Dolls

A long time ago, I made a little doll version of myself out of felt, and another of my sister. My sister has the one of her, and she loves it very much. My Emily doll has a mean face on, because I was feeling mean when I made her. You can refer back to the blog from March 2, 2010 if you're really interested in her inception, and then let's all marvel at how long I've stuck with this blog despite the ups and downs and long periods of neglect. 

Speaking of long commitments that are both gratifying and fulfilling, I decided to make a little doll of my love, to join join little Emily doll. We'll call him Tobi. For a while I put off making a Tobi doll, because I thought Real Tobi would find it unsettling and voodoo-esque, but then I decided I didn't mind. 

First I did a little Tobi doodle, to make sure I had a good feel for his facial features. Then I cut out the pieces of his arms, legs, body and face. I worked on the face first.

He kind of has these Doug Funnie features, which I think I did a pretty good job bringing to life on the felt.

I only had a brown piece for the back of his head, but he has black hair, so I needlefelted a layer of black over the brown.

Next I sewed the two parts of the body together, as well as the arms and legs.

As you can see, I pretty much took strips of felt and folded them in half, sewed, and then turned right-side-out. I gave him a baby blue T-shirt, some felty pants (American Apparel Slim Slacks, duh), and little black boots.

    Another golden rule of softies is that pose-ability is awesome, so I put pipe cleaners in his appendages, just as I'd done with Emily doll.

The trick with this type of doll is to put the two body/face pieces together right-sides-in, and then put all the appendages inside with just a bit of end sticking out. You leave a hole, of course, to pull it all through. I left the hole in the crotch.

 Hahah! 

Ta da! This is Tobi doll after much pulling and adjusting. Second to last step was stuffing him full of batting. Last step is crazy stitching his crotch closed, and post-last step is bending him into a come hither pose.

I think his head is a little wonky, but I love him all the same. I like the doll OK too. HEY YO!

This is a photo of Tobi doll and Emily doll standing next to a photo of Real Tobi and Real Emily standing by a strangler fig in Costa Rica, October 2009. The only thing is that Emily doll's face is all wrong now that she has Tobi doll by her side.

Not a problem. Presto--love is all you need, people!

Sweet Zoo: A Scribble Softie

There’s this awesome song my dad played a lot for my sister and me when we were growing up. Well, there are a lot of awesome songs he’d play actually. Like the soundtracks to Willow and Fiddler on the Roof, and then songs like “Graceland” or “That’s Just the Way It Is.” There was also a surprising amount of Enya.

But the song that was stuck in my head as I haphazardly sewed and felted and stitched last night’s project was not the masterpiece “Orinoco Flow.” No, it’s a song I just looked up and found is called “Sweet Zoo” by Barbara Streisand, which tells the tale of a childlike dream of becoming various animals. At one point in the song, she turns into an “alligator / Crocodile? / No, alligator! / With a great big mouth / and four very funny little legs / which are no good for dancing.”

This is what I think of as a “scribble softie.” It’s like a sketch on a drawing pad, but 3D. It’s not perfect, just like a doodle, but maybe one day I’ll expand upon this sketch and make something a little more perfect. That’s not to say I don’t love my little mistake-ridden gator croc, because I most certainly do, just like all my misfit softies.  

Here is a tutorial, though I don’t know how much I can recommend this project to the average crafter. I messed up a lot and had to deal with a lot of little issues creatively, but I created the issues to begin with by not properly thinking it through. My brain doesn’t always work.   

I only had one piece of the green I liked, so I couldn’t put the tail on both pieces. No worries, I thought. I’ll just cut out a huge tail piece on one side that I can fold around later. 

                                      

Then I needlefelted some eyes, nostrils and some dots down his spine. One way to give a little more life to big black eyes is to embroider a little white dot in each eye. I did that, and then I gave him two little finger lines on each foot. 

Then I did the tail thing. I just folded it over right-side-in, and sewed. 

I wanted it to have a mouth that would open, so I cut off the green part of the lower jaw on the bottom piece, and sewed on a red piece, with plans to stitch on another green piece underneath it later. I should have done it before putting the top and bottom body pieces together, but I didn't. 

