Interesting fabrics

A few bits I spotted at the local fabric shop which might be useful in future projects, especially the light corduroy in various colours.  I was hoping to combine it with some nice rivets to make an everyday fishtail dress...  Haven't quite worked out the sketches yet though.

So, so soft!

Mess and new machine!

Having spent four or five days sewing and wrapping presents, my front room ended up a little untidy...

And that's after I hid most of the fabric.

However, I got an awesome surprise for christmas this year!

So excited to use it.   Can't wait!  I'd just finished a skirt using a borrowed machine, and the fitting turned out so well I want to use the same shape as the bottom half of a dress or three.  Photos of that to follow...

Chubbiest frocodile

One of my more gormless creations.  Love the belly though...

Hedgehog rolls

So simple to make - roll the dough into an egg shape, and snip at an angle into the back to make spines.  Nom.  

So cute, even if they did smell of tuna.

Knitting bags

Quite a few of my friends and family have started knitting recently, so I made four knitting bags.  They're one of the most fiddly things I've made, despite being quite simple: a bag with quilted, reinforced base, with a divider down the middle, bias trim or facing around the handle for prettyness, and elastic loops down the side to hold either end of the needles and stop your workpiece getting all muddled up.

Four bags!  Took me two days.  Each one is sewn slightly differently...

Loops for securing the needles!

More papercuts

Didn't get great photos of these before I posted them, but here are a couple more gifts:

A4: wren, stump and clematis

A3: misc. flowers including clematis, lily and my favourite, which I don't know the name of.

CHIKKINS

A small trio of felt, buckwheat-stuffed chickens, perfect for juggling or throwing at people's heads...

Horns

I made these a while ago and they're due for an overhaul, but I thought that, as I have two photos to hand, I might as well post them.  Constructed from circles of corrugated cardboard strung onto a folded length of wire with spacers in between, each 0.5mm different in radius, curved around, coated with plaster-of-paris fabric and smoothed with an extra coating of plaster, then stained with tea and mounted on a wide hairband.

If anyone has any more photos of these, I'd love to have them.

 At a steampunk convention with Scary, hideously hungover, taken by some passing photographers.  Scary doesn't normally have sideburns like that...  

Late-night costume prep pic - fear the effects of the pirate corset coat.  Which I really should get pics of.

Papercut note - mixed flowers

What are you supposed to bring to an engagement party?  I went with a note...  Well, went overboard with a note.

1 sheet of A3 + ikebana image search + a craft knife + several hours = a very fancy note.

Was really happy with the way it turned out.  Didn't have any coloured paper to back it with though, so went with a dark blue napkin at the event.  

 The recipients seemed very pleased, and say they're going to get it framed.  Woot!

BEHOLD

Eeehehehehe...

OK, it took me nearly four hours but I think you'll agree...totally worth it.

In summary: a wireframe top hat with crank-rod which drives the motion of flags at the end of long rods, which are positioned by a wire network on the top of the hat.  Very simple, straightforward and oh, so satisfying.  I am filled with GLEE.  Better pics and perhaps even a video should follow at some point. 


Notes for the next version:  The mechanism is a bit sticky somewhere.  Provided I can sort that, I intend to replace the masking-tape flags with more brightly coloured, larger ones, and fill in much of the wire structure of the hat to make it more stable and look more awesome.  I may add a fabric lining, to prevent your hair snagging in the cranks.

Abstract sketches

Just a few of my abstract images that I wanted to share, though some of them aren't finished and I don't think I got the best one.  I need to scan them in, but currently don't have access to a functioning scanner.  These are so satisfying and have so many variations I want to explore.  I'm hoping to develop it and work the pieces on wooden board.

Commission - brooch

I love making the most of packaging, to make something I'd myself be delighted to open, to make the recipient feel special.  First the pink/red velvet pouch, then the thin balsawood presentation case tied with a ribbon, with the image inked into the front...

