Marsbarn Designs...

More Friday Art

Last Friday, we had our second Friday's Art session.  

There were only two of us, so we delved into the felt ornament kit I bought from Posy Gets Cozy last Christmas.  (This was one of those, "Oh I can make time for this!" things that took me 12 months to make time for.)  For good measure, I also ordered the PDF for this year's ornament.  I pulled out my collection of wool and wool blend felt, and then started digging out sequins, and dodads, and bits and bobs, and good golly how do I managed to amass all this stuff! 

 

As written by Alicia, the ornaments are double sided.  You piece and decorate each side as opposites, and then join them together.  Well, I pieced one tree, saw its wonky lean and thought... there's no way I can do an identical, but backward one of these to be its mate.  So. I backed it with plain felt and made two one sided ornaments. 

I have grand plans to make some of the other shapes, but... well... we'll see if it happens this year.  Our next Friday art is the last Friday before Christmas vacation, and I just can't wait!

Fiber Fungi, a Mushroom Stuffy Tutorial

This has been a busy (understatement) week,  as Book Fair week always is,  but I feel like I've done fairly well.  I've had an answer for every meal, including treats for tea time, the laundry was done, and I remembered to buy cat litter.  I've been sewing (6 dice bags, 4 fairy skirts, and a costume cape),  and I've gone to bed before 10:30 each night this week. 

So.  Here I am with a couple of hours before the final melee of the fair begins, and instead of napping, or cleaning, or being sensible, I am putting together a tutorial for stuffed mushrooms.  (The fabric kind, not the edible ones.)  Why?  It's my treat at the end of the week.  Yes, I am that kind of fiber geek.

This tutorial is more about methodology than a precise pattern.

 

I trace and cut out a circle in the fabric I want to use for the top of my mushroom.  This circle doesn't need to be perfect.  Here I'm using wool flannel that I've felted (or fulled) in my washing machine.  You can use just about anything, but be mindful of your fabrics tendency to fray.  I heartily recommend light to medium weight home felted sweaters, since this type of felt has more stretch than commercial felt, but will not fray.

 

Find the center of the circle and mark it on the wrong side. 

Working on the wrong side, sew wedges into your circle.   You can be precise and mark quadrants (quarters or eighths or whatever floats your boat), or just start sewing.  These seams are what make the shape of your mushroom.  The more seams you put in, the narrower your shape will be.  Play. Have fun! Mushrooms aren't perfectly shaped.  Funky is good in this project.

Here I wanted a rather flat mushroom top, so I made 4 shallow tucks.

 

Here it is right side out.

Lay your top on the fabric for the bottom of the mushroom.  Put right sides to right sides.  Pin around the edges, and then sew along the edge.  Be sure to leave an opening along one side.  Your seam allowance should reflect your fabric.  I generally use a scant 1/4", unless I know my fabric will fray.  Trim the underside fabric to size.

Turn your mushroom top right side out using that opening you left when sewing around the edge.  Stuff with stuffing of your choice.  I used fiberfill for this one.  Do not overstuff.  You want your mushroom to be full, but squishy. 

 

You have a choice now.  It is time to hand stitch the opening.  You can either use little stitches to invisibly whip stitch the opening shut,  or you can use larger stitches and go all the way around for a more rustic look.  This is also a last chance to finesse the shape of your mushroom.  As you stitch around the top you can tuck in bits that you don't like. 

 

Now for the stem.  For this mushroom I used two pipe cleaners bent double and twisted together.  You can use more or less depending on the shape of your mushroom top.  Take the fabric meant for covering the stem, cut a strip 2" longer than your pipe cleaners and about 3" wide.  Fold in half with right sides together.  Now, sew a seam that will make a channel just wide enough for your pipe cleaners.  I start wide, test the size with my pipe cleaners, and then make it narrower if necessary.

 

Once you have the proper dimension, trim the extra fabric, and turn the tube right side out.  Then feed your pipe cleaners into the tube.  The bent end will slide more smoothly than the rough ends.  You will have one inch of fabric hanging loose from either end of the pipe cleaner.

