Tuesday, November 20, 2018

One for the Road

First off: sorry for the late post! I've been busy getting ready for holiday traveling. That being said, I wasn't too busy to get one more softie pattern off my chest, and this one's a real cutie.




It's a giraffe! Specifically a baby giraffe, designed by Courtchet. Isn't it just the cutest? I can't get over the adorable rounded shapes and babyish proportions of this softie. This is one of those projects that really works best with crochet, since the firmness of the fabric allows you to stuff the pieces to their full rounded potential without deforming them. And I made the fabric extra tight by using a 2.25 mm steel crochet hook on sport weight yarn (for reference, I would probably use a 3.5 mm hook on the same yarn in most other situations). Don't be afraid to go down a few hook sizes when making softies!

Okay, I've gotten my fill of cute animals for the moment. It's getting cold out here, so I need to shift focus to things that will keep my loved ones (and myself!) warm! Stay tuned for the adventures of Franken-mittens, the return of a favorite pattern, and my first attempt at a knitted top!

Monday, November 12, 2018

Plush Pals

Whew, it's been a busy week! I don't know about any of you, but November always seems to be the busiest month to me. And it's just about time to start on Christmas presents for my family...

...but before that, I need something cute and cuddly to get my spirits up. Or maybe more than one something. Enter, plushies!

Yes, whether you call them plushies, softies, amigurumi, stuffed animals, or something I haven't heard of, you'll probably agree that they're adorable. I've rounded up a few cuddly friends that I've made recently to share with you!


Bunnies are a plushie classic. Teddy bears may commandeer the number 1 spot on the list, but the lovable rabbit is a close second! Krawka's Bunny certainly does the animal justice with a cute, simplistic style that's just begging to be hugged. The pattern has a lot of pieces to juggle, but it's well written and easy to follow, so don't let that intimidate you too much!



Rabbits are a classic. Flamingoes... not so much. But maybe you have a quirky person in your life who would enjoy a large hot-pink bird plushie. Maybe you are that quirky person. Fair warning, Amigu Amigurumi's pattern is written in Dutch. Supposedly there's an English translation somewhere, but the site I was directed to looked so sketchy I was afraid to click on anything... If you're willing to brave a pattern in another language (or if you know Dutch), this is a wonderfully fun one to try! I'd recommend it if you have some experience with amigurumi crocheting, so that you can fill in the blanks when Google translate fails. 


If you're not confident enough to pick through a pattern in a foreign language, maybe these chicks by the Enchanted Ladybug are more your speed. They're ridiculously quick to whip up, as they're crocheted in one piece. Just stuff, sew on eyes and a little beak, and be happy! If you're totally new to making plushies, this is a great pattern to test the waters. No big commitment in yarn or time, and if you like it you can make a whole family of chicks!

As you can see, I rather enjoy making plushies. It's quite a different experience from making a garment, and so the "rules" for doing it well are different as well. Here are a few tips if you're looking to start making plushies as well.

I'll readily admit that knitted fabric often feels better that crocheted fabric. It's much more supple and stretches better. But in a plushie, that's the opposite of what you want! Crocheted fabric's structure and stiffness makes it ideal for holding the shapes necessary to make softies, so if you want to learn a plushie-ready craft, try crochet over knitting. (You absolutely can knit plushies, it's just harder)

Pick a hook that's a few sizes smaller than you'd normally use with the weight of yarn you've chosen. Again, you want the fabric to be stiff enough to hold its shape, and tight enough to hold all the stuffing! By using a smaller hook, you can achieve this stiffness. 

Learn how to start a project in the round with the magic ring crochet technique. If you've ever tried to start a project in the round, you'll notice that there's often a sizable hole at the center of the circle. While this is fine for a hat that you intend to put a pompom on anyway, it can be a problem with a plushie that has to be stuffed. The magic ring technique solves this problem, creating a very tight circle center with no hole at all. It looks much more professional, and no stuffing will fall out!

Finally, stuff generously! In order to give your plushies a nice rounded shape, you need to put a lot of stuffing into each piece as you put it together. It will be more than you expect initially. And while there is such a thing as overstuffing, a firmer plushie often feels better in the long run than an under-stuffed one. A good rule of thumb that I follow is that I should be struggling just a bit to keep all of the stuffing inside as I close up the hole. 

Hopefully with this advice, you'll be able to go forth with confidence! Make plushies for the kids in your life. Make plushies for the adults in your life. Heck, make plushies for yourself while you're at it! We all need a little soft-and-cuddly love in our lives, after all!

