually see his details).

See, there is a nose there.  Just one wee stitch.  But no mouth. Two little bead eyes and some cray-z whiskers (my partner can trim them down if they want).

OH, and a great big long tail.  I had this long scrap of cashmere so I decided to make a bendable tail.  That meant getting in the cats' new toy/weed drawer to get a fresh pipey (aka pipe cleaner).  Gene went nuts begging for a new pipey (despite having half a dozen rolling around the house) so I gave him a new one.  That didn't stop him from getting up on the table while I was working and batting at the tail as I was sewing it on.  Bad kitty!

The other tail.  I had to use this random bell because I noticed it had a wee paw print on it.  I'm not sure if the paw print was intentional but I liked it so there you go.

Super simple free form cashmere kitty for the win!

What else am I working on right now?  A whole effing lot of french knots for a negative space embroidery hoop project (it's going to turn out great, I can tell, which makes me very happy) AND. . .

RICKY SPANISH.

Oh, yes, I'm making a Ricky Spanish ninni doll and it's turning out VERY well.  Just have to make the vest, belt, and wig.  But that requires a trip to the craft store (Friday) so I'll work on the buttload of french knots until then.

For Swaps!

Last but not least I have to show off some swaps.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

I just mailed these TODAY so if any of my swap partners happen to be checking out my blog I'm about to show some surprise items.

I know I show off my stuff a lot before it arrives to my partners but in this post I'll be showing the LBOE In a Bag swap which has an actual surprise item involved.  I mailed the box priority mail so it should get there fast (it's only going to Mass.) but I feel a warning is fair.

So I'll type it once more.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

(and I'll start with the non spoiler stuff)

First is just a single patch.

I made it puffy style using scraps from the cats I was sewing up.

Just a bit of free motion quilting and some embroidery.  I wanted the fabric to just speak for itself (because, as I've already noted, I love that freaking sushi fabric).

Next up is a dotee.

The theme (if you couldn't guess) was puzzle piece.  The doll had to be shaped like a puzzle piece.

How great is that button?  I'm totally obsessed with the Dress Me Up brand buttons.  They have the best funky designs (in fact, I have one that's and angler fish--an mother effing angler fish!  love that!)

He's pretty basic but very cute.  Little embroidered face and fancy dancy bow tie.  Oh and some cool chips for the tail (like gemstone chips?  not sure exactly, I got them because I liked them, not for what they were made of).

Ok, now for the reason for the spoiler alert.

This is for the LBOE: In a bag swap.

The swap requirements were to make (or buy) a nice bag and then put in two patches, a stuffie, and a profile based surprise.

Ok, so all the stuff didn't fit in the zipper pouch I made (using super cool Lorax fabric).

So I put the three little dolls (wrapped in a ton of bubble wrap) in the zipper pouch to make them more of a surprise.

The patches I already showed off.

Then I made a purple tiger (since I was already making a bunch of cats).

My swap partner likes purple and tigers so I thought this would go over well.  (and I wrapped him in some extra lorax fabric)

In fact, everything in this swap is profile based even though it didn't have to be (except for the surprise item).

I LOVED doing this swap.  In no small part because I love the folks I swap with.  The recipient of this swap I trade with all the time and I she always sends great stuff so it's a treat to make things for her.

So now I'm almost all caught up with my swaps.  I have one that's currently open and then the one I'm hosting will assign partners in about a week.  So it's probably time to check and see if there are any new swaps I can get mixed up in!

For Swaps: Dotee dolls!

Showing off some dotees I finished over the weekend.

First up. . .hmm, who should be first. . .

Valentine dotee

It's a love bug!

How freaking cute is that, huh?

I'm super happy with how it turned out.

The only rule for the swap was it had to be valentines themed (so reds and pinks) and have one heart on it somewhere.  Done and done.

This is probably the smallest dotee I've ever made and it was really pretty damn easy.

The body is three pre-made felt balls strung together.  The antennae are the ends of the floss I used to string it (glued to make them stiff).  Legs are bakers twine tied between the segments (for the top and middle) and then threaded through and knotted off for the bottom legs.

The wings were made by tracing the shape of hearts put together (I have these stick on foam hearts and I arranged them to make the shape) onto fabric with batting in the center.  I sewed all the way around it then cut a slit in the center of the fabric to turn it through.  That slit was hidden when I put the wings on (stitched to the body).

