Cat Patch for Halloween...Gift...in March

 This is for a friend who likes Halloween

 

 

Hasty Irregular Patchwork Bomber

I'm working on a slightly more involved irregular, multi-texture patchwork bomber jacket, and not feeling the most enthusiastic about it.  On Sunday, I decided that I wanted to use some large knit remnants--that I'd already decided would work together well for something--to make a quicker irregular patchwork bomber jacket for a friend I'd be seeing on Tuesday.

I finished it Monday night! 

 

It is cheerful and silly and meant to wear like a layer of blanket.  And it used a nice little amount of bulky fabric bits!

More Patchwork! More Halloween Patchwork!

A friend's birthday is approaching.  Time for more patchwork!  More Halloween patchwork!

 

This friend is just as much of a Halloween All year person as I am--more so, actually.  That's one of the reasons we're friends.

All of these fabrics were from my stash.  Most of the prints are actual Halloween prints, even those that don't have specific Halloween imagery, but I did end up calling in a few non-Halloween prints (two of which also showed up in the recent not-exactly-Halloween patchwork vest.)  I only repeated one of the prints, and I took the graphics from markedly different parts of the design, so they don't appear to be the same print, and I still consider this to functionally not repeat any print.

There are eight of each of the solid colors, and 16 of the black.  My plans for this project evolved as I started (die) cutting things, taking into account how many squares I had versus how many would make geometric sense.

I used the 60mm die, and the finished squares are about 50mm, or just under 2".  The finished size is about 11" x 15", or about 28cm x 38cm.

Inside, between lining and outer layers, is more of the striped fabric used in the apple patchwork messenger bag and inside the camo foil bucket bag. I also interfaced the patchwork sides.

I actually got this zipper, I believe, from the friend for whom I made this bag--they had gone to the craft thrift store when it was about to close for renovations, and the entire store was basically 'pay what you want,' so the friend grabbed a bunch of zippers for me.  This one was just the right color and length for this project.

 

A project like this doesn't make much of a dent in the stash, but it's still fun to see what's in there that'll work.

Apple/Blossom Sweatshirt

When I was planning to make the loud hoodie and the dissonant cardigan, I showed pictures of the fabric to a friend, who agreed that both of the prints were fantastic.  So!  I decided to see if I could get what I had left of both of them (well, what was left of the apple print from the first order) into a single ridiculous sweatshirt for this friend.

 

 Task achieved.

Two Doll Jackets

The first one isn't intended for dolls, though--it's a bit of a gag gift for someone who mentioned how much they like corduroy, but just doesn't find it much when shopping for clothes these days

 It's a modification of this coat pattern I shared a few years ago.

And the second happened after I was searching for buttons for the first, rediscovered my stash of small novelty buttons, and remembered how I have been saving them for years to put on doll clothes like pins.  Well.  I decided now was a good a time as any to do that.  I briefly considered making something for larger dolls, so the 'pins' would seem more properly scaled, but quickly went to the idea of making it (more or less) Barbie-size, because that's my default and would be more likely to get a lot of use.  The bad scale adds to the humor, right?

The pattern for this one came from my late 1990s experiments with scanning the pattern piece guides in pattern instructions and enlarging them to doll size.  Me Today is a bit irritated that Me Then didn't think it was important to note what pattern it was.

While working on the second, I got the idea that I should make a 'proper' denim jacket for dolls, too.

Just...some other time.

Quick Pride Pillow

 Made this fast for a friend

It was as straightforward as it looks!  Colors and sizes were limited by what was in my stash.  I'm happy that there's a variety of textures (fuzzy flanelette and rough chambray, along with a plain weave poly-cotton blend)

I did take the time to hand-sew the turning opening closed

And that was a nice, fast little project.

Animal Crossed Patchwork Bomber

I have recently started playing Animal Crossing Wild World for the first time, and I have read enough to know that I'll need to interact with someone else who has the game to be able to get the final version of the Nook store.  I have a local friend who had been thinking of starting Wild World for the first time, too, and we'll help each other with that store interaction.  

To thank the friend, I made this

 

 which contains a smattering of licensed Animal Crossing fabric

Gengar Square

Another favor asked of a friend, another thing sewn as thanks (along with a thing baked as additional thanks, since friend's spouse also helped.)

I made it in a rush last night, and it definitely is, let's say, charmingly off-model (even aside from the squareness) But! There's no question that it's Gengar.

Gengar-inspired Thanks

 Went with the friend to the craft thrift store again today--I wanted to bake something as thanks, but the forecast was for Ridiculously Hot today, and I worried that any food stored in the car would essentially be an incubator for any untoward pathogens that might have found their way onto it.  So I decided to sew something instead.

Friend is a Gengar fan, and we had also recently been discussing the relative lack of sequins in this friend's wardrobe, so this was a given.

A Few More Stitches

 As always, I made something to thank the Friend Who Drives To The Faraway Places.  This time, it was also an excuse to do an experiment I'd been thinking about for a while.

