Project Maternity Monday

Here's my fabrics!

These 2 are Micheal Miller cotton:

I got 2 metres of each (expensive! but I managed to get them for around £7 p/m... which is a bargain since the going rate on e-bay is around £3.50 p/fat quarter)

And these 2 are stretch Jersey:

I got 4 metres of the red and 5 meters of the green...

Total cost of fabric: £73.64

Now I need to settle on patterns and get planning! exciting!

Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodrigues Swap

I swapped with Ralph in the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodrigues Organised Craft Swap. I told her I was pregnant and she told me she likes tea. Neither of us like Pulp Fiction.

I sent:

"WWDTD: What would Danny Trejo Do?" and "The Bartender Never gets Killed!" mug cosies - Inspired by Desperado.

"The only Alien at School" embroidered patch - inspired by The Faculty

Clark Kent/Superman Make-up bag, inspired by the "Superman Speech" from Kill Bill Vol.2

(I liked that one so much I made it a brother that I could keep)

(I sent Ralph the one with he nice top stitching around the zip)

I received:

Titty Twister painted coasters inspired by "From Dusk Til Dawn"

3 AWESOME Onesises inspired by The Faculty, Kill Bill and From Dusk Til Dawn

"Bill's Handkerchief" and Bill's Ladies bracelet, inspired by Kill Bill

painted matchbox and Carolina's Boots Earrings - Inspired by Desperado.

Awesome huh? Thanks Ralph :-) See the rest of the Gallery here

Embroidered Card Tutorial

So... yesterday I posted about my Husbot's valentines card. I created this by embroidering card... because I've forgotten how to use pens:

 This technique can be used to much better effect than displayed above :-) be imaginative, sew bits of paper together, indulge in a bit of paper applique, combine paper and fabric... but whatever you do the general technique is going to be the same:

What you can see in the above picture is my pattern (to the right) and my card (to the left) The trick with card embroidery is that you need to make the holes first.

1. Place your pattern on top of the card you're using and place the whole thing on top of a pricking mat (some people may have a pricking mat... I suggest using corrugated cardboard for a low-cost disposable alternative).

• I used my ironing board which I don't suggest, because it can be hard work if you're hitting against metal mesh all the time. the idea is that you should be able to put a pin through your pattern and card (in other words - make holes) and have something behind it so you don't damage your dining table :-)

2.  Continue to prick (make holes in) your card, using your pattern as a guide. These holes will replace the holes you would make when embroidering normally, so you need to make a hole wherever your thread will change direction.  

• Be Careful. You can buy 'pricking tools'... I didn't... I used a pin, which I pushed in with my fingers, which was a bad idea. I figured out later that it would be easier if I used a thimble, but my thimble doesn't fit. and that is the start of the series of unfortunate events that led to me bleeding on my card later on... bleeding on card is not good... there's not a lot you can do to fix it...

3. Once you've pricked all your holes, remove the pattern and embroider as normal!

• Obviously you can't use an embroidery hoop with this thing so just be careful about how much you're bending/tugging on the card
• Keep your pattern for reference, it's quite possible you'll forget where you're supposed to be stitching to as you've essentially got a massive, un-numbered dot-to-dot.
• Use good embroidery thread! I used 2 strands of DMC. If you use cheap rubbish it WILL snap and it WILL get fluffy, card is more scratchy than fabric.

HAVE FUN!!

Project Maternity has BEGUN!

Basically in the last couple of days I've decided enough is enough! I've been avoiding sewing clothes for the past 3 months because of my pregnancy. I've been treating maternity wear as this sort-of mystical magical thing and it's not! Just like sewing any garments it's about research, planning and thinking through the problems logically.

SO.... I'm making my own spring/summer wardrobe... I don't know yet how many garments this wardrobe will consist but I'm going for it... and I shall call it:

STAGE ONE! RESEARCH!!
I'm not looking at the bump-alteration business at the moment, I'm looking for patterns/styles that will (or can with slight modification) accommodate some belly... so that's things made out of jersey/stretch materials, wrap arounds, empire lines.

so first... from Burda Styles January issue.

 and from burdastyle's March issue:

 This Kaftan dress is particularly Maternalicious, check it out:

now... haahah I'm not EVER going to wear ANYTHING white... but look at that waist! ... tie back... expands until forever... this is the key to maternity sewing I think :-)

 In this issue they've even got things to make for babies, how perfect!

The next stage is... err editing! I seem to have found LOADS of patterns that will either work more-or-less how they are or with some alternation, I need to decide what garments are going to make it to the final line-up... how many garments I need... and then look at the fabrics out there and decide a colour scheme....

Am I brave or mad?

Dalek Valentines Card [also: the viral nature of craft and a cautionary tale]

oh yea, I haven't posted this here yet!

Ignore that red smudge next to the balloon... let it be a testament to my stance against airbrushing!! (feminism hell yea!)

This is the Husbot's valentines day card for this year, and apart from the red smudge I'm really pleased with how it turned out! it was really easy (but time consuming... will post a brief how-to later)

The image is not mine (but the colouring was my 'flourish' - I *HEART* red daleks) and that's where our story begins.The original concept was posted by KrazyKitty on the Craftster papercrafts board at the beginning of February.

note to crafters - this is why a good thumbnail image is REALLY important for your work - I don't go on the papercrafts beard because I don't DO papercrafts. I only picked up on this image because I'm logged into Craftster all the time and I saw it pop up on the front page in the 'newest projects' box.

But this is what blows my mind right - I don't know where KrazyKitty lives... I'm presuming somewhere in north America... here I am in the UK, and not only can I view her work SECONDS after it's been created, I can ask for her permission to use it, add my own twist to it and put it right back out there! There are ideas travelling across the world faster than the speed of light! It's AMAZING!! (ok I sound like a crazy hippy right now I know... )

Oh yea... the red smudge... make sure if you do embroidery on card you use the proper equipment! a good thimble that FITS and a pricking mat of some description (some old corrugated cardboard would work too... ) but anyhow I'll get into that later... for now look at my card!

 Doesn't really look like anything yet ... this is where I wasn't sure it was going to work :-)

My lovely (hand carved - hell yea) Tardis stamp I received form Opaka in Dr Who Swap round 4.... I don't have an ink pad so I had to use my purple highlighter... it worked *phew*

x G

I even BUY things that look handmade

 

Isn't it sweet? ... yes I COULD have made it myself... but the point is Kate Garey thought of this idea first and buying *is* quicker than making :-)

Thankyou Dollydagger