The "little legs" lyric is particularly apropos in this project, because when I randomly decided to create a little softie alligator crocodile (much like Barbara, I’m just not sure), I disregarded one of the golden rules of softie-making, which is that all appendages need to be nice and fat, because otherwise it’s difficult to turn it right-side-out after the sewing process. I broke one of his little feet when I got frustrated while using a tweezers and paintbrush to push them right-side-out. I used a needle and green thread and "crazy stitched" it up. Crazy stitch is exactly what it sounds like. 

Boom! An almost complete alligator. Right now he doesn't have a lower jaw, much like the narrator in the book Invisible Monsters, which, incidentally, I just finished reading for a book club. The cool points just keep on a-comin'! 

As you may recall, I had sewed it together before adding the lower jaw. Again, I utilized the crazy stitch to sew the lower jaw piece on and I just tried to not sew through the top of his head. When I was younger I wanted to be a brain surgeon for a brief period. It's probably good that I went with a different career path. 

I love pose-ability in softies, so as I was stuffing, I added two pipe cleaner "axles" to each pair of legs, front and back. Maybe he'll dance after all! 

When stuffing a softie, stuff until you think it's done, then stuff more before closing it up. So, remember that hole between the tail and the lower body? I stuffed through there and then closed it up with--you guessed it--the crazy stitch. 

Alligator? Crocodile? No, alligator! 

Maybe it's Softie Emily's new pet? I don't know. She doesn't seem very pleased...

Or is he this Tiger Shark's new friend? Spending carefree days out in the Smith-Corona Sea.  

BEST FRIENDS FOREVERRRR!!! 

This picture really cracks me up!

FIN! (Get it?!) 

My Felty Roots

You may have noticed that the last few posts have had little to nothing to do with felt, despite the title of this blog and the associated unincorporated business entity: Felt Up Goods. I’m loving all the sewing I’ve been doing. Making clothes is a revelation, and following my first pattern was a great challenge. 

Last night during a friendly craft night, I decided to get back to my roots with some needlefelting. Needlefelting involves using a special needle tool to turn raw wool into either designs that are fused onto regular felt, or it can be needled into a 3D creation all on its own. I mostly use needlefelting to add details to a softie, like eyes on a little owl. I don’t often make completely needlefelted creations, so I thought I’d give it a shot, because I haven’t tried in a really long time.

For this type of needlefelting, you need raw wool, a needlefelting tool and this brush thing to on which to do the actual work of needlefelting. When you’re needlefelting, what you’re doing is stabbing. Stab, stab, stab! You stab at the wool until its fibers break apart and fuse together to make a strong formation that you further shape with the needle. It can be very relaxing to do all that tiny stabbing (until you stab your finger, because the needles on a needlefelting tool have tiny barbs on them). You have to constantly turn and move the creation off the brush, lest you end up felting it into the bristles.    

First I tried to make a little piece of bacon (above, bottom). It’s really hard to tame all the little loose hairs coming out of the wool. The little felted animals I see on Etsy seem so refined and smooth, and I don’t understand how they do that. More stabbing? Generally better craftsmanship? Razoring off the excess hairs? I have no clue. 

I ripped off some pieces of a tannish ball of roving wool, and stabbed and stabbed, felting it into a starfish shape. 

I stabbed endlessly, trying to smooth out its little arms, and I kept adding more layers of felt to build up his little body and strengthen his arms.

Then I felted on a little face.

But that big smile made him look like a drunk creepster starfish. It wouldn’t do. I felted right over that smile and gave him a smaller mouth, still happy, less creepy.

But before fixing his little face, I gave him a purpose in life: love.

Stabby stab stab!

 See how I stab? 

I love the look of these colorful, cozy knots of wool. They’re a super soft coral reef where he spends his days, scuttling along the spongy peeks and precipices, offering his heart to a deserving fellow felt fetishist.    

When crafting buddy Sam saw this, she said, "He's wearing a glove!" 

Starfish Heart Bacon! 

