For a Swap: Tiny Pumpkin Patch

I'm loving the One Tiny Thing swaps I've been doing lately.

This latest one was themed "pumpkins".  For all the OTT swaps, you have to make ONLY one item and it has to be under 4 inches square (and fit the theme).

The minute I saw this swap I knew what I was going to make (but not exactly what I'd do).

Tiny pumpkin patch!

The grass patch is just under 4 inches square.  I cut the fabric at 4 so I knew once I stitched and turned it would come in under (not that I expect my partner to measure, but I like playing by the swap guidelines).

The six pumpkins are needled felted and just so dang CUTE!

Two have sparkly embroidery floss ribs for a bit of pizzazz.  All of them have embroidery floss stems coated in felt glue to give them a bit of form.  Just run the floss up from the bottom (to hide the knot) and then coat the tail in glue.  Let it sit for just a minute then when the glue is still damp you can curl the stems.  Once they're fully dry you can trim them back a bit if they're still too long.

I got an itty bitty pumpkin patch, in my hand!

See, it really is small.  Small and cute and I kind of want to make a whole boatload of baby pumpkins for myself.  They're really EASY to make.  For such an easy craft, they really look good, too.  Sometimes super simple crafts look like just that.  Crafts for kindergarteners.  Needle felting is definitely NOT for kindergarteners.  I stabbed the crap out of my index finger.  Hurt like hell (but I did not shed blood on the patch).

The next OTT swap is Christmas themed.  I'm already thinking about what I want to make (and have one idea).

For a Swap: Easter Dotee (Meet Derpy)

I'm post bombing the blog today.  This is the second post of three for today.  (yes, I could have just piled them all together but I like keeping things categorized so. . .).

SO, this is the dotee I made for the Easter Dotee swap. 

I call him Derpy.  Come on, is that not the perfect name for him? 

While he is derpy, he's also sparkly and fancy.

Show off for the folks, Derpy.

Derpy's back is covered with flower shaped sequins held on with fat seed beads and embellished with some stem stitches.  There are even a few flashy butterflies!

(his tail also has a butterfly sequin).

Derpy himself is a wet felted egg.  He felted up very well and I was pleased with the final result.  I haven't played with wet felting for almost exactly a year.  The last time I played with it was for the Easter Basket of Awesome (yeah, that was a year ago!).

Derpy also has some funky blanket stitch around his mouth and his eyeballs are reversible.  The pupils are slightly smaller on one side than the other (it's hard to see, but that's why there are two pics here).  I love those beads and can't wait to use them more.  I love the very muppet look they give items.

But wait, what's that in your mouth, Derpy?

Open WIDE!

"Ugh, ooof. . ."

"It's about time you let me out.  I was about to pass out in there.  Have you ever heard of breath mints?"

"Sorry, Chicky, I forgot."

"Of course you did."  *sighing*  Now time for me to show you off, you great big fuzzy pudding."

"Uh, Chicky. . ."

"Don't interrupt, Derp.  I'm trying to work my magic here."

"But Chicky. . .uh. . ."

"Shhh."  *clears throat*  "Ladies and Gentlemen. . .boys and girls. . .Chicky Baby entertainment is proud to present. . ."

"Chicky. . .uh. . ."

"DERPY!!"

*crickets*

"Hello?  Is anyone out there?"

"That's what I was trying to tell you, Chicky.  They already saw me."

"What?  WHAT!?  You mean to tell me you just. . .," *covers head with wing and sighs loudly*  "Derpy, Derpy, Derpy.  How many times have we been through this?  Showmanship, showmanship, showmanship."  *signs again*  "What am I going to do with you, Derpy?"

"Go with me to the Netherlands?"

*perks up*  "What's this now?  Take the show on the road?!"  *grabs Derpy and plants a big pecking kiss*  "Derpy, I'm a GENIUS.  We'll take this show on the road!"  *does a hopping dance*  "Ok, let's go get packed, we have a flight to catch."

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Yes, Derpy and Chicky Baby are off to the Netherlands.  I hope they really wow the crowds there.

Adventures in Upcycling: Sweater to Alligator

I've been dieing to felt up a wool (or animal fiber blend) sweater and make something from it but I just hadn't gotten around to the thrift store to search out a sweater victim.  I'd been meaning to (there's a realtively new Goodwill two blocks from my house I've been meaning to check out) but just hadn't gotten around to it.

Friday I finally went to the Goodwill.

I was on the look out for clothing I could upcycle and/or fabic sheets.

