TG: 32 Week Bump Hiccups!!

GC: Braincakes!!

Kayla's Braincakes!

Check out my post on Geekcrafts.com

Craft Swaps: Metal Swap - Sent (nsfw)

This is what I sent to Craftster user Azura (who lives in Barcelona) for the Metal Swap I'm organising:

An embroidered 'Devil Horns' wrist cuff (I drafted this pattern myself and if you're *really* good I'll put up a tutorial soon!)...

... and concealed zip ...

A Metal Make-up bag (made from a slightly modified version of queenofdiy's Straight Sided Triangular Cosmetic Bag from craftster.) with secret words of wisdom from Children of Bodom:

A patch featuring the most metal black on black embroidery with a quote from Metalocalypse:

I also gave her my old Sonisphere wristband (which I stitched a bit of elastic to to make it removable... but I didn't take a separate picture of that...

:-) fake leather ftw!!

TeensyGeek: 31 Week Baby Rave!

Time for a saucy video of dancing in my nightie:



What?? ... I didn't say it was ME dancing in my nightie ;-)

x G

Craft Swaps: OTT Star Wars Swap - Sent - Embroidery Case Tutorial!!

So! I sent this for the Star Wars OTT swap:

 (Death Star for illustration purposes only :-) )

I liked it so much I made myself one too!!

The pieces you will need are as follows:

OUTER:

2x circles (interfaced) - I used a side plate with a 8 1/4 inch diameter
2x long side pieces (1.5x28 inches)
2x short side pieces (5 1/2x3 3/4 inches)
LONG zip, doesn't matter too much how long as long as it goes most of the way around your circle.

LINING:
2x circles (with or without interfacing depending on quality of fabric. I did mine without.) - same size as outer.
2x long side pieces (1.5x28 inches)
2x short side pieces (5 1/2x3 3/4 inches)
Pocket piece - semi circle same size as other circular pieces with around 1 inch added to straight side for hemming.
Wrist strap (3x12 inches)
3 Needlebook pieces (5x4 inches) (5x6 inches) and (5x8 inches)


My Embellishments:
My labels and my Star Wars decal were made by interfacing fabric and then using iron on ink jet transfer paper to transfer the design, REALLY easy to do, and the possibilities are endless for you to customise this up any way you like.

EDIT: the image is from Deviant Art user Jasonpal - you should check out his gallery, it's great work! the speech bubbles were ALL my idea :-)

The Method:

Please let me know if you've used my tutorial, I'd love to see what other people have made using this design <3!!

x G

Craft Swaps: OTT Star Wars Swap - Recieved

An OTT swap is a very fun thing indeed. You and your partner each send each other One Tiny Thing on the theme of the swap. When I saw the Star Wars OTT swap I knew I had to get in on it, and I'm so glad I did, lookit!

 My partner SilentBlair has some embroidery skills (which is handy considering what I sent her!)

 I personally haven't got round to perfecting a long and short stitch (or am I mislabelling this?) as precise as this!

 Here's the star of the show... yes, it's...

Safely on my bookcase, next to my Yoda baby hat, waiting for my Squiggle to come and play! (this is seriously going in my overnight bag for hospital!)

x G

GC: Tutorial Tuesday! Monster "Ninni" plush and pattern

See my post on  this cute Simple Monster Plush on Geekcrafts.com

Click here to go straight to tutorial

GC Reader Submission! Dr Who Pixel Art Magnets!

See my post on Arcade Artist's retro pixel art Dr Who magnets over at www.geekcrafts.com.

GC: Tutorial Tuesday - Reverse Stencilled Tote Bag!

Crossposted at Geekcrafts.com

Here's a neat idea! lets think 'outside the stencil'.

That's exactly what jennieingram did when she had to quickly step into the Dr Who Swap on Craftster. Round 5 of the Dr Who swap that is... these swaps are hugely popular, they're going to go on forever! Round 6 is crafting away as I type!

Jennie has shared a tutorial on how to achieve this effective technique on her blog, and also on Craftster.

But wait, there's more! Turns out Jennie is quite an avid Geek-Crafter and tutorial writer. Check out her Doctor's Companion Charm Bracelet and her tutorial on how to make Laminated Paper Bookmarks including a sonic screwdriver and a golden snitch.

• Jennie's reverse stencilling tutorial
• Jennie's Blog
• Jennie's Etsy
• Dr Who on Geekcrafts
• TARDIS on Geekcrafts
• Tutorials on Geekcrafts

GC: Reader Submission! Wookie Wear - Chewbacca baby Mitts and Booties!

Crossposted at geekcrafts.com

SO, last week we had international Star Wars Day, which was celebrated on a host of different blogs across the galaxy.

Cheryl from Sew Can Do got in on the action too and brought her geek-crafting skills to the party. Check out these ADORABLE Chewbacca baby Mitts and Booties!! She knew that we'd be interested in seeing her work, so she hit us up on the "Submit a Geek Craft" link at the top of the page.

On another note: Small world, a friend of mine bought me a baby Yoda Hat from Cheryl's Etsy Shop, The, Green Hedgehog, in preparation for my growing tummy monster. I'm also really lucky to have recently received an awesome amigurumi Wampa from Craftster user SilentBlair in the "One Tiny Thing, Star Wars Swap". Star Wars Babies FTW!!

