dorky crafts and other struggles

2009-02-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

... really? My last post was in September? How embarrassing.

I'm back. Really! I'm determined to bring this blog back to life, at least as much as it was before. Blogging inspires me to craft, but unfortunately crafting doesn't inspire me to blog. Mostly because I'm too busy and I don't feel like I've done anything noteworthy.

Since graduating college and getting a 9-5er job, I've had notably less time to sew, but a lot more time to crochet and knit! that sort of thing can be done anywhere, so I've taken to bringing whatever project I'm working on EVERYWHERE. I don't have any pictures of my own projects, not yet anyway, but here are a few of the patterns I've done or have been working on:

Life is Uneven Cowl: I've actually finished this project, in a lovely deep red. I didn't have quite enough yarn to do all the required rows, so mine only has 28 or so, but I like it alright. It was fun learning the yarn over and knit two together techniques. I feel like I can finally do somewhat *fancy* things with yarn!!

Pythagorean Scarf: I'm working on this right now, in a lovely heathered expresso yarn from my new favorite yarn store, Renaissance Yarns in Kent. I love how easy and simple this pattern is, while creating a beautiful effect, with only purling and knitting! AWESOME.

My next project is going to be a Invisibility Shawl from the Charmed Knits book that a dear friend gave me a year or so ago. Mine's going to be a light blue, not the suggested gray, just because I fell in love with the blue when I saw it at the store. This should be an interesting project, although I'm a little daunted by the various techniques I'll have to learn.

If you were wondering why now, of all times, I decided to pick up my dear old blog again, it's because during my spare time at work I've been perusing some lovely blogs that have reminded me how much fun this is. One is, for instance, FringeLore, which is Julie's beautiful blog where she showcases her steampunk jewelry. It's amazing! A friend and I have recently started dabbling in steampunk fashion, and I want to buy everything in her Etsy shop. Amazingly enough, she's currently having a giveaway for SIX pairs of earrings! Or is it seven? Either way, AMAZING. She's awesome. I strongly suggest checking out her stuff, but only if you have a hanky nearby to wipe up your drool.

I am the worst blogger ever.

2008-09-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry! I've been completely slacking on this poor blog. But it's not as if I've been hiding my crafts -- I simply haven't been doing any! The good news is, this week I'm going to try real hard to make time to make a few more dino plushies. My church is having an auction, and I'm going to donate that dino quilt I made a month back along with a few dino plush I've been thinking about. Should be fun!

This weekend, I did hem a few pants for my brother's girlfriend, but that's not even worth sewing. I've also started yet ANOTHER scarf -- another knitted one, so it's more practice in knitting than anything else. Pretty yarn, though. Once I get a bit further, I'll upload some shots.

In less than a month, Plush You opens in Seattle! I'm really excited for it, and am looking forward to the inspiration I'm sure to get from the show. Hopefully I'll be able to fit a lot of crafting in before November, when National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) starts up, and that takes up all my free time.

But, well, just wanted to throw it out there that I'm not dead! Just extremely busy and overwhelmed. But still alive.

Rglglglglglrrrlglgglgll!!

2008-08-19T23:16:00.000-07:00

What's this? Other WoW plush? Well, that's exciting. Intrigued by some comments I had gotten on my Voidwalker plush post a few months ago, I decided to google-search for more Warcraft plush, and -- tadah!

Definitely a different approach, since mine is much more abstract and, well, cute! Gobi's is interestingly "realistic," in a way, and I love how sculpted all his pieces are. The main reason my voidwalker is so simple is merely because I didn't know how to create such a perfect model of the demon's actual body.

If you check out Gobi's site, he's also done a murloc, complete with free pattern! I'm pretty sure I have to try this out.

Whoops..

2008-08-17T16:36:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago, I decided to go about making my first piece of clothing based off of a pattern. A simple pair of pajama pants, with these lovely flannel prints that I got a very long time ago:

I'm happy to say the pants came out fitting very well, except... I shortened the pattern a little in the waist area, and now they're a tad TOO short. Let's just say I shan't be bending over while wearing these pants, hm?