Friday, November 2, 2018

Piercing Gaze

I don't have any piercings. Not even on my earlobes. Something about getting holes stabbed through my body just doesn't appeal... but that's a personal choice! To be honest, I think a lot of piercings actually look super cool: I'm just not going to get any myself.

That being said, Aubrey is described in the podcast as having piercings, so I have to figure out some way to fake them. Enter my two friends: wire and pliers!


Seriously, this is all you need to fake some piercings. A note: if you're going to do this yourself, make sure you're not allergic to the wire! Lots of wire used for jewelry has nickel in it, which many people are allergic to. Nickel rashes are no fun, so if you're sensitive to the metal, make sure your wire doesn't have any of it (this goes for any jewelry, not just fake piercings). I personally am not allergic to nickel, but I played it safe with this copper-plated aluminum wire.

But back to the task at hand! Many piercings are some variation of a circle, which at one point goes through the skin to keep it on the face. We can mimic that last part by having loops of wire that pinch or clip, or stay on the face in other ways. One of the easiest piercings to fake is the septum piercing, a.k.a. the nose ring. Start by wrapping the wire once around a round object that's the same size as your desired ring.


Cut it off and fold the raw edges over. That way, you're not getting pinched with sharp metal ends, and there's space for your un-pierced septum to go.


I'm not going to show you a close-up of my nostrils to demonstrate how to put this one on, but it's pretty intuitive. position in where you want it on the fleshy part in between your nostrils, and squeeze gently to affix it. This one is actually pretty comfortable to wear, and stays in well.

Next, let's try an ear cuff. This one will mimic the look of a few piercings up at the top edge of the ear. Begin like the septum piercing, by wrapping the wire around a round object once. Only, instead of cutting the wire, use the pliers to bend it into a U-turn.


Wrap the wire around the round object again in the opposite direction, and then cut it off. File down the sharp cut points of the wire to make it more comfortable to wear. You should get something that looks roughly like this.


To wear it, simply slide it over the rolled top edge of your ear. This "piercing" had a tendency to slide around on my ear, ruining some of the effect, but overall it stayed on. If you don't have piercings in your earlobe, you can make a one-wrap version of this one to mimic them. To wear, position the ring over the fleshy part of your earlobe and pinch it closed to keep it in place. Of all of the jewelry I made, these were the least comfortable to wear, as you have to pinch relatively hard to get them to stay on. That said, they were also the most convincing: I had a friend comment that she thought she just hadn't noticed my ears were pierced before!

Lastly, let's try a facial piercing that can't just be pinched on. Eyebrow piercings can be pretty convincingly mimicked with a simple half-circle of wire, but no amount of pinching is going to keep it on your face. Instead, just dab some skin-safe adhesive onto each (filed-smooth) edge and hold it to your brow until the glue dries. When I say skin-safe, I mean something meant to go on your face, like eyelash glue or SFX makeup supplies. Let's be honest, though, I didn't have any of that and so I used Elmer's glue.


Pretty good, eh? This one stays on as long as you don't forget it's there and try to scratch an itch on your forehead! If you're even in need of some extra piercings to accompany a costume, there's no need to go get a needle. A bit of wire and some ingenuity will work too!

And with that, I've completed all the component parts of my Aubrey cosplay. All that's left is to put it all together! But since I neglected to take pictures on Halloween, you'll have to stay tuned until I find a photoshoot opportunity!

It's a-Belt Time

Okay, so I promise I got all of this stuff done before Halloween. But I was so busy finishing it and wearing it that I didn't have time to write up any posts! I'll make it up by doing a couple of posts rapid-fire now!

First up, the penultimate piece of my costume: the belt! I love making tablet woven belts. They're super strong, and it's pretty easy to make a complex pattern out of simple materials. Plus unlike most weaving, you don't need a fancy loom setup! To go with Aubrey's aesthetic, I found a tablet weaving pattern that looks like chains. I could've continued the red-and-black theme, but instead I went with blue and black. Sometimes we all need to mix it up! The pattern was very simple, so the band itself worked up quickly.


Neat, huh? The back of tablet weaving has a different pattern, but is usually just as polished as the front, so your belt can be reversible! Right now, though, my "belt" is just an unfinished band. I have a whole bag full of D-rings to make the buckle mechanism. All I need to do is attach them to one end and stitch across the other end so it doesn't fray!



Usually I do this by machine (it's faster, and the stitches are tighter), but I couldn't find a machine in time, so hand-stitching it is. I still think it turned out well! All that was left was to try it on.



Looks good to me. But no time to waste: onwards to the next component!