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.

For swaps: Two stuffies!

These are both going to the same person.  I love when I can do that.

Fall/Halloween theme ninni

Candy corn ninni!

I was still in a candy corn state of mind when I made him.

Stars in your eyes?  NOPE!  Jack-o-lanterns!

Super simple ninni but I like the way he looks.  Simple doesn't automatically mean "cop out".

Next is the stuffie for the Day of the Dead Sugar Skull swap.

BAM!  Made that pic nice and big (yes I did).

Can I just say, I love this face.  It's cute but not overly cute.  It's also just a tiny bit wonky so it definitely has a handmade look to it (his nose is a bit off center. . .hell, everything is just a bit off center).

He's felt with embroidery, sequins, and beads.  The nose is fill stitch as are the pupils of the eyes (the yellow under the flower sequin).  The purple on the eyes is felt held down in the center with the fill stitch and then around the edges with looser stitches.  So the felt does curl and wave a bit which is what I wanted (I wanted the eyes to be very flower like).

And. . .the back.

I couldn't just leave it blank, now could I?

I'm not religious but for some reason I do like the burning heart of god imagery you find on sugar skulls and skeletons for Day of the Dead.  The heart is felt (stitched on) and the flames are all fill stitch.  I'm still getting the hang of getting the best direction when it comes to large swatches of fill stitch.  You can see the orange is a little goofy (on the left side).  Should have gone in the other direction (like the right side).  But I'm still super happy with how it turned out.  I went back and forth on adding something to the heart (you see thorns wrapped around them a lot and sometimes a crown) but I wasn't sure I could pull it off (and have it look like actual thorns) so I decided to quit while I was ahead.

The skull has blanket stitch around the edges and for the life of me I can never remember how to do it.  I have to look it up (sometimes multiple times) every time I do it.  Which isn't often (which is probably why I haven't committed it to memory).

The whole skull is 5-ish inches (bit wider at the widest spot, bit shorter along the narrow part of the jaw).

I think my partner will dig it.  I know I do.

What else am I up to?

Well, I'm traveling this weekend so I decided to drag my Fluff Project items along in the hopes I'll close them all up.  Then I just need to attach the legs to the chameleons and add their mouths and that whole pile will be DONE.  Then I need to work on some swaps that need to go out by Halloween.  Good times!

March Let's Book it Challenge! (and some swap stuff AND Fluff Project sneak peek!)

Oh yeah, I got my book it challenge done early this month so I'm posting it now.

I double dipped (twice?) for this.  I was making things to swap (that's why I'm done early) and I was using TWO books I've used before but I made different patterns.  So I'm counting the pair as one book it challenge completion.

Ok, enough blather.  PICS or it didn't happen.

I didn't use this book for the book it challenge before, but I have made the pig from it before (for a swap).

This time I made. . .

The rabbit with a slight modification.

I made a jackalope!

I used a pattern from the Nuno Runo blog (the santa and reindeer set) for the antlers and just tucked them into the head seam as I was sewing.

And, I'd like it noted, I used a blanket stitch for this whole damn jackalope.  I love the look of blanket stitch but it feels so SLOW when I'm doing it.

Also (for the record) this stuffie is only about 3 inches tall.  Which was too small for the swap requirements I was making it for *headdesk*.  So I included a second stuffie.

I'll show this shark off more when I show off the completed Fluff Project items for March but this is the sneak peek.

I was giving the pattern a test run and realized my version was significantly smaller thanks to my printing it to fit the page instead of full size.  I'm making full sized items for the Fluff Project (along with the whale that was part of this same pattern, but more on that later once I have all that done).

For the second book it challenge item, I made another project from the Sock it to Me book (the one I used last month).

This turned out so cute!

So SMUG but so cute!

For a swap: Advent cookie plate

Yeah, this project was so cute it needed its own post.

The theme was One Tiny Thing:  Christmas.  So you make one thing that's no bigger than 4 inches with the theme "christmas".

Here's what I came up with:

It's an advent calendar.

I know, I know.  It looks like a little plate of itty bitty cookies.  It's that too.  But since I was only to make ONE tiny thing, I'm calling this an advent calendar.  Well, a revers advent calendar?

See, there are 24 cookies on that plate.  So on December first you put the plate out and one cookie.  Then you add a cookie every day until December 24, when you have two dozen little cookies for Santa to enjoy when he comes to leave you fabulous presents (which he will because you left him such a crazy cute gift!).

Aren't they so freaking cute you could pee!

There are four different shapes (circle, rectangle, tree, and star) in three different shades (beige, green, and gingerbread--oh and one chocolate brown) decorated in three different ways (frosting/glitter, beads, ric rac).

I used a quarter for the circle ones, a weird star paperclip I found in my mess for the star and I free drew the tree and rectangle (and the rectangle proved to be the biggest pain in the ass to get the shape right).

The circle cookies have the most variety.

There are a few chocolate chip ones (french knots, yo!)

And two sandwich cookies.

Only one of them is an "oreo" because I ran out of chocolate brown felt or I would have probably made all the circle cookies chocolate chip and oreos.