Next time I can get my hands on some cheap flannel, I'm going to try again, without so many liberties regarding the pattern. It was surprisingly easy, and I definitely boosted my confidence regarding patterns.

Belts!

2008-08-17T16:34:00.001-07:00

So many of my crafts are gifts for my mom, either by specific request from her or just because I make something I think she'd like.

This belt, modeled by me here, was asked for specifically by her, after she found this tutorial on how to make a flower tulle belt for way less than J Crew would like to charge for it. (The blog, generally, is quite a fun read. Now that I have to dress professionally every day, it's nice seeing how other people do it with flair!)

So, today, I put together a belt for my mom. It turned out quite well, and very cute! I might have to make one for myself, actually.

Been a while, hasn't it?

2008-08-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since my last post.. I moved home from collegetown, settled in with my family again, and started applying in earnest for any sort of writing job available. Unfortunately, nothing directly related to my major has worked out, but I am starting as a receptionist for an insurance agency in a week. It'll be a good starting job, I think.

In the meanwhile, I've kept myself busy with a few crafts, including finally finishing my dinosaur quilt!

It's a bit smaller than I expected, but very cuddly and fun. I inserted a layer of batting between the material, so it's softer than it would be on its own. Now I just need a little boy to give it to! Or a little girl, let's not be sexist now.

Hats!

2008-07-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, just one hat. And it's tiny. I was playing around with crocheting in the round yesterday, and ended up making this tiny little beanie, modelled by a TY plush I have lying around.

I'm now working on a Liane-sized version in blue and pink, so let's see how that goes.

Food and yarn!

2008-07-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

I made some delicious banana-chocolate bread the other day. From scratch! I've made banana bread from a mix before, just adding my own bananas, but this time I did it on my own. It turned out really well. Very moist and delicious. The chocolate chips made it.

I've been working a lot on knitting and crocheting lately. I've finally knitted a scarf! Well, almost. I haven't finished it yet, because casting/binding off scares me. I'm not sure I quite understand how it works, so I might wait until I can find someone to show me in person.

I've also figured out how to crochet in the round! It's much easier than I thought it would be, so I'm trying to make a scarf in this method for my roommate before I leave Bellingham (on Sunday! Ahh!). Maybe once I get this down, I can try making some cute little yarn amiguri!

Finally finished!

2008-07-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

Since I graduated a few weeks ago, I've had a lot more time on my hands. I decided to put at least some of that time toward finishing the blanket I started back when I moved in, almost ten months ago; I mentioned it way back when, describing it as "a smaller blanket" than the one I made for my mom's birthday last year. Hah! This thing is huge.

It's roughly 33 inches by 114 inches, or two and a half feet by nine and a half. Ridiculous! A strange shape, definitely, but it will do nicely as a blanket for my bed. Or I can wrap it around myself indefinitely and be cozy that way.

A year of dinosaurs!

2008-06-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

I really like making dinosaurs, because they're relatively easy and always a hit. I've been a fan of dinosaurs since I was a kid and briefly considered getting my degree in paleontology, even! Well, that didn't happen -- I graduated a week and a half ago from Western with a degree in English literature -- but I can still continue making them!

This is the first dinosaur I made, just about a year ago, for a friend's birthday (and it's her birthday again this Saturday! Happy birthday, Jess!). He's from felt and turned out really well, I think.

This fellow came to be last winter, as a present to myself. I used basically the same design as the previous dinosaur, but I used cotton instead of felt. Since the seams are exposed, he's fraying a bit, but he's very cuddly.

Now -this- guy I just made last week for another friend's birthday. While the other two are psuedo-stegosauruses, this one is something of a longneck dino, although my mom thinks he looks more like Nessie.

I've been commissioned to make a pink dinosaur sometime soon, and I might attempt a t-rex sort of guy for that one.

A gift!

2008-06-01T10:33:00.001-07:00

Today's my birthday, and my beautiful and talented roommate gave me this amazing creation.

