Now Playing: "National Treasure" - mostly for sound
Current Mood : Tired, but I can't sleep.
Intersting day, but I didn't get to sew the pajamas. Instead, I (dramatic drumroll) made a Tribble ! This was the ‘ten minute craft' I mentioned a few weeks back. It took about that long. I wanna refine it, draft an actual pattern and write down directions, but it's pretty simple, and looks great, especially if you got decent fur to work with.
This luscious, soft and deep calico fun (read : fake) fur was purchased from Hancock's, around Thanksgiving, I think. It was $16. a yard, on sale for 60% off. A quarter yard would probably yield a few thousand doll-size quadrotriticale-nibbling fuzzball Tribbles, and was only $1.60. I used a square about three and a half inches long by two inches wide, folded once and shaped with scissors into an oval. The many different colors in the piece would pretty much assure I'd never make the same one twice - at least, not without serious effort ! Must be about eight different colors, but the photo only shows three or four.
Good fake fur - or reclaimed real fur - isn't too hard to work with. This stuff frays badly, so it got the usual Fray-Check treatment right after it was cut. I loaded a good needle with brown thread, and hand-sewed two of the three raw edges in about three minutes. One of the oval edges was where the fabric folded, and the other edge had to be left open, to turn it right side out. As I sewed, I brushed the fur inward with my fingers. That way, the fur was more bushy, and the seam wasn't so obvious.
Turning it right-side-out meant I could shape it a bit. By pushing the seam all the way, I had a big Trib. Or I could be more gentle, and give it a more of a curved pillbox-hat shape. Heck, I could give it lumps and bumps if I wanted to ! I could stuff it with cotton balls or fabric scraps, too. But this one was a prototype, so I basically turned it right-side-out, and folded the last raw edges under, and sewed ‘em together. The fur was so nice, you really can't see the seam at all.
I hope to make varying sizes - the prototype Elphie has seems a bit big for her (Hot and Cool for ‘08 ! New, Improved Tribble - bigger, sweeter, and no baby Tribble troubles !) , and I'd need a smaller one still for Barbie scale. I was pleased, though, at how well this one turned out. Whaddya'll think ? Should I post it on the site when I have it worked out ?
I'd have happily made more, but I wanted to keep Beloved Hubby company at the Shop. I got a little bored, though, and found a can of paint he had sitting around (with a few hundred other cans of paint). Would he mind if I ‘touched up' the pretty-much-abandoned Castle with it ?
I soon had the can of paint in one hand and a brush in the other and was happily covering all the green floor overspray. I'm sure it'll look like heck in the morning, but I'm sort of pleased with m'self for not giving up just yet. It'll need several coats, and it'll probably be scratched off easily, but I painted ‘til my hands were numb, and felt pretty good. Wish I could paint some more, but it's very cold at the Shop, and Dearest Son doesn't like to be down there long - some of the sounds and smells bother him. And I don't want to leave him in the house by himself. Hopefully, warmer weather and back to school will mean I'll return to it soon. It was kind of fun, and I relaxed with it this time. After all, it's not like I had much to lose at this point !
Now, if I could just figure out why I'm having so many sleep problems lately...