The hanger is stitched to the wings (so the stitches are hidden behind the bugs head) and the tail is strung through the bottom segment.  The eyes are sequins with beads and the mouth is just one little stitch.

Then I just smudged a bit of glue on the ends of each leg to keep them from fraying.

SIMPLE and so damn cute I could spit.  PATOOIE.

Next up is an oddball dotee.

PINK DOTEE:

You looking at me!?

He has a bit of an attitude.

You would to if you were a pink BOY dotee living in a society where pink was a "girl" color.

The only rule for the swap was the dotee had to be pink.

This dotee is indeed pink.

I took two 5 inch fabric charms and cut them in half and sewed them back together to make the patchwork.  Then I just made an egg like shape.  Super simple.

I really like the face.  Pulling the eyes close together to make a bit of a nose was a fun little accident (not really a total accident but more like a discovery).

And the back, just to show off the patchwork and that the belt goes all the way around (and was stitched into the seam to keep it nice and neat.

Last but not least:

PIRATE DOTEE

This is for a monthly theme dotee and January was pirates.

Arr!

Three fabrics in a patchwork (it doesn't perfectly line up all the way around, though--oops!)  Purple corduroy for the pants, cool skeleton fabric for the shirt, and tea dyed fabric for the face (to give a slightly tan look)

I think I lied.  I think there was an eyepatch requirement (or I just thought there was).  So he keeps with the purple theme and has a fancy purple button and ribbon eyepatch which matches his parakeet (I have to get more of those buttons, they are fabulous).

Little golden yellow button for a belt buckle.

That's a very blurry pic of the super blinged out skull on his tail.  Fanc-a!

I'm waiting to mail them off until I get one last swap done, then I'll be all up to date (and mailed).  I'm making good progress on that last swap so I'm hoping to have all the latest stuff I've made out by Friday.

For Swaps: Ninni and a Dotee

Time to show off two swap items I finished over my holiday break.

First up, another Ninni.

I loved working with this pattern before (the Day of the Dead dotee, remember?) and was thrilled when one of my swapping friends set up another swap using it.

This time I got a different partner which was fun so this happened.

Go ahead, little Ninni.  Try it on.

No, it's not a wig.  Try again.

Nope, not horns, either.

There you go!

It's a skirt.  A tentacle skirt so you can dress up like a squid.

I have to admit, I'm all proud that I used bias tape to make a tentacle skirt for a stuffed monster doll.  the skirt tentacles (shorter ones) are just the ninni leg pattern.  The skirt "arms" (long tentacles) are just free drawn.  I have a lot of squid sewing experiences so they were a snap.

Speaking of snaps, I even went that little bit extra and put a wee little snap on the skirt because I'm awesome like that.  OH, and the snap was sewn through only one layer of the bias tape, so you don't see any ugly attaching stitches.  THEN, I hand stitched the end of the bias tape inside itself so the end is all need and not fraying and ragged.  I will admit, the hand stitching is not as neat and pretty as the machine stitching but it's not heinous, either.  Attention to details (aka anal retentiveness) I have it.

(the eyes are vintage fabric shank buttons, too.  They worked PERFECT)

Next up?  Dotee Doll Whimsy Jar.

The swap was for a jar filled with dotee making stuffs (and a dotee). The jar lid had to be decorated, too.

So I made a pin cushion on the top of my fancy blue Ball jar.

I bought a nice new jar because I just didn't have any I could recycle (and I was worried even if I did wash out a nice jar it would somehow still be stinky and make everything gross).

Goodies inside.  Ribbon and trims and beads and bobbles.  Lots of fun stuff.  Then I wrapped the jar in two different fabrics and then bubble wrap (before boxing it up).

But not before I put the super crazy dotee inside (per instructions).

She kind of looks a hot mess but she's really super 80s retro.  She has wild yarn hair on only one side of her head (a la Cyndi Lauper) and a veil on the other side (a la early Madonna).

Crazy eyelash yarn used as. . .wait for it. . eyelashes (a la Janice from the Muppets or Chicky Baby from the Puppet Band in Pee Wee's Playhouse).  Kissy lips made from a little heart button (no, I will never think of those heart buttons and not laugh since I used them to make cat bungholes).