I wish I knew how to felt! Such a cute little amiguri. He's something of a pin cushion, and she felt the need to include a little strawberry, so I wouldn't have to impale the kitten.

So adorable! Thank you, Janelle!

Happy birthday, Mom!

2008-05-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

My mom's birthday is tomorrow, and in addition to a few other things I got her, I crossed off one of her plush wishes and made her a turtle:

His head is a bit floppy, and she says he reminds her of a hat, but I think he turned out well. I really like his shell, which is made of fleece with felt patches.

Next on the list is a crab!

... Ahhhh I want this.

2008-05-25T00:10:00.000-07:00

This adorable kitten is by Astulabee

. Her etsy shop isn't really open yet, but I'm going to have to keep an eye on it. This might be where my stimulus check goes. I adore her design and the details and -- well, everything! Unbelievable adorable.

I need to learn how to -actually- crochet.

2008-05-16T10:19:00.001-07:00

I was taught how to crochet by my roommate last year, and all I really know is one lonely stitch. Looking at amazing patterns such as these jelly fish! makes me really wish I knew how to -actually- crochet. A friend taught me the beginnings of knitting last night, and I think I feel comfortable knitting and purling now, but I need to find some way to learn how to crochet better. Does anyone know any really great online resources, or books I should look into?

How could I forget?

2008-05-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

Browsing through old posts, I saw I had never posted this other zodiac pillow I made, for a friend's birthday in late March.

There's more beading on this one, and I figured out a few of the glitches that happened first time around. The back is pink fleece and deliciously cuddly.

Owl you ready for Mother's Day?

2008-05-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

I made my mom a duo of owls for Mother's Day this year, as she's been making a list of various plushes she'd like. I think they turned out quite adorable. They're made mostly of fleece.

The finished product actually looks a bit different, as I added black buttons onto the eyes, for pupils. I think they look even cuter with the added buttons. She seemed to like them quite a lot, too, so I think I can count this as a grand success.

Curiouser and curiouser!

2008-05-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

A close friend of mine is a big fan of Alice in Wonderland (as am I), and on a whim, while I waited for her to come over to watch some Disney movies with me, I decided to make a tiny Mad Hatter hat.

It's around three inches high, and quite adorable. Rather easy to make, too, and I'm excited to give it to her.

Cup of tea, anyone?

Late night creations

2008-05-03T12:03:00.001-07:00

I literally didn't start this until 12:30am last night. I'm not even sure why I felt the need to craft that late, but I wasn't tired and I had this image of an adorable tiger pillow in my head.

I'm happy with how it came out, although it's made me question the present I made for my mom for Mother's Day. I based that design off of a tutorial I found, and I feel like it's not really my sense of plush design, but I don't know how to change it. I like it, definitely, but it doesn't feel like -me-. I'll probably just stick with it, because it is cute, and I'm sure she'll like it -- and no, Mom, I'm not going to say what it is, because I know you're reading this.

I need a name for my cat pillow. Anyone have any thoughts?

Where's spring?

2008-04-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

We've had a long winter so far here in Washington, but at least the flowers are still blooming.

At the end of the school year last spring, I got my first vase, and became subsequently obsessed with having flowers in the house. It's a nice, cheap way to treat myself, and I love the sight of the beautiful colors.

I've had the carnations for a week or so now (I love how long carnations last), but I just picked the tulips today. I love the bright red of the tulips, although they do seem to make the carnations look a tad plain.

Last Wednesday, I hosted a St. George party, since one way to celebrate his feast day is to exchange books and roses. We all had a lot of fun, swapping books, and afterwards I got to keep a few of the roses that guests brought.

I've been a bit too busy to do much sewing, but I should be creating a few things for Mother's Day soon.

Braaaaains!

2008-04-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

Braaaiiins!

I made this plush for a friend of mine who lives in Florida, and since she's gotten the package now, I can post the pictures! I had such a blast making this zombie, not only because I wanted to make something awesome for my friend, but because -- well, what a cool request! He has a lot of details, including exposed spine and ribs, and guts everywhere, and even wrappings around his feet and arms!

