365/2013 - Day 339 (late again, darn it)

sheesh -- another late blog entry

But I really needed to finish this guy tonight...I am going with Juana and Franciney tomorrow to drop him off at Paint Creek Center for the Arts.  I am glad I completed him.  I don't know what he is, but I like him a lot.

Here are the progress pictures from today.  From this morning and this afternoon, then after I got home from First Friday at the Northville Art House.  I needed to keep working once I got home or I probably wouldn't have finished in time for tomorrow (which is now today...and time to do a load of laundry before bed).

365/2013 - Day 338

okay, I like the newer new guy 

Yes -- I needed to change the look all together of the second hand sewn doll for the Holly Dolly Fundraiser.  I like him a lot better now...I still don't know what he will finish up like, but I like him overall much better.  I will use the first set of arms/legs for something else.

Pictures from today's process/progress:

Starting over -- I liked his face so I kept it.

Choosing a fabric.  I like this one very much...

...but I like this one better.

Cutting out legs at the last moment.

 He still needs arms and a lot of tweaks...but I like him.

365/2013 - Day 336

starting another hand sewn doll

Today I have been working on another hand sewn doll that I want to donate to the Holly Dolly Fundraiser for Paint Creek Center for the Arts.  Juana and Franciney both made two dolls so I decided I needed to make two as well.

I had a hand sewn doll that I purchased at a craft fair several years ago...today I disassembled it and I am repurposing the arms, legs and body for the base of my new doll.  I don't know if it is going to work out -- and once again I am not sure what it will be until it is done.  I just hope I can get something together that I like enough to donate.

It took me forEVER to choose the fabric to go with the arms/legs.  I narrowed it down to these three choices.  Sue was over today and gave me her opinions, too.

This was my favorite combination.

I also liked this, with the brown on the outside.

AND this, with the brown on the inside and the "wrong" side, the lighter colors, showing.  Sue couldn't decide between the last two...but in the end she thought that the checkered fabric would look better with embellishments/decorations.

Then I needed to figure out face parts and how I wanted to attach them.  I decided to make the face onto the fabric before sewing it onto the body because there is no way I would be able to sew a shape to fit the shape of the batting-covered former body and then stuff the whole thing inside it.  I put new batting over the old body because it was leaking fiberfill from where I removed the arms and legs...and I wanted to feel like I had a hand in altering the shape of the old body.  I am going to try to sew the fabric onto the body and make adjustments as it goes on.  Adding the legs and arms will cover some of the seams and I intend to add other elements that will also help.

Again, when choosing the button combinations for the eyes -- it took me several hours -- I am not kidding.  I don't know if it was too many choices...trying to get it "right"...or what -- but it honestly took me two whole hours.

Here are the other pictures along the way.  I hope this guy turns out!

The arms looked a lot like slightly smaller versions of the legs, originally.  I scrunched the top of the arm over itself and stitched it tightly to give me a smaller, rounder top part to work with.  I will be adding long fingers to the hands.  I'm not sure of the feet yet.

It is hard to see it, but there are four colors of floss in the eyelashes.

Hey -- look how even I got the stitches on the mouth.

Man that looks goofy.

So far I have the top and bottom tacked together to smooth everything out.  I think I am done for tonight.

I will get back to work on this in the morning.

365/2013 - Day 327

finishing up and continuing

Today I finished up all the little unfinished bits on the lion-creature-guy and I believe I will be donating him to Paint Creek Center for the Arts (Rochester, MI) for their "Holly Dolly Fundraiser".  It will be held on Friday, December 13 from 6-9.  Featuring a silent auction of artist made dolls and soft toys, this fundraising event benefits PCCA’s Exhibition program. This event is free and open to the public.

Tonight I have also been working on putting the other glass taxidermy eye into the felted mask.  This time I wanted to try to not cut all the way through and make a solid ledge or pocket for the eye to sit into.  I am working it into place slowly but surely.  At this point it still looks "unfocused" and a bit off center, but I think I can keep working it in and get it more right than it is.

still a long way to go with the working it into place...but it is coming along...