Then she has a vintage lace belt all slouched on her hip with charm accents (a cuff and a dragon fly--it's a the tied side).  The lace hangs way down to give a hint of Stevie Nicks in there, too.  Rock on, gold dust woman!  The tail is some beads (in a muted tone) and the last of my star charms.

Her body is made from batik scraps (light on the front, dark on the back).

She's wild and crazy and a bit odd but I really like her.  She was fun to make and is definitely one of a kind.

I won't mail these out for a bit.  I want to get two other swaps done to take along with them.  But one is a clay swap so I need to fart around with polymer clay.  I can't quite decide what I want to make and I'm sure I'll burn at least one thing so I need to get started on that so I have time to cock it up a few times before something turns out.

(oh and I totally want to make clay poo--that's going to be one of my test projects).

For Swaps: Patch and Dotees

Time to show off all the stuff I'm putting in the mail for swaps today.

First up, the lone patch of the group.

It was part of the monthly patch swap, so there was no required theme (just some minor size constraints).

I call it Swag Moose and I LOVE it.

My swap partner listed moose as one of her likes and don't you just know I got some moose fabric in my last equilter booty pack purchase.  How convenient.  See having a wacky (and too big, I'll admit it) fabric stash does come in handy.

Yeah, he's so swag he can't even handle it.

The stars and glasses are charms.  The "chain" is silver cording.

The back is purple because that was another of my partner's likes.

Next up, two dotees.

The first theme was skeleton key.  There had to be a skeleton key attached to the dotee somewhere.

Full body shot to see the hanger (same cording!) and the tail which contains not one but TWO keys.  I had two in my stash so I figured I'd just use both of them.  Hey, why not?

Cyclops because, again, why not?  The print on the fabric was ripe to make a cyclops face.  And I had three yellow eye beads so there was an odd man out which was perfect.  The print on the fabric also made it easy to keep the teeth all kind of lined up.  I tend to go up/downhill when I free embroider so I little guideline is always appreciated.

After I got the doll done it needed a bit more embellishment so I added the fringy trim and that button.  It kind of looks like tentacles/arms, which made me think of the Yip Yips from Sesame Street (love them!).

Praise again for my crazy stash.  I had lock and key fabric in my collection.  See, that's where swapping paid off for me.  I got this fabric through a swap (I know because I only had one 10" square and I did a lot of 10 incher swaps last year).  SWEET!

Next up was a dotee for the theme "bathtime".  I've done this theme before (last year?  it was a disgruntled cat in a wash tub--super cute) so I wanted to go for something different this time around.  And I wanted to work with terry cloth.

Check!

I did have to go out and buy a washcloth to get the terry cloth.  It was the easiest way to get just a tiny bit of it.  I did splurge and get an extra cute print washcloth that cost $3.99.  Yes, for ONE washcloth (I got it at Tuesday Morning, which has proven to be a good little junky store).

I fussy cut the washcloth to preserve the crab and octopus prints. It was easy, the images were in rows so I didn't have to sacrifice much.  Then I folded over the cut edge and stitched it down with a zig zag stitch (along the top and the one side--I didn't use the full width of the washcloth).  And let me just say, for $3.99 I got a very nice washcloth.  SUPER plush.

The eyes are from the bubble beads I got for the bathtime dotee I made before (they're just shimmery plastic beads but they really do look like bubbles).  Simple embroidered mouth, deliberately askew to give a cuter look.

Then I made a semi-full wig from yarn.  Super simple wig.  Just cut lengths of yard and double knot them in the middle then sew them one by one onto the doll by running the needle through the knot.

The body is just some cute blue fabric scraps that kind of looks like bubbles and the tail was just a few of the bubble beads strung together.

I have one more thing to show off but it's so cute it needs its own post.  So give me a second. . .

Made for Swaps: Dotees and a Patch

I'm heading off to the post office in a few minutes so it's time to show off the swaps I'm sending out.

First up is a profile specific dotee as a Christmas gift.  So I was tasked with making a dotee based on my partner's profile and then wrapping it up like a gift and including a Christmas card.  The card was just one I had from a box of cards I got a while back (it takes me a bit to use up a box of cards) and the wrapping on the dotee was fabric and some vintage binding (both Christmas themed).