A year ago, I had the idea to make a doll jacket with what was essentially quilted clear vinyl on top of a layer of cotton broadcloth, with sequins trapped between the stitches. It looked cool, but I hadn't drawn out the sewing lines so they were kinda...haphazard.  But it still looked neat!

Unfortunately, the sequins made it impossible to turn the sleeves right-side-out, and the attempt to do so caused the sequins to damage the thin vinyl, so I had to sigh and let this project go.

But the basic idea stayed with me, and yesterday I made a zip pouch with the same approach (but heavier vinyl) on one side

This time, I measured and drew lines on the cotton--although, as part of the overall experiment going on here, I used the roller presser foot for the first time, and...let's just say I need a little more practice finding the center of that thing. But!  The stitching is mostly where it should be.

I stitched the vertical center line first--and of course I used a leather needle--then the horizontal center line.  I placed sequins around the stitching intersection, then stitched on the next sets of lines out from the center. I placed sequins in the four horizontal cells, then stitched the vertical lines outside those. This left the cells around the outside, which I filled with sequins then stitched closed at the ¼" seam lines I'd marked when doing the initial measuring and marking.  That's as much sense as my explanation is  going to make.

I chose a dark blue thin vinyl for the back, a yellow zipper, and glowworm green lining, and assembled them in my usual lined zip pouch way.

The only thing different from normal was that I had the ¼"-from-the-edge existing stitch lines to guide where to sew when attaching things to the front.

This was silly fun.  I'm not sure if I'll try it again, but that's mostly because I can't, at the moment, think of anything else to make from trapped sequins like this. But, the technique is unlocked.

Skater Skater Alligator Bomber Bomber Jacket

 A friend helped with some things this week--I had already baked something as Thanks, but, yesterday, I decided I wanted to make something more.  And I wanted to use the grommet press to install some spring snaps.  Because that's not something that just anyone has the equipment to do.

Initially I thought it would be a simple bag, so I looked through my fabric for something that seemed suitable for this friend, and this caught my eye

This friend likes bright colors (I made this jacket as thanks for them for something else), roller skating (which...close...), reptiles, and tackiness.  Someone sent me this fabric a few years ago, and I've been hanging onto it because...well.  Look at it.

What isn't apparent in this photo is that it's essentially a border print, with the print radiating from a packed geometric stripe at the center fold to the selvedges...and that's why I thought that maybe it wouldn't be so great for a bag after all, because there is a slight natural crosswise stretch of the woven cotton due to the weft yarns being weaker than the warp yarns, and that would also mean the weaker direction of the fabric would be the load-bearing direction in a bag.

At that point, though, I really wanted to use this fabric for this Friend Thanks project (I had considered, for years, using it for something for the kiddo, but his Ironic Humor Standards change so often that even if he liked it when I made it, he might not care about it a week later just because it's no longer the right kind of funny.)  As the title of this post indicates, I decided to make a bomber jacket.

There was just enough fabric.

Carbuncle Continues

 The kiddo still adores Puyo Puyo Carbuncle (the older, unstarred version), as featured on half of the split shirt I made for him a few months ago.  About a week ago, I impulsively started sculpting a little Carby from Aves Apoxie epoxy putty, which is a drawn-out process because I have to let the putty cure between steps (and some of those steps are [ugh] sanding), and also I am not strong at sculpting, so I have no idea how long that will take to finish.

This, though, took about an hour (minus glue drying time)

And, yes, that is hand stitching.  I love my kid enough for hand stitching (a little bit.)

I probably should have tried to figure out how to stitch on the pompoms, but I went with glue instead. E6000 doesn't seem to want to stick to so much polyester, but I think everything's firmly in place now that it's drying.

And the pompom tail works as a tripod with the feet so he can stand.

(When I gave this Carbuncle to the kiddo, he was very confused because he thought it was the Carbuncle I'm sculpting, and he was wondering, without wanting to seem rude, how it got so inaccurate.  He absolutely had not expected me to make another Carbuncle.  I won't mention to him my plan to maybe make a larger, fluffier version, constructed like a proper plush, from what I still have of the high pile felt I used for the collar on this coat.  That one, at least, should be obviously not the sculpted version.  I hope.)

Destash Zip Thanks

 My friend and I had been planning for weeks to go back to the creative re-use thrift store, and I wanted to donate as much as I could--I largely turned a critical eye on yardage fabric I probably never would use, and similar odds and ends of lace and trim, and craft stuff I hadn't touched for years (if ever.)  I emptied some storage boxes/areas and made space in more, which, yes, would allow me to acquire new stuff, but the real intent was just to...generally eliminate things.  I get a lot of satisfaction, at this stage of life, from honing my craft and hobby stashes.  (It's not exactly the Konmari approach, but it's similar.)  I made enough space that I could move some things, which had been in an annoying storage situation, into a concealed storage spot, and now it makes me happy to look at where the stuff used to be and not see it sticking out anymore. (I will never be a minimalist, but clutter doesn't sit well with me, either.)

