Dorothy Gale/Judy Garland costume

Hello world,

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Yes, for my work xmas party the theme is superheroes and movie stars, and I am going as Judy Garland in the guise of Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz. I just finished my costume:

Ah I love it! Costume making is the best. :)

So how did it all come together?

• Light blue socks
  
• Butterick 6671 smock pattern from the op shop + Free Burdastyle pattern Danielle #9306 + blue gingham + white muslin = the outfit (check out the rocking job I did with the pleated sleeves - I'm so proud!)
  
• Blue ribbons
  
• Two braids in my hair
  
• $3 sensible heels from the op shop + tub of red glitter + fabric glue + patience = ruby slippers
  
• Lavals long coyote black fur + an adjusted version of nunodoll's life-size dachshund pattern = Toto (oh yes he is such a good dog!)
  

I finished Toto yesterday. I decided not to get a basket until I was sure what size he would turn out. I have some extra gingham left over, so next weekend I'm going to take him for a walk to the op shops around Sutherland to find a picnic basket that's the right size for him, and then I'll line it with the gingham. Perfect!

So, do y'all think I'll win the best dressed contest?

~Eyespiral

Meet Tess

Hello world,

I'm having a mini posting frenzy today as it's the first time in a while that I've had a chance to get down to business. :)

Today I'd like to introduce you to someone special: Tess dog.

Tess came to life as an experiment to see if I could successfully alter the pattern for the life-sized dachshund from nunodoll:

Nunodoll is incredible. Definitely check him out.

As you can see, it was a success. Tess dog worked handsomely (she loves it when you coo over her!), and shortly received a younger brother, who was the reason for my experiment in the first place - explanation to come shortly. :)

~Eyespiral

Filet crochet portrait progress

Hello world,

I wanted this to be done soon, but as you will see from my progress below, it's slow goings. I knew it was ambitious, but I thought I'd be at least half way by this stage!

I have spent a number of days listening to my favourite TV shows and to some audiobooks while working on this, and I try to get at least a row done to and from work each day on the train. Apparently that is not enough. Nonetheless, I did foresee that problem and mitigated the risk by starting at the top, so the date was one of the last things I would crochet, just in case I blew out my deadline.

It is turning out really great, so the excess time is worth it.

MUM OR DAD, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, AVERT YOUR EYES IF YOU WANT THIS SURPRISE TO BE A SURPRISE, EVENTUALLY.

My progress after two months' work:

What did I tell you? surprisingly good. :) The little white things along the bottom are just stitch markers so that if I get lost I don't have to start counting from the beginning of the row... 300 stitches is too many for me to count back.

Here's another shot showing the detail of what the work actually looks like to me while I'm working on it. I only see it every now and again when I find the time to lay it out flat and review my progress.

So! Still a long long way to go, but I am encouraged by the result thus far. I'll post the final product up both before and after framing... whenever that may be.

Crochet cotton is from the lovely people at Crochet Australia, who you can hear about in a previous post.

Read my previous post to learn how to make your own filet crochet portrait from a photo:

Au revior,

~Eyespiral

The ultimate engagement ring - challenge 5

Challenge 5: Those three words Vote for us and help us get engaged - we're in competition for the ultimate engagement ring!

Hello world,

Challenge 5 is to share the first time that either of us said 'I love you'. That was me. It is embarrassing and sickly cute. Forgive me by voting for us! :)

To learn more about the contest for the ultimate engagement ring, see my original blog post or visit www.my22ct.com.au

Here's our entry:

Jessica was always a pragmatic girl, and she thought teenagers who convinced themselves they could fall in love with their soul mate at age sixteen were rather ridiculous. But after a few months with EJ, she was becoming a hypocrite.

It had been about three months since they’d become a couple, and against her most logical self-arguments, she realised she was in love. So what did she need to do now? Tell him.

She always caught the late bus home so that they could spend a little time together after classes finished each day. It meant being stuck on the shoppers bus that crawled through town and got her home after 1.5 hours, but she always felt it was worth it.

This afternoon, they stood under one of the trees out the front of the school in each others’ arms. She had her cheek pressed firmly against his shoulder – she was too scared to lift her gaze.

Jessica was so nervous, in fact, that she couldn’t bring herself to tell him those three words in plain English. She and a girlfriend spoke a pretend language they called ‘Double Dutch’ throughout high school, and EJ understood it. Basically, it required you insert ‘vg’ at the front of each syllable you say.

It was hard. Scary. And so she stood there, face hidden in his oversized t-shirt, and told him, “Ivgi jvgust wvgantvged tvgo tvgell yvgou tvgat Ivgi lvgove yvgou (I just wanted to tell you that I love you).”

To help us win all you need to do is vote for us by clicking on either the ring photo or text links provided above. You need to log in using your Facebook or Twitter account and then you can vote for each challenge that we complete. Please try to vote for every one to give us this once in a lifetime chance!

The ultimate engagement ring - challenge 4

Challenge 4: Our meeting stories Vote for us and help us get engaged - we're in competition for the ultimate engagement ring!

Hello world,

Challenge 4 is to share the story of our meeting - from each of our perspectives. It's not so differnt, actually... but I'll let you judge.

To learn more about the contest for the ultimate engagement ring, see my original blog post or visit www.my22ct.com.au

Here's our entry:

Jessica's story

The first time I heard his name was when we were starting year 7 and our entire grade were herded into the school hall to be separated into classes. His name made the school body froth when they heard it: Ebbenjay van der Hilst-Best. Like everyone else, I glanced up to look at the weird kid with the weirder name, and glimpsed a pale weedy boy with long shiny hair and a flushed face.

Three years later, I started seeing a boy who was a great mammoth of a nerd. He spent most recesses and lunchtimes in the computer lab, so I came along. As soon as I walked in the door, a lanky boy wearing a white shirt that hung from his frame like a sail from a coat hanger, and glossy hair that was now cut short, took one look at me and burst out in derisive laughter at his friend’s new girlfriend, the small exertion driving a rosy flush up his neck and cheeks. I walked out and refused to come back for all of lunchtime.

Eventually we started to sit together at recess and lunch, and eventually we got to know each other. That’s how we met.

EJ's story

When I first saw Jessica in early high school I knew she was smart. She looked like your stereotypical bookworm. She had long curly hair and big round glasses. She was pretty too, though she hid behind her glasses. I wanted to talk to her and get to know her but I was very shy.

After I found out that she was a friend of a friend of mine, I found the excuse I wanted to approach and talk to her. Then another friend of mine asked her out. I got mad at him: being in high school, I thought everything lasted forever and so I thought, ‘well, there goes Jessica’.

Fortunately, they didn’t last. I started spending recess and lunch times with Jessica’s group of friends so I could spend more time with her. After a while her friends and my friends started hanging out together and that’s when we really started getting to know each other.

To help us win all you need to do is vote for us by clicking on either the ring photo or text links provided above. You need to log in using your Facebook or Twitter account and then you can vote for each challenge that we complete. Please try to vote for every one to give us this once in a lifetime chance!