Figments

Well, at least I haven't been as slack on the sewing as I have been on the posting about my sewing...

I ran into some trouble when I decided that, really, I wanted to totally finish the underskirt before I started the overskirt. Finished things are good, I thought. Not almost-finishing things is even better. So, I wandered out to buy some black velvet ribbon to trim with... Only to discover that, apparently, no one stocks much velvet ribbon anymore. o_O I went everywhere. Most of them, I went to twice. I finally found the right width and colour at the Goldings on Lambton Quay (the other branch wasn't helpful), but they didn't have as much as I needed. However, the very lovely woman I spoke to offered to order some in, and was basically incredibly helpful. So, I finally have my ribbon - it just took forever to get it.

The underskirt is all finished, except for that ribbon trim. ^^

( photo-cut! )

Since I couldn't continue with my skirt until I got the ribbon, I did two small projects instead to fill in time.

Project one - The Fuzzy Crown Of Darkness. XD

My good friend Gwennie's birthday was a little while ago, and she inconveniently quit one of the online games we both play not long before her birthday. I'd been planning to spend real money on virtual stuff on there for her, but instead, I had to come up with a new plan. I went shopping with the vague target of 'cutely evil things' in mind, but came up empty handed. So, I moved to plan two - make something cutely evil myself. :D

I've made these little beanie hats a few times already - they're from a very basic Simplicity pattern to which I just add whatever silly additions I feel they require. I've made kitty-hat, bunny-hat, unintentional-goblin-hat (don't ask), and now, chibi-batwing-hat. Chibi bat wings hat may be my favourite so far, and it's not even mine to wear! I came very close to keeping it, srsly.

( Photo cut Two )

At the point at which I was half way through the above hat - which is to say, at a point where I really had to have a sewing machine to use - Jenni had a craft day at her place. I like craft days. Going and chatting while doing handwork is so nice, but I seriously envy all those girls who knit, rather than sew! Their craft is so very much more portable than mine. But since I don't really enjoy knitting, I ended up working on this little flower-gift-bag thing from a book called Omiyage. The bag in question is the one pictured on the cover.

I'd started it before, made one small error, and (foolishly, as it turned out) presumed that was why it looked like my flower had no chance of looking like hers. So, I started over, since the error in question couldn't really be undone. But, the finished bag doesn't look like hers either. After pouring over the (poorly written, and inadequately illustrated) instructions two or three times, I've had to face the facts - the bag has been photographed misleadingly. Suck.

I ended up tweaking the bag I made a bit to make it look a bit less like a dried-up starfish instead of a flower, adding a little stuffing to the petals. I'm sort of happy with it... And sort of not at all. Still at least it's done.

( Photo cut three )

GAH! Why will this damn grape not cooperate with me?!?!? D<

...real post another time. But if I have to unpick one more thing, I'm going to explode, I swear.

In a week, I haven't really got all that much done. But, then, I really only craft on the weekends, so I suppose it's going pretty well. Puff's mouth is finished, and her eyes are well on their way. However, I'm an utter idiot, because doing this onto a stretch fabric has been a total pain the ass. Of what I've done, I've done one eye, and the pink section of the mouth, twice each because they went horribly wrong, and had to be snipped out and started over. gah. I'll fuse interfacing to the back of the face area on Vashi. She'll be much easier, I hope.

So, this project was meant to be finished and already in the mail. Unfortunately, my carefully laid plans were derailed by me failing to notice that my 1st assignment due date was a week before the day these plushies needed to be in England. Ooops. So, they'll be late. But I'm pretty sure Emma will forgive me.

Sekrit Project Plushie Puff and Vashi consists of two plushies modeled after Neopets images, that I'll be sending to my very dear friend Emma for her birthday.  Puff & Vashi are pea & grape chia's, respectively. Neo changed the images a little while ago, so I'm modeling the plushies slightly more on the original images, and on the fanart Emma has for the two of them. They're very popular wee pets. <3


I made a mockup of Puff a little while ago, in black polar. The shape worked pretty well, though I think the body was a little large in proportion to the legs and arms, and I figured out that the arms were best just sewn into the seam, but the legs really need shank joints to sit properly. I have the fabric for both, I just need the time. Today is the day of that time. I am going to go on a plushie sewing blitz, and get as much done today as I can. I'll update later!