Friday, August 31, 2007

pocket sized


I had a new idea to make groups of things. So I came up with some new pocket stuffies.


Playtesting to see how they look in realistic hands. They need to be a little bit taller or the "hands" need to be thinner and placed a little higher. I'm still super happy with the puppy. The kitty is like my little pocket hanging/clip stuffies I made a year ago and had the most sales of. I might have to make more this autumn. And maybe some other colors of kitties. Or puppies.


I have a huge stash of this very stiff curtain material. I don't even know where the curtains are anymore, but I'd washed this extra and threw it on the ironing board. Weeks later, I got around to ironing it and the wrinkles won't come out. I might have to rewet and lightly dry, then immediately iron out the wrinkles. But in the end, this material might best be used for wallet-type or zipper pouches. I'd call it medium-weight cotton almost bordering on shirting twill. I don't think it's a true twill, though.


Here are my basic pocket stuffies made from fleece with felt arms. I doubled the arms and made them a little longer, but I think if I just use the wool felt and made them smaller, they'd look better.

I now need to figure out what to do with my hoard of cheap acrylic felt so I can buy more wool felt. Anyone want some cheap felt for school or craft projects? If not, I might end up donating it to our preschool. Or something. I doubt anyone would actually buy the bulk off etsy...

Friday, August 24, 2007

one step at a time



I've been hearing about Craft, Inc. for weeks now. It sounds like something I really need to read. A part of me just decided one day last week that I wouldn't pursue the idea of making my crafty endeavor into a business. But the more I thought about going back to an office job, the more I hated the idea. I'm still stuck in the What Do I Do When I Grow Up mode. I had a career. I left that stressful job for a totally different life, which I really like.

I think I'm mostly just overwhelmed with the **idea** of trying to be creative AND businessey. I know there are things I need to do--seller's ID or tax ID, face-to-face venues, marketing (which is a HUGE thing with hydra parts), processing of credit cards... filing of taxes. And stuff I probably never thought about.

Which is why I think I should get this book. Maybe after I read it, I won't feel so at-ends with what I want to do.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Another pouch

More successful recon of a Baby Gap pj set. Took more time and went much much slower.



The interior is from the pj bottoms.


I've got another pj set with a dinosaur theme. They're really cute designs and I'm really sad they don't make them in larger sizes. I really don't like the truck/sport theme they have for older boys. If anything, I'd stick with the cartoonish, stylised animals. Or space themes--can't have enough funny little aliens and astronauts in retro-style rockets.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

How Not to Make Pouches


Because I can't follow tutorials or directions very well (I have to make up my own because I've got a rock for a head), I always have to reinvent the wheel.

Also, a lot of the tutorials I used as reference never give final measurements. They'll say to cut out fabric 8"x5", but then they don't say what the final pouch measures. And that makes me crazy because I keep looking at the tutes thinking, "But what's the final size? Can I fit my cards in them? Are they bigger than regular biz cards or credit cards?" And since I'm no good with numbers I can't figure out how to maximize a smaller size to fit my own needs. Urgh.

Which brings me to the lovely set of pouches you see.


These are too small to fit either a credit card or a business card. The blue flowered pouch will hold lip balm or coins or anything smaller than a credit card, so it's not a total loss. The yellow dot card case is too small to fit anything, so I didn't bother with closures. When I measured, it seemed to be the right measurements. Ugh.



And these are the size I want, but have other problems. I forgot to put on hook n' eye tabs for closure on the purple one, so had to glue them. They're working for now, but I don't think they'll last very long after real world use. The green w/purple dots is also great, but then I screwed up sewing the lining in and didn't face the interior with the sewn hook n' eye tab the correct way. So the tab is on the inside of the pouch. Ooops. And finally, the pink pouch is wrong side out (I meant for the dots to be on the exterior, but it's not all bad) and there's no interfacing, so it's rather floppy. But still would work for change or lipbalm or something that doesn't require stiffness.

What I have learned: instead of going my own way, just follow someone else's tutorial. /bonk own head

Friday, August 03, 2007

card case



Trying to incorporate my stuffie designs into other things, so tried to make a business card/credit card case. Lots of tutorials out there on craftster.org and on plenty of other blogs. I made a couple before--even gave one to a friend for xmas. I just forgot to write down the dimensions, so always had to start from scratch.

This time, after tweaking and reworking some patterns, I finally settled on a method that works for me. Of course, I'm reinventing the wheel, but a) I don't have very good pinking shears (mine are good quality, but I think they need to be oiled at the hinge or sharpened or something. They just don't open and close smoothly) as suggested in this tutorial and b) I want to cut as few pieces as possible to minimize getting the wrong size. I really should make a cardboard template so that I can just trace around it on the fabric.



This is the two pocket style. I can also make a one pocket (or more of a pouch style for other things than cards if some is happy with their wallet or their own nifty case) and will mock up one of those next to see how the hook n' eye tape works. I have snaps, I have elastic cord and plenty of buttons. So many options for closures. And I might just have to embroider more designs on the cases themselves and try to keep them flatter.

I also ordered some more wool felt. I plan on using the acrylic/poly felt for prototypes and toys for my son. Quick and easy stuff. :)