 This starfish is a hopeless romantic. Just don’t call him a Valentine. 

Destroying my gangsta street cred one soft sculpture at a time.

Excuses, Excuses & a Unicorn!

I'm even further behind on my November softie ornament-a-day challenge than ever right now, though I have a plethora of excuses and other things I've been doing over the last few weeks, some of which I will now list off: exercising (did I mention I ran a half marathon earlier this month? I did.), acute softie burnout, Thanksgiving cooking/eating/recuperating, watching Boardwalk Empire and The Mindy Project (because I am clearly gangster while remaining witty and feminine, duh), and um, other things, like...oh yeah, working a full time job and maintaining successful personal relationships with friends and family. There is just so much on my plate, both metaphorically and right next to my week-old pumpkin cheesecake. Yum! Life! 

However, you know what they say: "if you aim for the moon," blah blah blah. I'm commending myself for even coming this far. I mean, I've made 19 softie ornaments in 28 days. That's still pretty good, and if I don't praise myself for my many minuscule achievements, then who will (other than the people from whom I fish for compliments)?

 This is our Thanksgiving meal, just to prove to you how immersed I was in eating and recovering from the holiday. It's hard to get back on the crafting wagon after the gluttonous food orgy that was this T-giving, but I managed. I think I took this photo in the aperture setting instead of auto setting. Brilliant! 

 This is a poor photo of the most recent sugar skull ornament. I like it OK. 

I made these snowflake ornaments because they're so easy peasy that I can stitch them in the car. Once again, multiples! It's the best way to get several done in a row. I have big plans to make another one, as you can see by this loose flake. 

 This is my proudest and happiest softie achievement of late. I started this project over a week ago on a whim as a gift for my friend Justin, but I screwed up and sewed across its face, so another friend Kate helped me by cutting out the bad seam last night. I mess up all the time, yet don't own a seam ripper, for anyone looking for an inexpensive gift. 

A few words about this unicorn: I cut out the head shape and then stitched the eyes first, and they were just perfect. I used my narwhal technique for the horn, and I blanket stitched the bottom piece on to make it truly 3D. I'm just having a love affair with this unicornament (I just now thought of that. Wow. Again--just brilliant.) I mean, look at that rainbow mane! And it's perfect for my friend. I can't wait to give it to him! 

Do you watch that show Adventure Time? Me either! That show is totally for stoners! This ornament was loosely inspired by my favorite character, Lady Rainicorn. One critique I'll say is that I could've added a blue piece in the mane, to pick up the blue in the eye, but I didn't think I'd have the neck space. All in all though, super softie success!   

Complicated Softies

I've been working on some more complicated softie ornaments for the last couple days. I could make owls all day, but I'd probably get bored eventually, so when someone special asks for something specific, it can be a super fun challenge! 

 It can also be a massive pain in the arse. I made three heads for this peacock to get one right. Three. That's the same number of times it took me to pass my driver's license road test. 

 Ultimately, I'm pleased with the way this peacock turned out. There will be no further peacock ornaments in my immediate crafting future. 

 This is a narwhal. Who doesn't want an adorable narwhal on their tree? Another request, which was pretty fun to create. To attach his fins I used a blanket stitch, at which I'm a bit rusty. But as an admirer of relatively obscure aquatic creatures, I love little narwhal.

 Again, being so behind on my challenge (currently five softies behind schedule), I needed to make something fast. Another vegetable for Tobi? Of course! We haven't successfully cooked an eggplant, but we can hang this cutie on our tree. Also, I learned today that it's called an aubergine in other parts of the world. The more you know. 

These are some in-progress sofite ornaments. Just so you know, I'm not a total slacker. More to come! 

Behind Schedule!

 I got behind on my Softie-a-Day November Challenge. In my defense, it's because I was busy preparing for and running a half marathon on Sunday! WOW. I am amazing! Then I had to recover from it by sleeping a whole bunch. Don't worry. I'm sort of back on track. Sort of.  

