Plaiderpillar

Bright colors are not usually my go-to color scheme, but I have had several really cute fabrics that I’ve squirreled away for just the right project.  Finally!  A home for them.  These little Wrenny Wristlet bird purses were perfect!

I made them in three color-ways:  ”Pinky,”  ”Candy,”  and “Citrus.”

They all have different linings, zippers, and button eyes.  Some even have different colors of beaks and feet.  I will try to keep a few in the Etsy shop for a little while, but I am running low on some of the colors!

Who’s that guy pickin’ his own pocket?!  Why, it’s a Long Neck Vulture in “Vintage Floral” colors!

He is similar to his sibiling, but his feet and pocket are hand-stitched.  Check him out here.

Up next in the shop . . . a Long-Neck Vulture in pastels.

He has a pocket, a crazy long neck, sunken button eyes, quilted wings, and topstitched feet.  Find him here.

I will be participating in two shows this upcoming weekend.  Here’s the skinny:

First, Paula Wallace has graciously allowed me to show my bunny and kitty blocks alongside her immaculate oil paintings, prints, books, and other works.  The show is called “Fresh Paint,”  and will be held Friday, June 3 from 6pm until 9pm, and will continue through June 19.  It will be held at Dundee Gallery.  (Dundee Gallery is at 4916 Underwood Ave.)  I am also proud to be showing with Matthew Schrader and Valerie Spellman Batt, two artists who work in glass.  Matthew makes hand-blown items of all sorts, and Valerie works in stained glass.

I have been wanting to find the perfect items to bring to Jean’s Dundee Gallery for a while, and Paula’s show afforded me a wonderful opportunity.  Paula wanted some little bunny items, and the bunny (and kitty) blocks fit the bill!  Thank you to Jean and Paula for the opportunity.

Yay!  With the help of my WONDERFUL mother, I’ve gotten a bunch of stuff cranked out!  It’s a new cat purse!

Saturday, June 4 (5pm-9pm), I will be participating in a show to raise dog food (and money to buy more dog food) for the food bank.  It is called Fetching Food for Fido, and Anna Hunter is hosting it on the third floor of Hot Shops Art Center.  (Hot Shops is at 1301 Nicholas St.)  It will run for the whole month of June.  And best of all, IT’S A DOG-FRIENDLY EVENT!  (Unless they are like our puggle, Charlie.)

I will have animal items for sale (like this cat purse, mini monsters, bunny and bird items, blocks, etc.), and have donated a few more for the raffle. There will be paw printing, photos, adoptable Great Danes from Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue, and more.  Particpating artists include Anna Hunter, Randi Hunter, Rob Quinn, Matthew Shrader, William Holland, Gerard Pefung, Adam Swinarski, and me!

Hope you can make it to one, the other, or both.

My biggest goal this year, after having moved my studio back home, was to spend a little more time on making smaller items, and making them more regularly, for the online shop.  I’m slowly getting the shop built back up, and one of the first entries in some time was a few pairs of women’s Shorty Shorts.

I have made a few different styles of these, and I feel like I’ve got a good system for making these now.  They have serged seams so they stretch well, and I have lined the crotch with a cotton knit.

I like the little button details, and I try to use fabrics that would be comfy if these were worn as underwear, or just pajama bottoms.  Heck, pull on some tights and these babies on top and strut around downtown. Head on over!

You know the little teardrop birds I’ve been making?  Well, I made a slight modification.  The bottoms were notoriously tricky, since the bodies of these guys are made up of strips cut on the bias.  Sometimes they were a reeeaaaalll pain, what with the tiny feet in a tiny circle.

So, I flattened the bottoms.  This makes them a little more uniform in construction form piece to piece, and will save time in the long run.  (Which means lower cost for you guys!  Yay!)

They sit on a flat surface nicely now, and I love how it makes them look even chubbier.

Win / win!

Just listed in my shop.

A little something I whipped up for a little one at Easter time.

The tail cracks me up.

Enjoy!

This is the last Scottsbluff Library project creation unveiling!  The Inflatable Caterpillar Bookworm.

He is made of five yoga balls.  Each ball is 55cm in diameter.  This makes him about nine feet long.  The fabric is an ultra-durable upholstery material, and in addition, the head uses wool for the antennae and vinyl for the face.

On the underside of each ball is a circular opening with an inset flap.  Each body section is sewn as a covering with the legs attached.  You put the deflated yoga ball in through the circle opening, inflate it, and smooth the flap into place to cover the ball.

The first caterpillar was made with all the sections sewn together, but on this one I wanted to make it come apart so that kids in the library could take the sections to different areas, or just rearrange the color order.  To make sure they would be easier to come back into place, the ends of the body sections have magnets in them.  Just strong enough to help the caterpillar’s body line up, but not so strong that they would pinch little fingers if the kids re-aligned him.

I can’t tell you how happy I am with the result!  The main fabric was pricier than most fabrics you can buy locally.  I special-ordered it so that it would be highly durable for the little ones.  I was especially pleased when the little feet turned out well, since the fabric is very stiff.  Not many fabrics can hold up well AND keep the shape of little curves.

Everything about this guy turned out how I envisioned it.  I like to plan my patterns well in advance, but usually there is some unexpected result (a fabric that is trickier to sew than expected, colors that look a little different once they are all part of one piece, a shape that changes completely when stuffed, etc.).  This time I REALLY tried to account for all the variables, since he is soooo big.  Sewing something this large while doubts linger in the back of your mind makes the whole process stressful instead of fun.  I usually try something new on a small scale, then make multiples.  I made one section, everything went swimmingly, so I repeated four more times!

Thank you all for following along with this project.  It was quite the undertaking amidst the day job, pets, and other unexpected crazinesses of life.  I’m grateful to Nancy, Kris, and James from Leo A. Daly for seeking me out for this project.  I’m grateful to the librarians at the Scottsbluff Public Library for having the vision to think outside the box with their choices.  I’m grateful to YOU for caring enough to read my blog and for taking an interest in my work!

Thank you.

Look at us!  We’re a couple of birds!

(Well, two people wearing the same bird mask.)

As I was creating this one, I kept checking it in the mirror.  It was cracking me up!

I did something a little different with this one, starting at the bottom row, sewing the next row on all at once (liner, batting, and outer fabric), and then finally sewing in the top circle.  Whew, was that tricky!  And then sewing the top circle liner in on the machine as much as I could, and hand stitching the rest . . . glutton for punishment.  I embellished it with sunken brow lines and hand stitched the beak on.

I must say, this one turned out to be my favorite of all the masks.