Randomness: Sketches

I haven't done this in a while (and probably should have saved it so I'm not doing two posts in one day) so why not!

These are my current dotee sketches.

I do have a sketch book (where I do transer ideas for posterity--I don't save these sheets) but when I'm at work my desk blotter is my go to sketch pad. 

There are four dotees sketched out on this sheet.  Top left corner is for the "what's a dotee?" swap.  There's no real theme for that so I'm planning to just make a really basic dotee (though I'm kind of in a monster mood lately, so I might make a more square dotee with moster looking face--haven't decided yet).  I have it narrowed down to either a "classic" dotee made from patchwork or a square/rectangular monster dotee.  We'll see.

Bottom left:  Hat dotee.  The theme is hats.  So a hat has to be part of the dotee (or the dotee itself).  I'm going to make a magicians top hat with finger puppet bunny that pops up out of it.  The hat will be felt (with perhaps a fabric covering over the head opening of the hat, which will be where the bunny comes up out).  The bunny will be the finger from a glove with felt and embroidered accents.  The hanger will be on the rim of the hat so it hangs and looks kind of like a hat hanging on a wall but when you look at it you can see there's more to it (an opening on the bottom of the hat--which is technically the top of the hat) where you can put your finger and make the bunny pop up out.  The only tricky parts will be the fabric disguising the bunny.  I'm confident I can make this one work.

The middle sketch is for a birthday themed dotee.  I want to make a Cake-a-saurus.  A felt cake with dinosaur features.  Google eyes, a mouth, and little lit candles as the spines.  This one might end up looking funky (since it's a weird concept) but I'm confident I can actually produce it.  The hardest part will be the mouth area (and I anticipate the candles being tedious to make but not "hard").

The right hand sketch is for the Wizard of Oz series.  This month is the Scarecrow.  The key to the scarecrow is the brain, so I need to include it in the doll.  I'm going to (yet again) use the gingerbread man shape I have for the body shape.  Then cut off the top of the head to make a brain that's then hidden under a hat (the hanger will come up out of the top of the hat, so the had can slide along the hanger to reveal the brain but not get lost).  The body will be pretty basic.  I'm hoping I have some burlap-y fabric in my stash to make the clothes.  And I'd like to use some linen for the face, to get that bag face look the WOZ scarecrow has.  This one will be a challenge because I want to use a bunch of different fabrics.  They might not play well together, so we'll see.  I really want this one to be good, too.  I want to do crazy good quality for this series.  Other folks in this series are really pulling out the stops (the tinman I received is crazy awesome--I'm going to post pics once I have my full set--I'll show all the ones I made and all the ones I got).

Tonight I plan to finish the Bathtime dotee that's in progress.  It's coming along very well.  I was worried the emboidered face wouldn't come out right but I really like it so now I'm eager to get the whole piece done.  I have good feelings it will turn out very well.  (it's a cat in a washtub covered with bead bubbles and looking really pissed off).

Sketch Book : Chameleon

I don't have a proper sketchbook (yet, I'm toying with buying one in honor of my upcoming vacation) but I do sketch quite a bit at work (on pilfered copy paper).

Most of the time it's just advanced doodles, nothing that will ever become a stuffed toy or anything more than a drawing (sometimes I re-create the drawings on index cards that I send to some of my online friends).

But after making the sweater alligator I got a wild hair to make a chameleon.  A quick google search (to see if a free pattern existed--hey, I'm lazy and will take a free pattern) I didn't find any free patterns but did see a few felt/plush chameleons other folks have made.  Some were super complex and/or knitted/crocheted (damn my lack of crochet skills!) but one was exactly my speed.  It was a simple little felt item.

And that's what got me off and running to try and design my own chameleon pattern.

Preliminary doodle/sketches.

I never really thought about how much chameleons look like dinosaurs.  I still adore dinosaurs (and might be making a felt one right now--but more on that later).

So the basic shape is pretty easy (if you're going for a cartoony feel, which is my taste).  And the limbs are really just spindly dealies with two toes sprouting off the end.  The big trick is in making sure the top of the leg (rear in particular) don't take on too much of a chicken leg shape (yes, that's what one of the notes says "less chicken leg").

To get rid of some of the pillow style feel of it (to make it more dimensional) I'm thinking it needs a gusset on the belly and one at the top of the head.  That should make it able to stand on its own (as long as the limbs are stuffed tight enough and/or have wire and the feet are placed correctly).  And with a gusset on the head it will make it easier to attach horns (if that's the style of chameleon I want).  (that's what that funky triceratops looking thing is in the bottom right corner--trying to see if a forehead gusset is necessary--it might not be necessary).

The tail, which you'd think would be the hard part, might not be that big a deal now that I've made that octopus.  The hardest part will be making sure the pattern is wide enough so the felt doesn't pull apart (and cutting it out--that's going to be a pain in the butt).  But the sewing of it shouldn't be that hard, just stuff as you sew.  (and yes, I want to make a curled tail and tail up/walking style--same body only with tail/leg variation).

The eye may prove the most tricky.  To get the classic eye look I'm thinking two circles of felt (one slightly bigger than the other) the smaller of which with a hole cut for the eye bead to slightly poke through.  Sew the eye bead to the base circle then the top circle over the bead and base.  Lightly stuff to get the bulgy-ness.  Then attach to head.

Yeah, I think this might be something I can actually DO!

Perhaps I can get a rough cut pattern trimmed out today.  That is my goal.