Better Update Soonish?

Been caught in a creative black hole lately, so there hasn't been much to update about. I finally pulled myself out of it today though, after spending days doodling all over any piece of paper I could get my hands on at work. I'm realizing that even meaningless doodles and funny sketches still keep my brain going. That's pretty much what I did tonight - more pattern sketches and some paintings accompanied by kitties and weird monsters. Hopefully all of this will lead to picking up the needle and thread and going at it till my fingers fall off.

Also, I realized that I never draw the same pattern twice. It's almost impossible, even though I'm pretty much using the same shapes and whatnot. I found this pretty cool because the plush I create from this will always be one of a kind, even if the larger plush shape is the same as another one I've made. Pictures and better update soon when it's light out and my brain isn't mush.

Practicing New Painting Techniques

I've always wanted to try a more traditional Eastern approach to painting, and I found this cute painting set at the craft store a few days ago.

It has an ink stick, an ink stone for grinding the ink in, a small ceramic cup and tiny spoon for adding water to the ink stone, a brush rest, two brushes (not pictured above because I have them hanging up), an uncarved Chinese seal (chop), and some red stamp ink for the seal. No instructions or anything were included in the set, so I had to look up what some of the stuff was. I also found some good advice on brush care and how to grind ink. One of the things it said about drying your asian brushes was to hang them from a brush stand. I had noticed that both of the brushes it came with had little loops on the end of them for hanging, and since brush stands can be pretty expensive, I started thinking about how I could make one. My brushes are currently hanging from a cork board next to my desk on a neat key hook that I haven't ever found a use for.

After figuring out how to use the ink stick and what not, I started experimenting and painting. I've only doodled a little with the set, but I really like the feel of it. I liked the simplicity and calming feeling I got when I painted this mandala today.

A couple of questions came to mind about my project while I was doodling:

- Should I make the mandala part or decide on the shape of the plush first?

- Should I sketch out the mandala or stitch it free form like when I draw?

- Do I want to sew the mandala with a machine, by hand, or a combination of both?

I'm planning on addressing these questions as I go and figuring out what works best for me. For now, I haven't actually sewn anything that has to do with this project, but I've been sketching and meditating on it pretty often.

GIR from Invader Zim Hat Tutorial

I'm trying to finish up the remainder of my custom orders before starting on the new project. This cute GIR hat was requested by a friend and coworker, and I like it so much, I may make another one for myself! It was pretty simple (it only took one night), so I though I'd share how I made it. If you've ever seen the show Adventure Time with Finn and Jake, I just altered a pattern for Finn's hat that I've used several times.

You will need:

• Lime green fleece
• Black fleece
• White fleece or felt
• Pink fleece or felt
• Lime green thread
• Black thread
• White thread or embroidery floss
• Black embroidery floss
• Needle
• Pins
• Sewing machine (you can do it by hand if you don't have a machine)
• Scissors
• Fabri-Tac or other strong sewing glue (not necessary but it helps me!)
• Pattern from http://bit.ly/finnhat

Print the pattern from the link above. You will only need the 1 and 2 pieces. I made the sides of the hat a little shorter than the pattern because I didn't want it to come all the way around the neck, so alter the pattern as necessary according to how you want your hat to look. Watch the video below detailing how to sew the Finn hat together. Everything is exactly the same except for the details on GIR's face, his tongue, and his ears. When it's time to sew the main hat shells, you can follow this video for directions.

After tracing the patterns on the lime fleece (make sure and watch the video to see how to trace them!) and cutting them out, cut four rectangles from the black fleece about 2"x 4". Sew two of them together wrong side out, and leave the top of them open so that you can turn them right side out when you are done. Do the same with the other two. These are GIR's ears!

For his eyes, I traced the bottom of my glue bottle to get a good circle, and I cut two of these out of white fleece. Then I cut tiny circles out of the black fleece and sewed them on the white circles. Next I cut a tiny triangle out of the black fleece for GIR's nose. Cut out a small rectangle from pink felt for his tongue, and use black embroidery floss to sew the line on it. Use the same black embroidery floss to sew a running stitch down the middle of the front of your outer lime "1" piece. Place his little black nose on the running stitch you just made (I used sewing glue to keep it in place while I stitched it on) and sew it on to the lime piece with black thread. Place his eyes evenly apart using the nose as a guide, and sew them on using white thread. Check out the picture at the top of this post for reference on where to place his facial features!