For $10 I scored a pack of small styrofoam balls (still in original wrap), a pair of mens corduroy pants (ear marked for wookie and/or ewok creations), a flat bed sheet in a ticking pattern (I've wanted some ticking print fabric so this was a great score) and as I was just about to give up the hunt (as all the sweaters were cotton/acrylic) a 100% wool Eye-talian sweater.

A hideously ugly 100% wool Eye-talian sweater VEST.  Honestly, it was so small I wondered if it was mis-hung in the adult section (or maybe it had already been felted accidentally?).

I didn't take any before pics but this gives you a great idea how heinous it was.

In case the pic doesn't do it justice, that's a dark green with alternating orange, red and pink stripes.

Did I mention it was a sweater vest?  SWEATER VEST.  (yeah, that just needed repeating).  It felted up nicely after only one wash (hot, "rough" cycle) with a few green towels (in case they made lint it wouldn't look too freaky agains the green sweater).  And after felting it was only a few inches smaller (no joke, the original size had to be a kids size--right before I took this pic I held the scrap up to my chest and it was just barely a crop top size, I bet if I actually put it on it would be more like an ample sports bra).

And you can see what I made from it, too.  Well, from only 1/4 of the front and one strip of the arm hole piping trim.

CHOMP!

(oh, I did use one little scrap from the back fabric for the eyes).

It was a simple "make it up as you sew" pattern.  From the 1/4 of fabric still pictured you can see pretty much what I did.  I just folded the fabric over so the shoulder strap part became the tail (and the stitching would make the warbly back bumps).  When I got to the head/face I added a gusset at the top and bottom to get the flatness needed.  The eyes are from a bit cut from the back fabric (two pieces stitched togther for stability and to hide the stitche attaching the google eyes).

The eyes were from my stash.  Something I wasn't sure I'd ever use but they're spot on fabulous (if I do say so myself) here.

AND, s/he stands on her/his own thanks to WIRES.

Yup, my first real stab (pun intended) with armature.  My first idea was to make two side pieces (that included the side of the legs) and then two gusset pieces (for belly and insides of legs) but the fabric didn't lend itself to that.  I wanted to get the most from the fabric (in keeping with the upcycling theme).

After I got the body done was was pondering the legs and was almost ready to give up and just make floppy bean bag style legs (that wouldn't support the weight and would definitely compromise the alligator feel) and then I remembered I had some floral wire.

Ok, great.  I had floral wire but now I had to make a pattern for the legs.  Poo.  WAIT!  HOLD THE PHONE!  I spied the piping around the arms and neck and it was PERFECT.  Because it was multiple layers it hadn't felted as fully as the rest of the piece.  So I could just run one half of my scissors down into it to make tube for the wire. 

Sweet.

Take the wire and stab it through the body.  Bend up the ends (to keep pointy pieces from jabbing through).  Slide the piping over the wire and stitch top to the body and then take a scrap (from the trimmings from the body) to make a set of toes (each toe is not individual--that would be nuts).  Sew toes to the bottom of the piping tube leg and BAM, you have a leg.

Now since I was just eyeballing everything, the front legs are a wee bit longer than the back (did the back first) but that kind of worked out since alligators do kind of have uneven front/back legs.  AND I managed to get what I really wanted which was an alligator that not only stood on its own but got its full tail up off the ground (just a bit).  I really wanted this alligator to look somewhat realistic body wise (flat head, eyes popping up off head, stands on own, can hold tail fully off the ground).

I'm loving this alligator and. . .

I'm open to suggestions for naming (and what else to do with the rest of the fabric).

Easter Basket of Awesome

The completed Easter Basket of Awesome, a fairly massive craft undertaking I'm proud to say I completed with time to spare.

Closeups.

One wooly lamb who may or may not look a bit like a dog.  I still can't decide how successful this one was (I don't hate it but I'm not in love with it either).

One tasty ham.  Mmm, fleecy!  This pattern intimidated me but it was easier than I had worried.

Nesting eggs with chicks.  Total of two needle felted eggs and two chicks.

One duckling that fits snugly in his/her egg.

JELLY BEANS!  36 of them to be exact (nearly crippled myself making them--these were probably the hardest thing about the whole basket)

Two chocolate bunnies (one is more dark chocolate in shade, the other milk).

Two cute little bunnies.

Two each marshmallow bunnies and peeps.

Sampling of the pins used to decorate the outside of the basket.  (there are three wee eggs, two chicks, and two bunnies)

And it's all for my sister.  She'll get a kick out of it.