The dotee:

"YEAAAHHHH!!!  I'M FREAKING CUTE!!"

Why yes, little penguin, yes you are.

And a super simple design.  Just a pear shaped body with revers applique for the belly.  I did have to make this penguin twice.  The first go round the bottom bit (between the reverse applique and the opening to stuff) came apart.  So the second go round I made that area a bit larger and I stitched the reverse applique part down with a zig zag stitch instead of straight.  Problem solved.

Oh, did I mention the body fabric is also penguin print.  I made sure this cute fella was completely visible on the back.

The tail is all gold fish because. . .well, what else would a penguin want but a string of fish?

The penguin is going in the same package with the next item to show off, a patch.

The theme for the patch was your all time favorite song.  We've been doing song themed patches for a bit but this time you could pick any genre/artist.

I couldn't come up with just one song that was my all time favorite.  I have a lot of favorites and then I noticed a lot of my favorites wouldn't lend themselves to easy interpretation as patches (though they would be fun to interpret in art, but for a patch I wanted something I could be a tad bit literal with, just illustrate the lyrics type thing).

I decided I'd go with one of my all time favorite bands, Hole.  Yes, I adore Hole (and Courtney Love).  But, again, a lot of the songs were tricky to get a very literal patch from the lyrics.  But then I remember. . .

My Beautiful Son.

"He had ribbons in his hair and lipstick was everywhere.  You look good in my dress.  You look good in my dress.  My beautiful son."

Isn't he just lovely!

He does indeed have ribbons in his hair and "lipstick" (aka fabric marker in red) everywhere.  The dress might just be his mother's nightie or slip, given how well it fits such a small child (and how lacey it is).  So I took a tiny bit of creative license on that.

You can't see it in the photo, but the dress has pink lace straps (the same lace as the waist belt) and is lace layered over muslin.  It's machine stitched to the patch.  (as are the ribbons)

I also took a bit of creative license in adding the pearls.  I have a mess of this trim and it would be a crying shame not to whip some out for a patch like this.  It does give the whole patch a little more pizzazz.

The back of the patch is the same theme.  I got this fabric in a scrap pack and wondered if I'd ever use it as it was intended (paper dolls).  Guess I answered that question.

I have to say, I LOVE this patch.  It makes me want to make a ton of lyrics inspired patches just for the hell of it.

Last but not least on my mailing list today is another dotee.  This time the theme was kawaii.  Man, do I know kawaii.  Kawaii is my bag, baby, and it freaks me out!

Squeee!!

It's a guinea pig.  I love guinea pigs, especially super cute ones.

Recognize that body shape?  Yup, it's the same one as the penguin.  I had the template laying on the table and it was perfect.  I just had to add the face patches and DONE.

It' might not be that obvious in the pic (damn poorly lit house!) but the face patches are two different shades of brown.  The body is a cream color (not pure white).

Why yes, I did make teeny tiny ears for this cutey.  Scraps for the WIN!

And, yes, the patches go around to the back, too.  I did tack them down with a swipe of glue.  And the eyes are glued on, too.  I didn't have any black seed beads so glue was the way I had to go (mental note, get a tube of matte black seed beads).

What's that there at the bottom?   (hee hee, bottom!)

Tiny tailio!

I'm not really sure if guinea pigs have actual tails.  I know they don't have anything you can really see as a tail but I think they may have a bit of a nubbin that covers their hole so I gave my guinea pig a wee little embroidered tail.  Cute!

Speaking of cute, check out the tiny toesies.  Super simple, too.  Just snip tiny strips into the end of a larger (wider) strip and then carefully round the "toes" to make them less square.  Again, great scrap buster.

The guinea pig is off to Australia.  I hope he makes it before Christmas but if not, he'll be a cute new years surprise.

What else am I working on for swap?  COOKIES.  Two dozen tiny cookies to be exact.  And another patch and two more dotees.  The cookies are almost done (just have to stitch up the last 11 and then make the plate for them).  And I have the ideas for the dotees all worked up so they'll be fast.  The patch won't be hard, either, once I get my idea.

OH, and I have to do a bit of christmas sewing, too.  I have kicky toys to make for my cat nephews and a shopping bag to make (for my sister to give to someone).  Tick tock!