Next use the video above to sew the rest of him together using the lime green thread, but instead of cutting holes in the top of his head for his ears like the video, insert his ears into the seam before you sew the outer 1 and 2 pieces together. Pin them in place and turn it right side out to see how they look before you sew, and make adjustments as necessary. Do the same for his tongue when it's time to sew the inner and outer hats together. Don't worry about the velcro part of the video unless you want it that way; I didn't!

That's pretty much it! Thanks to the guys from Adventure Time for making such a wicked fleece hat tutorial video. I like it so much better than any of the other hat tutorials I've come across. They all feel too tight and suffocating. And seriously, if you've never seen adventure time, you neeeeeeeeeeeed to.

A Pattern To My Thoughts

Lately, every time I pick up a marker and start doodling, all I can draw are patterns. They usually start with a basic shape, like a circle. Sometimes it starts with the silhouette of something - a fish, for example. Then waves of patterns begin coming out from the original shape till I hardly have room left on the paper/sidewalk/napkin. I'm usually not satisfied with what I've drawn until I go back and add tiny repetitive details to the patterns and shapes, and by the time I'm done, I feel relaxed and less cluttered.

When I first started doing this, I became pretty worried that my brain was broken or something. I seriously thought that maybe there was something wrong with me.

(Maybe I needed to get a new bed sheet set?)

I always plan out what I draw, even if I'm just doodling. Letting my mind go while my pen wanders is a completely new feeling to me.

I realized that maybe this was a good thing when I went to the bookstore about a week ago. There were all these books on display about learning to draw mandalas. I remembered studying the intricate Buddhist mandalas in one of my art history courses, so I was interested in what all the hype was about them. After I scanned through a few pages in the book, I learned that many people use mandalas to meditate. This started to make a lot of sense because I've always like the idea of meditating, but the practice was so hard for me. However, when I sit and draw these patterns, my focus is so basic and most of the background noise in my mind evaporates.

My next big realization came after I doodled this picture:

Could I apply this method to a medium that I'm more comfortable with?

And I Begin Again

My blog has been severely neglected. I believe it's because it never had a purpose other than to get myself out into the internet world and try my hand at keeping up with one of these things. I wanted people in the sewing community to read it and interact with me, like some kind of plush Myspace. When that didn't happen, I let it die, and I honestly figured I wouldn't be back.

BUT I have a new purpose for this blog.

My creative energy is bursting at the seams (ha sewing pun) right now, and I've got a few ideas I'd like to try. They aren't like anything I've ever made before, so I want to document my research, inspirations, works in progress, screw ups, etc. Even if no one besides me ever looks at this blog, I really don't mind because this is just a way for me to record my creative process. And if by some crazy magic voodoo someone does read it, maybe it will help them do the same or at least inspire them to do something better. I've changed a lot in the past year, and my focus is finally on trying to make work I'm proud of rather than making something to sell. More on this later...

For now, I'll leave you with a few things inspiring my upcoming project.

"Mandala of Celtic Buddhism"


Amazing plush (couldn't find it's name) by Muju


"Candela" by Spinthread

Accepted!

Yep, I'm in for this years Plush You! show in Seattle! I'm going to start saving money now so that my friend and I can fly over to check it out. So excited!

I've made a lot of new friends recently, and this was for one of them that wanted a "Where the Wild Things Are" painting done my way. I haven't sewn anything recently, but my sketchbook keeps grabbing more ideas for when I'm ready. My machine needs to get whipped back into shape before I make anything for Plush You!

Etsy shop SALE

Well, my Etsy shop has been up and running for a few months now, so I think it's time for its first summer sale! Just click on the SALE section in the top right corner of my shop to see what items are marked down.

It's sumer time, what more can I say?