That pic also shows the one side of the plate.  I used two different vintage feel christmas prints for it.

The other side right there for ya.

It's just a circle (traced a margarita glass!) with some batting in it.  SUPER simple.

And one last pic of all the cookies.  Each is lightly stuffed (so each is an itty bitty stuffed toy!).

I got glitter all over my kitchen (despite being VERY careful) and that means I now have glitter CATS.  Yup, last night I noticed both Murray and Eugene were sparkling.  They had bits of glitter in their hair.  My beautiful sons, looking like strippers!  What's better than pussy?  GLITTER PUSSY!!

Yeah, you read that and laughed, don't lie.

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!

Where do little yellow piggies come from?

Little Amarillo Piggie asks, "where do little yellow piggies come from?"

He is SHOCKED to learn all the facts.

Come on over here, Amarillo.  We need to get a closer look at you.

Adorable!

Right down to the 'tocks!

Amarillo is off to Canada with the pink monster dotee.  He's an ANGEL.  A yellow piggie angel for a swap I hosted where one of my best participants got shafted.  Her partner left her high and dry for TWO dotees (it was a double doll swap).  She said she didn't need an angel but I just couldn't leave her hanging like that.

Here's hoping Amarillo brightens up her day.

What's next?  Well, I have a few swaps but none are assigned yet so I think I need to put some stitch time in on the Fluff Project ghosts and reindeer.  Halloween is closer than I want to admit and I want to have the holiday items mailed off long in advance of the holidays.

But I also got a great free quilt pattern over at the Fat Quarter Shop and I'd love to try it out.  So. . .maybe I'll set a ghost stitching goal and once I meet it reward myself with some quilt making.

Busy busy.

Sugar Skulls!

Ok, they're actually felt sugar skulls.

Of course,they're made for a trade.

The swap was for just one but they're so small (about 2.5 - 3 inches or so) I just had to make two.  That and I wasn't exactly sure what the size requirement was, so if my first one was too small I made a second to make up for it.

The bride was the first one I made and I didn't think to add the veil until I had the front/face done.

Isn't she lovely!

I really like the face on this one.  It's cute but not too cute.  The eye sockets are bits of felt and the rest is embroidery and beads.  The veil is a bit of lace.  I tied it at the top (to make a little bunch) and then hid the bunch in the seam.  It worked out well.

The back.  Bead and sequin flowers with embroidery stem.

And now, for her husband.

I was a bit obsessed with making a skull with a mustache.  That and I wanted one with flowers as the eyes.  I saw a lot of skulls with flower eyes when I wa looking for inspirational images.  I was going to put the flower sequins for the eyes but they were too girly and once I saw that trim (the gold stuff) I had to make another crown.  (I used that trim for a crown on a doll a while back).  I like how the mustache turned out.  It was just free-handed but it's pretty even and looks decent.  It might be a tiny bit high on the face but I think that is kind of cute.  (for the record, I had to tear out the right hand side of the mustache twice to get it right.  I was worried I'd rip the fabric and have to start the face all over again)

I finally used some of the sew on jewels I've had forever, too.  Bonus.

The back is really very random.  I just wanted to do some embroidery but I didn't really want more flowers.  I thought I might do a pile of french knots (I love that look) but after a did a few I knew I didn't have the patience.  So I made a dot of knots (that's the yellow at the top) and then I just did some stem stitch and just made a random design.  I had been toying with using one of the skull beads I just got (love those tiny ones!) so after I had the swirly done it seemed a good spot for a bead so there you go.

These will go off in the mail probably tomorrow (I don't fee like walking them over this morning).

I LOVED making these.  So simple and fun.

For a swap: Doll and Pattern

Another swap completed.

This one was for a swap to make a doll and include the pattern you used.  Of course, I went with one of the good ones from Nuno Life.

I modified the zebra pattern (once again) but this time without a rainbow shooting out the butt.

Oh, and no rainbow mane and tail.  Just red varigated floss.

This time I attached the hooves like the tutorial notes and it worked well (on the previous unicorn I didn't need to worry about it since I was sewing it down to a hat).

The mane is a little different, too.  I parted it down the back instead of just pulling it all to one side.  It's also a little bit shorter.  I really like it.

Both sides of the face.  I added a wee forelock because it was needed.

I think the horn is a little longer on this one and I like it.  Still made the same way, with a toothpick wrapped in floral wire/ribbon (that ribbon with the wire in it--this has two strips of wire with tinsel between them, kind of like a railroad track--I twisted it together to make one strand then wrapped it around the toothpick).

Seed bead eyes instead of sequins.  I like the smaller eyes a lot better.

I was tempted to add nostrils and/or a mouth but I think it would make the face too cluttered.  If this wasn't made with felt, I could have added them with fabric pen but I've found fabric pen tends to smear (and not get absorbed as fully) when I use it on felt (even the good wool blend felt, which this is).

This unicorn is between 4 and 5 inches tall (at the horn) and a bit longer (but not by much).  Super small and cute and not hard to put together at all (ok, the face gusset is a tiny bit fussy but not hard, you just need patience and to do it just about last).

I'm mailing this out tomorrow.  I hope it's well received.