Choose one end, trim the extra to about 1/2", fold this over and use a needle and thread to stitch it down.  Now, choose the spot in the bottom of your 'shroom for the stem.  Using a sharp scissors cut a small slit at your chosen spot.  This cut should be small, you want to have to work to get the finished end of your stem into the hole.  It will be a tight  fit.  Push the stem in at least 1".  Now you will need a needle and thread to anchor the stem in the mushroom.

After knotting your thread and anchoring it in your mushroom, start sewing on the stem.  Take a small bite of mushroom top, push the needle through the stem (between the pipe cleaner wires), and then take a small bite of fabric on the other side.  Continue to sew, going back and forth through the stem, taking small stitches on either side.

Now, roll up the extra fabric on the bottom of your stem, and neatly stitch it shut.  Voila! You have a mushroom!

Now I made a mossy rock to nestle my mushroom into.

I made my rock similarly to my mushroom top.  

I started with a flat piece of fabric cut in an amoeba shape, and sewed in a couple of shaping darts on the wrong side.  

Then, I put a running stitch around the edge of the amoeba using strong double stranded thread.

 

Then cinch the drawstrings until you have a little lumpy purse.  Carefully push stuffing into all of the corners and niches of the rock you are making.  I wanted my rock to look organic and asymmetric, and those lumpy shapes take longer to fill lout.

 

Now you have a rock!

But the bottom still looks like this, and you need a weight to stabilize your composition.   I used flat rocks in the bottom of mine, but for a flatter bottom you could weigh down a recycled jar lid.  Whatever you use, you'll want to slide it in as you sew on the bottom.

I cut a larger than needed bit of fabric for the bottom, again using a felted fabric will mean you can leave the edges raw without worrying about raveling.

I hand stitched the patch on the bottom, cutting off the excess fabric as I went.  Then I slid my stone in the pocked, finished the stitching, and tested my rock for balance.

 

The mushroom is added to the rock via the same method as you attached the stem to the cap. Make as small of a slit as possible, wedge the stem in, and stitch it on.  Then bend and twist the wire stem of your mushroom until it is at the rakish angle you most desire, and you are good to go.

Now, if anyone makes a mushroom following my tutorial, would you please email me a photo so I can see it?  That would be so very kind.

it is moments like these that make me believe I am an artist

 

Friday I spent some lovely moments sewing a bit of wool whimsy.  Sure, you could call it soft sculpture, or art, or a pin cushion (if you had to)... but really it was just a couple of hours spent making something with no plan, no pattern, no measuring, and only a hazy idea of what I wanted it to be when I was done.

I had these lovely materials calling to me, and a need to just create something by instinct.

 

I think this is the fiber arts version of a wandering road trip, where you just let the wind guide you to parts unknown.  I think I will cut this amoeba and sew it a bit here, and stuff it, and tweak it, and bend it, and then... I felt so much better about my week. The sick sweethearts, the impending book fair, the undone chores, and the untouched pile of market sewing, it all fell into perspective.  

And best of all, I had a birthday gift for my Mom that I could be proud of.

(I've made up a tutorial for the method I used to make my mushroom. It is here.)

Steampunk! Fabric!

Steampunk. I get a lot of requests for steampunk fabric, which just does not exist.
What is it? Think alternate future that is run on steam and funky elegance.
So, what's a girl to do, when people keep asking for something you cannot get?
Why you call up a fabulous artist and commission some art, that's what you do.

 

Donnie Bruce drew these images for me.  

 

And very soon, I shall have fabric featuring the patterns.  (Oh Yay!)  Spoonflower is printing it up, and I'll let you all know when it is ready to go.  I will, of course, be selling dice bags made of this fabric in my shop.  

Working with Donnie was effortless, and exciting like Christmas.  You should all go out and commission your own images!  

*All images in this post are copyrighted by Donnie Bruce. 

best laid plans and poorly set zippers

There were plans for this weekend.  They were good ones, too.

Dinner with the family of Sweetheart G's new friend and a visit from Bunny and Claude, were the highlights, but there were other things we wanted to do as well.  Then Little e came home sick from school on Friday,  and the weekend emptied of commitment like a high school fling when college starts.  Little e has that cold that's been making the rounds.  The one that cruises through children, but stymies adults.  She complains of a sore throat and a bit of snot, but really the only even slightly alarming sign of illness in her is her lack of continuous motion.  We cuddled on the couch for more than twenty minutes today.  Grand M stopped by today (to drop off more Macs (score!)), took one look at my littlest monkey lying horizontal on the couch, and knew illness was present.