He's based off of a World of Warcraft monster, a ghoul, like I said before. I think the resemblence is pretty strong, but I added enough of my own style to make him into a cute little plush.

I put pony beads in his torso so he could sit up a bit, but he's mostly made of felt and fluff.

Easter!

2008-03-24T02:00:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning, Easter morning, with bunnies dancing in my head. I've had a few bundles of brown and pink fabrics for a quilty pillow I have in mind, but I decided to sacrifice a small portion of one of the fabrics for a little plush bunny.

He was deliciously simple to make, and oh-so cute. I especially like his little nose and mouth.

What I want to do.

2008-03-23T00:23:00.001-07:00

I have a lot of projects waiting to be done, so I thought I'd record them here, so I can check back and maybe cross them off as they get done.

1. I just found the amazing Soto Softies blog today, and my mom came over and looked at it, as well, and immediately strongly ~~demanded~~ requested I make her an owl like this one. I doubt anything I put together will look as adorable and beautiful as that one, but I'll give it a try. I love the use of wood textured materials for the body of the owl.

2. An apron! I have this awesome dinosaur print that I got on sale a while ago, and it's a bit tough and resilient, so I'm going to try to make an apron out of it. To give you an idea of how long this project's been waiting, I got the pattern on sale on Black Friday, when all the patterns at Joann's were around $2.

3. Another cheap pattern I got, and more dinosaur print -- pajama pants. I don't really know how to read patterns or anything, so I figured a simple design like this would be a good project to use to learn to read patterns. And, of course, I got some soft flannel dinosaur print to use!

4. The dinosaur quilt I've mentioned before. (Jeez, I need to get out of this dinosaur rut!)

5. My mom has also especially requested I make her a pencil, like I made my brother.

6. A Warcraft fire elemental for an Arkansawyer friend.

7. Another Voidwalker for my Ohioan friend. (Is that the right word? I have no idea.)

8. A frog! One of the independent craft stores in my area has a wide selection of animal eyes, and I found these amazingly neat googly frog gyes for only 59 cents! So, of course, I have to figure out how to make a frog now.

I recently checked out the books Toys to Sew by Claire Garland and Plush-O-Rama by Linda Kopp and they've both inspired me in SO many ways. The latter is more my style, generally, but both books are filled to the brim with interesting ideas and patterns. I only have them from the library right now, but I might have to buy them. I've also been inspired by lots of blogs that I check out, so I look forward to any opportunity that allows me to experiment with the ideas floating around my head.

Another blog I recently found and absolutely adore is a stitch in dye. The photography is inspiring, and her quilting finesse is amazing. I just love everything about it.

I'm still here!

2008-03-23T00:14:00.001-07:00

Wow, finals hit me hard this quarter. At least I only have to go through that once more (unless I go to grad school.. Let's not think about that right now). I have been crafting, though, especially in the past few days.

As mentioned before, a friend asked me to help her design some crazy little dinosaurs. She actually came up to my apartment a few weeks ago and we set out figuring out the pattern and seeing what we could do. The first few, I'm sorry to say, turned out horribly, but by the end of the journey, she created a few really adorable little guys. My favorite is the "emo dinosaur", complete with black eyeliner and floppy hair.

This week, I made another Warcraft plushie, based off of a ghoul, as requested by a close friend. I'll put pictures of the fellow up here once she receives her package, since I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I was very pleased. He's quite possibly the cutest zombie ever. I'm planning on making another for myself.

Today, I started working on the twin zodiac pillow my friend requested for her birthday, to match her roommate's. It's looking pretty nice so far, since I have the experience of the first pillow under my belt and I know how to avoid some of the pitfalls that occurred before.

If I have time, I'm going to try to make that dino quilt on Monday. It doesn't seem very hard, as I was reading the directions earlier, although I don't have a "pressing cloth," as is requested. I figure I can just iron the seams like normal. I hope?

Poor, forgotten blanket.

