crafty mcgee

mythical creatures

Here's a pair with a Clash of the Titans vibe, made for June's Month of Softies group - hosted this month by Amy. I had originally planned to make the minotaur alone, but I thought that would be cheating since he's mostly plastic. His head is an example of what can be made with those annoying magazine inserts. I cut and folded one to the appropriate shape, and covered it with felt. The Pegasus's wings are actually transparent in certain light, but I couldn't quite capture it in the photos. His mane is made from a couple of tassels. They are off to have some adventures with those wacky Olympian gods.

flower bed

I'm working on a bunch of time-consuming projects, plus it's too darn hot and I'm moving at a snail's pace. Still, I get small things done. Here's my entry for this month's "Flower" theme pincushion  challenge. My favorite flower pincushions are Cassi's, but I didn't want to copy, and I have every intention of buying one from her someday. Plus, I wanted something big and broad for my sewing table. My "normal" size pincushions are always getting lost underneath something. The big pink flower is an applique, and very pillow-like. So I thought the little crocheted dolly would like to hang out it the sun on it until sewing commences. If you look closely, you'll notice a couple of tiny embroidered details, like French knot centers on the flowers, and a teensy bug.

Back-Tack III: Revealed!

Robin at i green eye, please ignore the rest of this post if you want to be surprised. Everyone else, go for it!

fruit bowl

Here's my entry for Boogaj's "Fruit" Pincushion Challenge for May. I think this is a great meme - you end up with something small and useful, and get to stretch yourself a bit in the process. The little basket is knitted and felted using this pattern for mancala bowls from knitty. The pattern calls for a i-cord edge, but it rolled up nicely. I've come to the conclusion that it's the Lamb's Pride Worsted that doesn't felt very well, and not just me - I left it in the hot water for a long time. The fruits are made of felt with a bit of embroidery for detail. This a great pincushion for me. Usually I have all of my different types of needles in different pincushions. On this one, I can but the embroidery needles in the banana, tapestry needles in the apple....all sorted out in one place.

Woodland Scene

Another little vignette. I love making these so much, and have so many ideas for them, that I have created a new category. Yay! The deer were made in the usual amount of time, but the tree....I spent way too much time on it. This is how it started out:

Yikes! It was, you know, supposed to be like branches, then I was going to sew boughs on top of the branches. Sigh. Sometimes you just can't "make it work", so I redid it.  The "new" boughs were a Big Pain to turn, but I think it all turned out OK in the end. Oh, the things we do for our craft!

past projects: an FUFO

That is, a forever unfinished object.

When I was cleaning out the basement this weekend, I came upon the sad remains of my most ambitious project ever:  an embroidered alphabet book of imaginary beings, started back in the 80's when I just got out of college. These two pages are all that is left.

I think I know what most of the things are, but I'll let you all have the fun of working it out on your own.  When I moved from my temporary digs in LA to Seattle, I foolishly mailed several large boxes that didn't fit into my car. One of them was lost, and the bulk of this project was in it. I don't remember how these two were spared. I know that the "Q" and "R" were finished, and the "K" was in progress. After that, I didn't have the heart to finish it, and I'm close to sure I never will. So there you have it - a cautionary tale about trusting the US Postal Service.

bunny buddies

I was hoping to have a couple more, but the I just received the pattern for the knitted bunny last weekend, after I ordered it way back in early March! It's been wending its way from house to house in Seattle (two wrong addresses), until it finally reached its proper destination.
Luckily, it was really easy to knit, so I got at least one finished. I used Lamb's Pride Worsted, and felted it. It still shows the stitching a bit. I'm not sure if that's the fiber or my modest felting skills. I whipped up his little buddy by hand last night. Happy Easter!

green, purple and made by me

Here are the items I made for this month's "green and purple" color-iffic swap-o-rama. The postcard is a modified version of the sampler from Katherine Shaughnessy's The New Crewel - an excellent embroidery book with great design. You can see a more detailed picture of the card on Flickr, where you can also see the non-handmade items, if you're curious. The box is a hand painted Altoid tin with a flower patch added for some flair, and the little patch is from some out-of-print fabric that I thought I posted about before, but can't find now. Hiding in the back is a decorated jar of sand - my swapee collects it from all over the world, and since she's in Portugal, I'll bet she doesn't have any from here:

A beach near my house on a rainy morning last weekend. The weather's been perfect all week, but it's predicted to look like this again come Saturday. Oh, well- have a good one, anyway!

I stitch for the trees!

I made this little tree for the "Room of One's Own" Month of Softies theme. I've said it before, but I love trees, and I'm trying to fill at least a small corner of my house with them. My stuffie is sharing space with two representatives of one of my favorite treasures: a set of trees carved from the actual wood of the tree. This was an interesting project to put together. I was all set to use a CD to make a cardboard template for the tree crown when the lightbulb went on in my head:

 

Just use the CD!  (Take that, AOL!) The trunk was made from part of a paper towel roll with batting wrapped around it. I'm really happy with how this turned out. I'm going to make a tree for every season, even though this one skipped spring and went right into summer.

I even like the way it looks from overhead. Have a great weekend!

poor tippi

I'm sure we can all sympathize with what a flock of vengeful birds could do to ones wardrobe. So when I heard of this month's Tie One On "apron for a doll" theme, I immediately thought of poor Tippi. If ever a doll could use a coverall....This stylish apron is made from easy clean vinyl in a tasteful buff color, and the gold edging can enhance silk, satin or fur (of course). Pearl buttons and a detachable gold lame belt add a fitted touch to an otherwise shapeless garment. Tippi may find her feathered friends unpredictable, but she can breathe a little easier knowing that her couture outfit will not be ruined.