The creative re-use store's website says they don't accept fabric donations under a yard--I know they do accept calico in quarter yards/fat quarters, so I did donate some of those (and a quick chat with the register lady said they accept smaller cotton pieces that can be used for doll clothes--she tried to sell me some bags of those, but, heh, nope, I have so many I could donate to them...)  I have two big bags of scraps--one of calicos and one of everything else.  My storage concerns need to figure out what to do with them, as well as leave space to keep filling future bags, because I will always generate a lot of scraps I'm not personally prepared to use for doll clothes or patchwork.

ANYWAY.

One of the remnants of fabric I didn't want to keep but I thought was too small to donate, leftover from a skirt I made last year, I decided to sew into a Thanks item for the friend, who is the one who drives to the place (friend has a Prius, so there's less...uh...ecoguilt about driving a long distance to a thrift store.)

Vintage metal zipper, too.

Thanks Jacket

 A friend recently gave me something for which I wanted to make an item of Thanks.

I poked through my stash, considered that friend's tastes, and ended up with this

I hope it makes the friend cackle gleefully at its horrible black-light-reactive brightness as much as it makes me cackle gleefully at its horrible black-light-reactive brightness.

In Between The People Here

 As the kiddo's birthday approached and he hadn't asked for anything specific (he knew he was getting a better computer), I asked once again if he wanted anything in particular.  Ever in pursuit of the meme, he said "Amogus."

Of course there are official Among Us plushies, but, not only were they not available at that time, I also knew he would be happy with something, shall we say...very off-model.

So.

I didn't use any patterns and it is terrible and he grinned so much when I gave it to him.

Jelly Roll Race--Not Fast, No Jelly Rolls

 A cousin is having a baby shower soon.  I asked what the nursery colors were--green, gray, white, with a forest or mountain theme.  Ooh--I had fabric for that!

I don't think that cousin follows this blog, but, just in case, I'm going to put the finished item under the cut

Hostess Gift #2

 This was made to hold several other gifts, actually...

Hostess Gift

 So I visited a friend today--both of us fully vaccinated, surrounded by tiny dogs and a large fluffy cat--and I prepared a hostess gift, although this probably would technically qualify as a Bad Hostess Gift, because Proper Hostess Gifts don't involve asking for chest measurements

Apple Thanks

Made a zip pouch as thanks for something the kiddo's teacher did.  The apple/ABC/123/gingham stripe print is something from a thrift store grab bag, and I held onto it because I think it could make a cute EGL dress for dolls.  But...considering there's a good chance I'll never actually make such a thing, I figured it wouldn't be a problem to go ahead and use a bit for the teacher thanks thing.

When I was picking out the prints, I grew keenly aware that I have very few "modern" prints in my calico/doll clothes stash, which I suppose is a natural result of thrifting so much cloth.  (The ABC/123 print had a 1995 copyright on the selvedge.)

 Normally I don't think twice about lacking trendy prints, but I did have a bit of "will this just look incredibly out-of-date?" with this project, since it would be a gift for someone I barely know (and the school has a website with a "here are all the teachers/staff and lists of their favorite things" section...which this teacher is missing from, since she was added last minute, so I couldn't even look up her favorite color.  I have a vague memory of her sending home a sheet listing those things at the beginning of the year, but...uuuhhh...where is it...)  Anyway.  I chose these coordinating prints hoping they would flip the whole thing from "out of date" to "vintage retro."

 I know my idea of How A Zip Pouch Should Look has been influenced by following s.o.t.a.k. handmade and her love of low volume neutral designer/handmade prints + Quilt As You Go, none of which are me things, but they are fun to watch other people be happy with (I have that attitude toward some popular kinds of dolls, too)--I just have to remember that I know I wouldn't be perpetually happy with those things, if I did join in on the fun of them. (I have to perpetually remind myself that customizing Furbies is something that does indeed look like fun, but, once I was finished with the custom, I would be finished with the Furbie, so it's in my best interest to just...not.  I have plenty of other things to use my time and resources on!)

The apple appliqué is from a 1990s craft panel print--something that my "mostly thrift" fabric acquisition habits hadn't realized that wasn't a thing anymore, until, when I went through a period of making doll clothes from them (including the instructions), I found I had to explain what a craft panel print even was.

Ah, well--I hope this project conveys my thanks!

Sewed a Few Pieces of Doll Clothes

and they have been mailed off to the person with whom I'm trading. That's 30 items, added to the 20 I sewed and gave the person when she visited in July.  I had to give myself a number to aim for, or else I'd keep sewing doll clothes forever...

I also finished sewing a pile of clothes for a different doll friend's belated birthday package (it's only about two months late this year.  I seem to remember last year saying I'd start sewing the stuff sooner.  Yeah.  I should start sewing next year's stuff sometime before his next birthday actually happens...)  I didn't get a picture of those, though.

And now I can sew something besides doll clothes for a while!