2008-03-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

My first crocheting project ever was a huge blanket I made for my mom -- it was a huge project, but by the end I felt very comfortable with crocheting. I decided last fall that I'd make myself a smaller blanket, for my little twin bed up here in Bellingham. I bought beautiful pinks, grays and white yarn; it's Caron's Simply Soft brand, which is nice and cheap, but I love their colors and it's a very soft, light-weight yarn.

Isn't it pretty? It's going to have stripes of varying colors and will hopefully fit my twin sized bed nicely. I didn't really measure the blanket as much as I should've, so it's a little long, but that's okay with me. I haven't worked on it for a while, but I really should. The colors cheer me up.

Scarves!

2008-03-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

Last summer, as I watched tv or farted around on the internet, I crocheted SO many scarves. I've discovered that scarves are very easy, at least when you're lazy like I do and just use the simplest method to do so. I've made a few Harry Potter scarves, but given them all away, except for the one I'm working on right now. It's a Hufflepuff scarf, for a friend down in Texas:

I'm going to be mailing it down south soon. Maybe then I'll finally make myself a Ravenclaw scarf..

The only scarf I've made for myself is this beautiful green one.

I wear a lot of clothes in this color range, so you'd think I'd wear this scarf a lot. Unfortunately, I made it really long -- it's probably roughly seven feet long, and so it's rather unwieldy. It's fun, though, and I love the colors.

A project for the future.

2008-03-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

Like I said before, I've been playing around with quilting. Especially after seeing Dacia Ray's quilt montage, I'm more and more convinced that I'd like to learn to make beautiful quilts. Hers are especially amazing, but I'm starting a bit lower on the ladder.

In fact, I bought a kit to make a little kid's dinosaur quilt, from JoAnn's. It looks simple enough, so I think I'm going to do it this weekend, as a break from finals.

I love the fun patterns. I've always been a sucker for dinosaurs, and I think this'll be a fun, cute little quilt.

A pattern? Kind of.

2008-03-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, a friend asked me for some suggestions on how to make a plushie based on this little guy:

I drew out some crappy images on Paint to give her an idea of what I imagined, but today I drew out some better, hand-drawn images. As a college student focusing on technical writing in my English degree, I feel a little ashamed of these instructions, but until I make my own crazed dinosaur plush, this is the best I can do. I am planning on making my own, because I think it's an adorable idea, and after I work the bugs out in my own process, I'm going to make up some new instructions, but until then.. this is what I got:

Since blogger cuts out the left side of pictures (boo!), you can see them here for the full size, too.

Once my friend makes her plush -- it's her first one, and I'm excited to see how it turns out! -- I'll see if she'll let me post those pictures up here. I'm going to make mine next week, after my finals are over.

I don't have a name for it yet.

2008-03-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I graduate and so don't have blocks of space when I should be paying attention but instead doodle possible plush. I made this guy up the other day in class. He's definitely inspired by a few other designs I've seen, but I couldn't directly name those influences.

He's made of fleece, some craft eyes, a felt nose, and cotton for the belly.

He was pretty easy to make, although the pattern confused me around the legs for a few minutes. I also bought some nice dark gray fleece, so I think I'll make another one later this week. Took two bags of fluff to fill him, though, so I might make the next one a bit smaller.

Teachers, teachers everywhere!

2008-03-08T13:32:00.000-08:00

My brother recently got his Master's in Education, and he started working as a third grade teacher last fall. I'm still not wholly used to the idea of my brother being a "grown-up" and having a real "career," but I figure I have the next fifty years to get used to the idea.

His birthday was early February, so for part of his present I made him a huge pencil pillow/plush. It was actually remarkable easy, just taking a few hours of an afternoon. The tip of the pencil is a little crooked, but since my mom is now insisting I make her one, I'll have another opportunity to figure out the mechanics of a cone.

My cat was very interested by all the photographing I was doing.

I love fabric sales.

2008-03-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

When I was buying the fabric for the placemats and napkins I posted about earlier, back in November, I found this amazing, brightly-colored, cartoony, Zodiac print in the bargin bin. There was around two yards for only a dollar -- how could I pass it by? And as soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what I was going to do with the material.