I was thinking also of moving the folding table and chairs downstairs to the basement on my own but I thought better of it and I will wait until I can get some help...that also delays the plaster cloth application to the hands and feet I put together yesterday.

2012/365 - Day 340

Spikey has a new home - and - working from my chair

Great news -- the hand sewn creature I made for the Holly Dolly fundraiser at Paint Creek Center for the Arts (Rochester, MI) has a new home!

A friend of a real life friend friended me on Facebook a short while ago.  I didn't realize at the time that she was not local to us.  Her name is Tammy and she is a friend of Peggy's, and now we are Facebook friends. 

Today I was absolutely thrilled to see this photo on Facebook with the caption: "Spikey said it was a long flight and to get him out of that box!"

That was when I "discovered" that Tammy lives in Pennsylvania.  

Wow -- so number one, PCCA gets the donation for the sale of Spikey.  Number two, Spikey has a new home.  And number three, Tammy liked Spikey enough (from photos) to purchase him and have him shipped to PA!

I am so happy for ALL of us -- thank you, Tammy!  And Spikey -- you behave!



in other news...
This morning I finally had the MRI done on my right knee.  I wasn't feeling so bad this morning when I was getting ready to go and I was half-wondering if maybe I had "gotten over" whatever I had done to my knee in late October.  Yeah...right.   When I arrived at the medical building and got out of my car, my knee did the locking up thing.  I could barely move.  I step/dragged it up to the building then my knee unlocked.  When I got on the elevator my knee locked up again...really painful.  I made it down to the MRI office and got checked in.  While I was waiting my knee was really hurting.

The tech called me in and got me situated on the table.  Oh man...owwwww.  Then he put a pillow under my knee to support it in the device and then he packed stuff around it (I couldn't see what he was doing) then it felt like he strapped it in a little and he told me NOT to move during the entire process.  He gave me ear plugs and said it was going to get loud in there.  He gave me what felt like a blood pressure bulb and said to squeeze it if I got into trouble.  All I can say is that I wanted to get it over as quickly and smoothly as possible.

O.M.F.G. -- if I had any glimmer whatsoever that my knee was even partially "okay" it was totally dashed after the first five minutes of staying still.  The tech was really great about talking to me over a loudspeaker and letting me know how many more films (I don't remember the word he used) we had to do, but it was just excruciating to not move my leg.  I felt like Richard Parker was feasting on my knee, slowly and thoroughly.  All I could do was try to control my breathing and lay there and let the tears flow.  

Finally it was over and I hobbled/stepped-and-dragged my way back out to my car and drove myself home.  Yes.  There is absolutely something wrong with my knee.  I hope I can avoid surgery -- my sister says her husband also had a torn medial meniscus and that he had outpatient surgery with like four small incisions.  I can only hope for something that "easy".  I am not a good candidate for surgery...among many, many other things I just don't heal well.  I have an appointment with my regular doctor on Monday and I guess we will see where I go from there.  Fingers crossed.  (Sorry for unloading all of that.)

BUT...that brings me to why all of the photos for today are from my chair...I often do a lot of work from here while watching television but now my recliner has become my new HQ for the better part of the day/night until things get settled...including the photos.

That's a cold pack in a flannel pillow case over my knee/thigh.  That's about normal for my ankle...I have edema issues, too.

Okay -- enough of the waaaaah, poor Took-ing!

Today I am reworking a hand sewn guy I started a few weeks ago.  I am reusing as much of the embroidery floss as I can...I only basted stuff together.

Hard to tell, but this is his head.  The pink thread is now his jaw line and the brown fabric has been cut away.  That was going to be an ear at one point.  Not a long dangly dog ear (like it looks) but more like a bear ear that was sectioned by thread right on the head.

I started making some spikes for the top of his head.  Solid color ones for that area.  These are leftover thumbs from gloves I use for finger puppets.

This shows his new head shape.

A little stuffing pushed into the head to test out the shape...for now.

This triangle is marked on the inside of the fabric of the head to show me where to put the spikes.

The first spike.

Stuffing out, the first few spikes get attached.

I like not knowing how he is going to turn out.  I really have no solid plans for him yet...he will happen as he happens.