 Ugh, THIS owl! This owl is my punishment for having a life outside of crafting. I broke a sewing machine needle on it. I'm down to my last machine needle! Furthermore, I don't like the design. Why didn't I give it little felted rosy cheeks instead of that dumb heart belly? One of its little heartstrings came out! I can't even look at it. What a redheaded stepchild of a softie. I'm sorry, owl. It doesn't even have a name. 

Made another one of these and took a weird, blurry photo of it (thanks for nothing, moon mountain setting?). Love the colors, design. Hate my complicated camera. I'm sorry, continuing education digital photography class! 

 

Desperate to have at least two ornaments to show for last night's Goodie Club meeting, I churned out this little guy for Tobs, who very much enjoyed an onion ornament I made a few years ago, and wanted some accompanying produce.   

I hope to close the now three softie gap between my track to my goal and my current batch of softie ornaments. Also, working on an Etsy, and several specific requests. Will advise, followers! 

The Softie Challenge Continues

Just to update you, I have been keeping up with my self-imposed softie ornament-a-day treadmill with great aplomb, especially considering this week's momentous election and a trip to Cirque du Soleil, which both cut into my crafting time. 

Here are the finished sugar skull ornaments from November 6 and 7. I decided to switch back to some owls after completion. 

Again, I worked in multiples to knock out a few owls for November 8 and 9. I finished them this afternoon. 

 

I love these kind of muted, rustic colored felts, but I think I'm boxing myself in with the owls, and just doing the same sorts of designs and color schemes over and over. I wanted to bust out and do some more bright and/or zany-looking ones. 

Did I succeed? I like this little guy so far. I did it so fast, it was like doing a quick doodle, but with felt. The weekend should give me some good long swathes of time to really work on some details and more time-consuming projects. Will advise! 

Handmade Holiday 2012 Kickoff Craft Challenge!

This year, I was even more pumped about the holidays than ever! I had vowed to put off my excitement until October 31 had come and gone, and on November 1, I had my first Holiday Craft Night for the impending Handmade Holiday 2012. Yay! I started out with holiday ornaments, and after nearly a week of daily crafting, I decided to challenge myself to create a softie ornament for each day of November.  

Day 1: This is Jimmy the Fox. I found a great piece of very thin, rust colored corduroy in the remnants bin at JoAnn's. I love the texture and look of the fabric, but I've found it frays and tears easily. Oh well. This fox was inspired by a locket my friend Bekah gave me. Bekah says, "Foxes are the new owls."

Day 2: But owl ornaments are in my Handmade Holiday roots, man! I wanted to make an owl from the corduroy as well. This one is called Hoo-boo, and I tried to make him look more expressive with eye brows. Success level: modicum. 

Day 3: Perhaps because I started my holiday crafting so close to Halloween, I started working on a sugar skull design. I don't particularly love sugar skulls, but what I do enjoy about them is that the design possibilities are pretty endless. They're colorful and they can incorporate needlework and wool felting. Also, if I was to make an attempt to sell something, I think a lot of people would buy these, just judging by how many chicks I know that dressed up and painted their faces dia de las muertos-style for Halloween.

Day 4: I think people like to be reminded of Halloween during Christmastime, also, like in The Nightmare Before Christmas. I loved embroidering the flaming diamond on this one's forehead. This is the one I'll probably keep for our own tree. 

Day 5: I decided to make another fox. This one is called Winky, because she's winking. I think she turned out superior to Jimmy, but it's still very difficult to have decent craftsmanship with that delicate fabric, dang it. 

 Day 6: A good way to churn out several softies in a row is to work in multiples. My least favorite part of making these skulls is cutting out the skulls, shaping the lower jaws and cutting out eye holes, so sitting down and doing those jobs on two ornaments was very satisfying. It freed me up to then focus on just the colorful design elements once I completed the grunt work, which makes working on them much more fun. Just a little ways away from having these two complete, and if I do it today I'll be one up on my month-long challenge!

The first six days of this grueling challenge beg many questions. Will I be able to keep up this breakneck pace of crafting? Will I crumble under the weighty pressure of the looming holidays? What further demented designs will spring forth from this maniacal mind?? Stay tuned to this enthralling blog to find out!