The pillow I ended up making for my dear friend is, actually, the thing I'm most proud of, to date. The sleeve fits the pillow form very well, and -- beading! I beaded the middle section, since she's an Aquarius, and I had never beaded anything before, and think it looks very nice. It's hard to see, with the picture, but just imagine it is very detailed.

It was very well received, which is always nice, and her roommate is actually insisting I make her a matching pillow -- which, of course, I am. She's a Taurus, and I'm doing the fleece pink instead of green.

Quilting? Maybe.

2008-03-08T13:25:00.000-08:00

Ever since I started crocheting and sewing a few years ago, my mom's been at me to try quilting. It seems a daunting task, though, so I'm taking that a few steps at a time. My first step was taking yet another Dacia Ray pattern and making a "log cabin-ish pillow". I used scraps from all the pear satchets I made, and I think it turned out pretty cute.

It's sitting on the "cat chair" right then, so please excuse the wrinkled mess that is that blue sheet.

Pear satchets, courtesy of Dacia Ray

2008-03-08T13:22:00.000-08:00

In my weekly perusal of the dozen or so craft blogs I read, a while ago, I found this easy little tutorial for pear satchets from Dacia Ray. My mom has a lot of little pear things around the house, for whatever reason, so I thought I'd try to make her some of these satchets for Christmas. They ended up being SO easy and looking so neat that I made three sets -- one for my mom, one for my brother's girlfriend, and one for a pair of friends who live together. For the filling, I broke open those little paper satchets for drawers, and mixed that stuff with rice.

I like to pamper my mother.

2008-03-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

My mom's a great lady, so I decided to really apply myself for her Christmas present this year, and I made her a set of cloth placemats and napkins. It was a great exercise, and I learned a lot about pinning and patterns and sewing straight lines. She insists that they're beautiful and perfect, but I think I'm going to try to make her another set soon, now that I've started to iron out the bugs in my method.

The napkin rings are from Pier 1.

Well, he was supposed to be a cockroach.

2008-03-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

One of the best -- at least in my opinion -- "Harry Potter" fanfics out there is an immense, beautiful creation called the Shoebox Project. Set in the schooldays of Harry's parents, it's simply divine. One of the most memorable segments depicts Christmas at Sirius Black's new flat -- a flat so crummy, so horrible, so rundown, that there are cockroaches named Hector that are as big as your head that clack their mandibles and say, in a gravelly and horrendous voice, "Wotcher, Sirius."

So, of course I had to make a Hector for a friend who's also a SBP fan.

Done around Christmas 2006, this was my second attempt at plush, and while it doesn't quite look like a cockroach, I think he's pretty cute.

Let's start this off right.

2008-03-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

I first got into crafting about a year and a half ago, when I thought to myself, "What is my life missing? What should I do in order to be happier and feel that I'm living my life to the fullest? Oh! I know! A little felt Voidwalker"! Although I'd been playing World of Warcraft for almost two years at that point, I had only recently started to really enjoy it, when I started roleplaying. My character was a warlock, and her Voidwalker was a big part of my roleplay. So, I bought some felt, sat down for a few hours, and hand-sewed my first little voidwalker.

Since then, I've made them for people across the country (At least, there's one in Hawaii, California, and a few here in Washington). They're easy little critters, and they'll always hold a special place in my heart as the reason I got into crafting, and the first of my many felt animals.

This particular Voidwalker belongs to a close friend of mine, but I borrowed it back to take these pictures. The original Voidwalker, named Graz'nuz, is actually quite sad looking in comparison to the guys I made later, once I knew what I was doing.

The first post!

2008-03-03T13:34:00.000-08:00

So, I've done it. After enjoying dozens of other amazing craft blogs for the past year or so, after making blazers and pillows and stuffed animals with no knowledge of patterns or, really, how to sew.. I've decided to start a craft blog. I figure this will encourage me to do crafts on a more regular basis, and maybe it'll connect me to others in the craft community.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of all the goodies I've made right now, so this blog will fester in silence until I arrange to steal back presents I've made for friends and family.

Until then.. *poof*