So, I've been sewing.  

What was I thinking when I cut out two dozen zippered pouches?  Was it insanity?  How could those fabrics seduce me so easily?  (Come on, just cut one more...) I vaguely remember picking out fabrics and setting a limit.. but then it gets hazy and suddenly there was this stack of cut fabric mocking me. 

Oh, and zippers are still a struggle.  I'm still waiting for that Zipper Skill slot to materialize... why did I waste all those skill points in kazoo all those years ago?  (Sorry, my inner geek slipped out there. It must be time for bed.)  

you have me woolly in the brain

Temptation.

Behind those doors lurks temptation. 

Oh Pendleton... you taunt me so..

With your rolls and rolls of lovely wool by the yard, you call me onward.. but I can withstand the temptation of $35 a yard of woven art because I have no purpose, no need.  But then there are the flat folds of sale, remnant, or discontinued patterns and I waver.  Do I need suiting?  Can I work with jacquards?  

It is a really good thing that the last day of the sale was today, because I could feel the abyss opening at my feet...

crafting with a cherry on top

There is something about getting a kit.
All the bite sized pieces of crafty goodness given in one clean set.
The clear direction of knowing what the final product will be.
The freedom of following someone else's lead.
The confidence that this will make a set number of fabulous things. 
Oh, and packaging... beautiful, fun, funky, or cool.. its the cherry on top.

Speaking of cherries on top... this is my finished (completely and utterly finished, oh isn't that a good feeling?) cupcake pin cushion.

Now, could I have done this on my own, without directions?
Probably.
Did I already have on hand most of the things needed to make this?
Yes. 
(I even have ramekins, but they would be ceramic or metal, not plastic)
But there is still something so satisfying about getting a kit and making it as a group in a class.
Is this my own insatiable need for consumerism, is it the need to support another independent crafter, or is it the communal element I loved about it?

I don't know, but I'm already hot to do more hand sewing with felt.
I even have a kit I bought last year from Posie that I could start with.
Anybody wanna come and play with some felt with me?

zip, zip, zip

Oh inspiration...

I find this bouquet of colorful zips so inspiring and lovely that I'm temped to just shove them in a vase and call them "Art".  

But, no.

It is that lovely time in a project where I troll through my stash pulling lovely bits for a new set of projects.  I find myself talking to my little treasures, "Yes, yes, I think it's time to use you.  Oh wouldn't you be lovely with this other fabric.."  

Where by "pattern" I really mean "reading tea leaves and chicken scratch".

It is that time of year again.

I have begun to make my holiday market stock.

In an ideal world, I would pull out a note book like this and get to work:

But, what I really do is pull out a bag like this:

Actually, the bag is a new phenomenon.  

In the past I've had to hunt through my various piles of bits to find my patterns.

"Pattern" is perhaps a misnomer.

Often they have no label, no specific instructions, and little in the way of any information at all.  I have to fire up my synapses and decode what clues present themselves.

The pattern above?  It's for a knight's tabard. 

That was an easy one, right?  It totally looks like a tabard, right?

The half circle is the cut out for the neck hole, while the dimensions scrawled at the top are the size of the front and back panels.  The "neck 6" is how far in from the edge the neck hole pattern sets.

If I'm really lucky my pattern might be like this one.

There is a title, dimensions, a fabric preference, what passes for instructions and a drawing.

In reality my notes look like this, written on the back of an envelope, with no title, and only a random scattering of instruction.

It's a miracle I make anything isn't it?

New goal: must make proper notes, and proper patterns, bound in a proper notebook, so I don't have to reinvent the wheel every fall.

the pen is mightier than the sailor talk

A couple of weeks ago,  Big E and little e gifted me with a collection of BIC Mark-it permanent pens.

Such pretty colors... what a way to win a girl's heart!

 

The latest quilting project I've been working on is one of those lessons in organized chaos. In the past with these sorts of projects I could only work on one bit at a time or risk confusion and sailor talk.

But!  My new Mark-it pens will write on plastic, like the plastic of my daisy head pins. (And the ink doesn't scratch off like my Sharpies do sometimes!)

Taste some order quilting chaos!

Oh ya!  And absolutely no sewing like a sailor.