crafty mcgee

Ozu

Another in my homage to Asian director's series, this time it's for Yasujiro Ozu. Ozu's films were all about people, small dramas about folks just getting by in the world. They say that his earlier films were much more Hollywood-like and funny, but I'm only familiar with the post-war stuff. They are all about people coping with the Westernization of Japan after World War II, from the grandparents mourning the changes to their lifestyles, to the little kids scheming for their first TV, and all the ages in between. Perhaps the most famous, and they one I would recommend, is Tokyo Story. I usually shy away from family dramas, but Ozu's films are fascinating. He is credited for introducing "new wave" film techniques, such as long still shots, elliptical scene transitions, and having the actors speak towards the camera, instead of in head shots with each other. The scene behind Ozu is a famous shot from the film Floating Weeds. This lighthouse and bottle were the only thing in the frame for nearly a minute, at several different points in the film. Sometimes you could hear dialogue, sometimes music, other times just the sounds of the sea. Interesting stuff (to a film geek like me, anyhow). I chose a cat because of the filmmaker Ozu's fond, but somewhat distant treatment of his characters. You know, cat-like.

My Ozu is another tiny piece, he is just shy of 3" at the top of his ears. I based him loosely on a pattern from one of my mame wanko books. I tried to get him to pose with the newest member of the household -

our little Neko, but neither of them would have any of it. Cats! What are you gonna do?

Measuring Up

A few people expressed surprise over the past few months about how small my vignettes are in person. Others have asked me to explain the process of how I put them together. Today I'll combine the two. (You can click on any picture to see it larger).

   

Step 1. Transfer your drawing to the fabric. I like to use dressmaker's transfer paper. The yellow works well on white, I use the red for everything else.
2. I add the applique pieces with glue. I use one drop and smoosh it over the whole piece, then press it between a couple of pieces of wax paper for a while. I noticed that Reprodepot has started to sell "Stitch Witchery" - which is an iron-on adhesive - I'm thinking of giving that a try. The glue is really tricky to embroider through, though, so keep that in mind. Now your image is ready to stitch. I find it useful to keep a blue Clover washable marker nearby to draw in missing or pale bits as I go.
3. Embroidery done, use a bit of mild soap on a washcloth and gently rub the image to remove the drawing, and let it dry.

 
4. Make a sandwich of your embroidery, some quilt batting of your desired thickness, and a suitable background fabric. Cut a wide margin around the image, and turn everything upside down and pin gently. Be sure to leave the batting on the outside! (Sorry if that seems obvious, but I've made that mistake more than once...) Pin gently within the image, and sew around it to your desired image width. I usually use about the width of the standard sewing foot.
5. This is the part I'm still looking for a better solution for. I make little stands out of pieces of popsicle sticks. I glue a piece as wide as the entire sewn piece to the fabric, and then cut the fabric to fit on the bottom, and sew it to the piece by hand. It doesn't always work quite right. I've tried sewing the base on first, and then glue the stand, but that can get floppy. The quest for the perfect base continues....

And here's the finished giraffe, along with a handy ruler for measuring purposes. As you can see, the stand was a little too small for such a tall piece. Hope you have fun making your own!

Happy 2007!

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve, and didn't overindulge too much. Me? I spent it playing "Animal Crossing" (gift from my son) on the Nintendo DS (gift from my brother) I got for Christmas, and watching the Marx Brothers on TV. Lame, but happy! I thought I'd start out the new year with an inspirational post. The image above is my new calendar from artist Saelee Oh, aka Lemonade Maid. I've posted about her before, but she's one of my favorites. It's pretty small (it fits almost completely on my scanner) and is full of happy farm scenes.

It's been around for a little while, but I finally got The Princess and the Pea by Lauren Child and Peggy Borland. It's filled with amazing 3-D pictures and stuff. I'm so impressed with it that I've been inspired to illustrate my own story with my vignettes. As soon as I decide the fairy tale (or something else) that I want to do, I will post the scenes as I complete them with the text on the blog throughout the year. Stay tuned!

Finally, this little felt gift card holder from Starbucks! I usually avoid Starbucks like the plague (along with Microsoft products) due to my aversion to the whole global domination thing (I have thought about the fact that both of these companies are based here in Seattle, but haven't reached a satisfactory conclusion as to why that is yet). But I needed an inexpensive thank you gift for a co-worker, and I got this with a $5 gift card! Yikes! I hate to think of the folks slaving away in some third world country for a giveaway, but I think it's very cute, and a great idea. Maybe I'll make some of my own sometime.

Don't forget that the Kim Family Benefit Arts & Crafts Auction starts on ebay on Wednesday. There's a link on the top right column, and I'll post the ebay address as soon as it's up. I'm going to try to get something, but I haven't decided what yet. I have a feeling prices will soar out of my range fairly quickly, but that's OK, it's for a good cause.

Have a great year, everyone! I look forward to sharing our crafting adventures!