2012/365 - Day 316

work continues on the creature AND Suzanne makes a house call

Today it was time to stuff the fingers/hands/arms for my guy.  Back a few months ago when I was making the goaty creature baby shower gift my friend Suzanne came by to give me some pointers and structural assistance.  Between the two of us we figured out what I wanted to do and how to do it.  My final design, but with a great deal of help from Suzanne...and her sewing machine.

In the case of the Holly Dolly creature, I am doing the actual sewing parts on my own -- having remembered a good deal of what we did with the goaty creature...but without a machine.

Another thing that Suzanne had (besides a sewing machine) was a contraption for stuffing things.  It was a long plastic tube with a plunger thing that pushed the stuffing down into tight places and helped to fill it evenly.  Well...as long as you know how to work it, that is.  I struggled with it back then but the idea stuck with me.

 Today I rigged my own version of the stuffing/plunger gadget.

I found two pill bottles that were a perfect size to fit into the opening of the arms and I cut the top and bottom off of one of the bottles and the bottom off of the other one.  Then I taped them together. 

Cool -- but then I realized there was a rough edge on the inside.  So I taped over that with strips of masking tape.  

Ta-daaaaaa!

Next I inserted the smaller end into the end of the tube of material that is the creature's fingers/hand/arm unit.

I scrunched the tube down over my homemade gadget until the end touched the fingers.

 

Then I started feeding the wad of stuffing into the device and pushed it down into the tube with a chopstick.

Wa-hoo-ey!!!  It worked!

Yay!

Believe me, after that it was time to set the creature parts aside on top of what I laughingly call the surface of my desk and think about how to proceed with the rest of the guy.












Okay, here's the thing.  I can put things together -- sort of -- I don't really sew.  I can get a picture in my head of what I want to do but sometimes it is beyond me exactly how to get it to happen.  I have figured out the design, but the engineering aspects make me cry.

Thankfully, this is where my friend Suzanne excels.  I left a message on her cell phone hoping she'd get it in time and wow -- she had been playing hockey and was on her way home and yes, she could come over and help me figure stuff out.  Whew!

Yay -- Suzanne to the rescue -- again!

Okay...here is the thing about Suzanne...unlike me, she is great at being able to follow a pattern and/or directions and diagrams.  She is also great at problem solving and figuring out how to get from point a to point z...and everything in between.

The problem is how to communicate it to me...without just doing it for me.

I explained (sort of) what I had in mind...and now we are brainstorming and thinking, thinking, thinking...

Putting the things together in her head...thinking...

GOT it!

Testing out the placement of the arm to see if it will cover up what "we" figured out.

Getting there...but Suzanne has a tendency to keep asking me what is coming next...how do I want to finish the eyes...what kind of this, etc.  And I tend to work as I go, letting the creature tell me what to do.

But in the end, it all works out.  Suzanne interprets what I am saying and then figures out how to put it into action.

Here she is re-pinning a part so that I will understand how to sew it once she has gone home.  And we actually did this part together...both of us had a lot of input.

Lastly, besides doing the figuring out of the way to do it, Suzanne figures out how to explain the sewing parts that I don't understand.

Patience, creativity, engineering, a lot more patience (on Suzanne's part) -- it all comes together and then I tweak it into something slightly different (LOL).  And then it turns into a guy.  

I will be finishing this up tomorrow for delivery on Tuesday!

2012/365 - Day 302

hand sewn creature -- take two

Suzanne came over late last night and we worked on my Holly Dolly creature/design.  Remember I really liked my straight seam but I wasn't sure if that fabric was going to be use-able?  

Well...it wasn't...at least not for this particular project at this particular time.  I am sure I will do something with the first partial creature (yes, I am that proud of the seam...ha ha ha) eventually.

Thank goodness Suzanne is patient -- that is all I can say.

I don't sew...or read patterns...or understand what diagrams are trying to show.  

When Suzanne helps me with a sewing project, we have to figure out a method of communicating my ideas so she can help me get the basic sewing parts (like seams) executed.

Often we have to try to draw each other pictures.  It is like we are speaking different languages.  Well, okay -- Suzanne and the rest of the world that sews are speaking one language and I am speaking Tookish.

 





We tried to adapt the original piece, but that fabric is kind of special and it is very very tightly woven and dense (or something)...too hard to work with.

We decided to just start from scratch.  I had a very very simplified basic pattern (for someone who sews) to get an idea of what I wanted to do.

Suzanne ended up having me draw the shape that I was after and then she did the pinning and cutting and sewing on the machine.  Whew!

It is SO like engineering and math -- and SO beyond me!

Suzanne just looks at it and goes "oh"...and does it.   Like the part about making a "sandwich" out of the parts and the whole thing being inside out...she gets it -- that stuff just makes me want to cry.

And there you go -- it isn't exactly what I started out with but it is now my own design.  I am on my own from this point on.

And really -- when I first started thinking of this creature I was imagining it with the navy t-shirt material.  I think the colors of the spikes show up better...and it is a lot softer.

Tonight I mixed up some gesso with a bit of blue acrylic in it so I can see where I've painted and not go snowblind/gessoblind working with the manikin.

Just enough color to see where I've been.

I am getting an idea for the finishing of this surface.  More on this tomorrow.

2012/365 - Day 301

hand sewn creature -- take one

Suzanne is coming over in a little bit to guide me in making my Holly Dolly creature.  

I started on the sewing this afternoon...this may -- or may not -- be part of the final creature.

Whoa -- I surprised myself by how straight my seam turned out!

wow

Some of the spikes have been put in place -- I hope this will be the actual creature, but I am not sure if this fabric is going to work.  I have many questions for Suzanne.

2012/365 - Day 215

this actually happened last night -- but I am working on it tonight, too

Suzanne made the incredibly generous offer to help me with the super secret baby shower gift and I gratefully accepted.  We looked through the books she brought over and chose a basic shape.  From there I selected socks from her stash (she took a few of my gloves/parts) and she did the actual sewing that would have taken me a couple of weeks to do.  I chose all of the parts and I will finish the face but Suzanne absolutely sewed everything very securely and did the stuffing.  A little later Ruth came by to meet Tull.  It was a lovely night!

Suzanne's stash of socks -- incredible.  Based on my own glove hoarding, I can imagine this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Suzanne is a teen services coordinator at the Northville Public Library.  She is a great teacher and is an amaaaaaazing sock monkey maker!

Suzanne gathered up these super books -- I need to put them all on my Amazon wish list!

Suzanne looking at the instructions...this sort of thing gets me all wound up and teary.  Suzanne is an accomplished sewing person and has no problem with the directions.  She's been at this a long time.

Tull looks so tiny next to my gloves baskets.

Whoa -- what was that black blur that just went by?

Tull LOVES to be held.

Ruth meets Tull.

Twink was counter dancing...he nearly rolled off the edge.  Look at his tail curled over the edge...ha ha ha.  He is so sweet!

Just a very small sneak peek at the super secret baby shower gift.  The shower is on Saturday and I will show the finished piece when I get back.








Today was a day of visiting with Juana and going out to lunch and running my two errands.  One of the errands was changing all the art in the Art-o-mat machine at LIFT in Royal Oak.  Frankly, this sort of most-of-the-day-running-around-and-in-and-out-of-the-car-in-the-heat really wears me out.  I am working on the face for this guy tonight...but I feel like I've done plenty today...LOL.