• Chewbacca baby Mitts and Booties.
• Cheryl's Blog, Sew Can Do
• Cheryl's Etsy, The Green Hedgehog
• check out my new amigurumi Wampa
• Star Wars on Geekcrafts
• Babies on Geekcrafts
• Reader Submissions on Geekcrafts

This is one of the (many) reasons I'm back to using my linux laptop

Via XKCD:

one of my favourite XKCD's... very embroider-able don'cha think?

GC: Tutorial Tuesday - Monsties!

I'm just getting crochet-envy now! Check out these adorable Amigurumi mini-monsters (or Monsties, if you will) Created by crocheting blogger and fellow English person EssHaych AKA Sarah from Essex.... I went to university in Essex... small world... anyhow....

You'll have to know something about crochet (unlike me) but she's offering the pattern for how to make these cute little critters for free over on her blog! She's also put together a bright, clear photo tutorial to help you make those pesky legs.

These are just adorable. If I lived in a Studio Ghibli Film I would completely have a little group of them following me around everywhere I go...

• Get the free pattern now!
• EssHaych's Blog
• EssHaych's Etsy
  
• Crochet on GeekCrafts
• Amigurumi on GeekCrafts
• Tutorials on GeekCrafts

PM: Whole Lotta Baby Dress - Tutorial

Lets have another look at that dress:

not pregnant? don't panic! you can still make this dress and be (almost) as awesome as us pregnant ladies!

Whole Lotta Baby Upcycled T-shirt dress TUTORIAL

You will need:

• 2 Large Mens T-shirts
• some scrap stretch jersey fabric (or another T-shirt)
• A T shirt/vest that fits you comfortably (Template t-shirt - with similar stretch properties to your donor T shirts)
• A sewing machine (or even better - a Serger!)
• Stretch fabric needles
• Dressmaker’s chalk
• Suitable scissors
• Pins

Measurements:
Put on your template T shirt and draw a line where your bump begins (or your empire line - under bust - this is where your skirt will flare out from) and where your bump ends (or your hips - where your body is widest when you are not pregnant! this is where your skirt will be attached.) decide how long you want your skirt to be

Notes on Sewing Stretch Fabrics.
a) for best results use needles specifically designed for knit or stretch fabrics, ballpoint needles will work, needles which are specifically labelled for jersey fabric, or labelled ‘stretch’ are good. Regular needles will punch through the fibres of the fabric, possibly causing bigger holes or ripping/weakening of the fabric.

b) 99% of the people following this tutorial probably don’t have a serger.... that’s sad because sergers LOVE t-shirt fabric! if you’re using a regular sewing machine you should use a zig-zag stitch (here’s a video that might help) Zig zag stitch stretches, straight stitch doesn’t.

Steps:

1) using your template T-shirt, trace around the T-shirt that will form the top of your dress, down to the 'top bump line’

2) from the 'top bump line’ carry on the line straight down to form a square edge against the bottom bump line.

3) add seam allowances (I didn’t have enough spare fabric for regular seam allowances so I just sewed along the construction lines)

4) take your 2nd t-shirt (which you’re going to make your skirt out of) and pin together front and back of the T-shirt.  Draw a rectangle the width of the bottom of the top piece, and the length of the desired drop of the skirt (from bottom bump line), plus seam and hem allowance.

Are you pregnant? - make the maternity dress by following step 5a .... not pregnant? make a regular dress by following step 5b

5a) create a curve at the bottom of your rectangle, this will form your front hem shape and stop your skirt from rising up as your bump grows. My curve extends the front middle hem by about 2.5/3 inches. Cut this shape (which should give you 2 if you’ve got front and back pinned together) - flip the whole thing over and trim the back skirt piece so that hem shape there is straighter. You can check and tweak this later so don’t worry too much about straight hems at this points.

5b) Cut your rectangle shape (which should give you 2 if you’ve got front and back pinned together) this should give you your front and back skirt pieces. You can check and tweak the hemline later so don’t worry too much about straight hems at this points.

6) sew together your top t-shirt and the rectangle skirt pieces (right sides facing!!) at under bump line (or hip line)

 IF YOUR WORK LOOKS LIKE THIS YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!! - step back form your work, sit in the corner and chant 'right sides facing'for 5 minutes.... 

7) draft your ‘wedge’ you need a wedge of fabric to help form your dress... mine is red. it needs to be the length of your empire line/over bust line->the bottom of your hem, but other than that it’s up to you how far you make your dress to flare out at the bottom. Don’t forget to add seam/hem allowances. It also makes it easier if the top of your wedge is clipped a little so you can see where your hem allowance ends.

8)sew in first side of wedge (remember right side facing!)

9) match up your side seams right from the armpit down to the bottom hem, pin it all together paying special attention to where the wedges begin and the skirt flares out.

10) sew side seams right sides facing. Turn right side out, try on give yourself a little clap, check hems/fit etc and tweak as necessary.

Finishing

I’ve got a serger, so I just whipped out my 3 stitch serging stitch and ran across the bottom hem, I also finished the neckline and sleeves with bias tape.

Alternatives - you can hem the bottom hem or leave it raw (t-shirt fabric doesn’t fray), you can also use this technique for finishing the edges with scraps of fabric you may have cut off the T-shirts in the process of making the dress.

28 Weeks!

New Pregnancy Blog post over at Teensygeek