Then a first peek at the contents, snug and secure between the layers...

Three finely sawn cut-outs of the design in sheets of satin-finish sterling silver.  The ear wires are recessed into the cover to keep the packaging flat and secure - the earrings simply thread on.

The back of the packaging shows my logo, printed on the third sheet of balsawood which has a cut-out to house the pin back - incidentally the first one that's really worked well, and I wish I'd taken better pictures of it. 

I wish I'd been given more scope to do a single, more ambitious and complex item, but it's more important to make the customer happy!  Perhaps one day I'll make the things I had sketched out, with layers of purpleheart wood and handmade chains.

Mrowr

A friend's dressing up as a cat/leopard tonight, and after discussing the ears and make-up and checking out DA I got a fizzle into my head to give it a go myself. I may look silly but it was quick and fun, even without putting contact lenses in!  This would look much better with white, but I didn't have any.  This is just liquid eyeliner and silver, copper and gold eyeshadows.

I think it looks quite cool...  things of course which could be done much better, but it's a start!

Now, for the next photodump installment:

This is my GirFrock.  If you don't know Gir, it'd only take too long to explain!  The power of green compelled me.  Pattern is a duplicate of a very pretty dress I bought for my brother's wedding, minus the zip and plus pockets and an obi-style belt (which is reinforced and quilted, no less!).  Lovelovelove it, even though it's already getting bobbly.

A keyfob I made for a friend's birthday, the initals 'DW' sawn into copper, hammer-textured and with a swivelling bail attached with my first ever successful rivet!  Well, for a given value of 'successful'.  I really love the style, and just wish it would work with 'MH' so I could have my own.

These were so cute I had to share!  Little sweet 'slider' buns - I made tiny beefburgers to go in them when we had an awesome bbq: thai pork skewers, mustard-rosemary chicken, hoisin veggies, tiny burgers etc.  Yummy.

Photodump

This blog is purely to massage my ego - I'm forgetful and insecure, and because almost all my creations go to other people, I forget that yes, I can make things, and I frequently do!  Hopefully I can shortly get hold of a more wieldy camera and get into the habit of photographing everything I make.  In the meantime, here are a few bits which happened to be close at hand.

 A pair of earrings made from fossils I collected on the South coast, with sterling silver settings and wires.  One's a hook and t'other a pin, because it just seemed to work out that way.   I'm really happy with how they look on - very classy and gothic.  

 This is my every-single-day ring. The soldering isn't great (just for a change), but as my first stone-set ring I'm really proud of it.  The tapered band makes it so comfortable, and I love the gradual patina it's acquiring in the hammer-finish around the setting.  The garnet catches the light every so often, but usually looks quite dark - I might have forgotten to clean the setting before I put the stone in.

Carved oak doodle.  I was researching relief carving techniques and came upon an exercise which recommended doing something along the lines of the above shape.  I stopped at this stage because I felt it would be very hard to finish the oak more finely, and it's just a doodle, after all.  I'm disproportionately fond of it though.  I look forward to doing more.

Dice pouch made of buttery-soft leather, black ribbon and silver tube beads (which I made when starting out with silverwork.  Tubes are hard.).  I really love this design - it's made from a full circle of leather with two tabs to pull the bag open, making a mat to spread out the dice on, or if opened only part way can make a spout to pour them out.  Very rummagable.

Woo, I made a space-marine.  I must paint it one day, but for now he carries a Banner of Wuv.  I was so proud of carving his neck-sprue so I could perch the head at a most pleasing angle.  Thusly, I gain insight into the minds of teenage geeks everywhere :P

Today I conclude with a few of my tiny creatures.  Walrus, penguin and stupid-looking-frog.  Cthulhu is someone else's fault!  It's great fun making these tiny beasties out of sculpey - I've made batches of them with pin-backs for christmas presents before.  There's even a little aubergine with legs out there somewhere!  Hopefully in future I can upload much more, for a sure-fire way to cheer myself right up.