Showing posts with label sewn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sewn. Show all posts

Sunday, November 21, 2010

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?















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

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Trading Cards

Hello world,

Quick links:
Thanks for visiting! You've come here either because you read my blog or because you've gotten hold of one of my artist trading cards and want to find out what it's all about. So if you're new and want to hear all about it, click here to get the rundown.

Below you will find a list of all our trading cards by number, and you can click on the number to be taken to that card. Alternatively, you can view my trading cards gallery for your card and click on it to visit its page and view its map.


How to log your find

You can log your find by posting a comment stating the type of trading card (Arise_Victorious or Eyespiral), its number, the date, plus any or all of the following information: where you found it, where it is now/where you left it, your name/username, a link you might want to pimp (e.g. your geocaching profile, your own website), and a link to a photo if you'd like me to include it in the map point. If you've found or left it in a geocache, feel free to post a link to the cache you found/left it in.

As I receive these comments, I will update the post with the new locations of the cards.

Arise_Victorious geocaching trading cards

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.


Eyespiral's artist trading cards

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.


The Rundown

I've been inspired. After running into the idea for artist trading cards on this Burdastyle post and further learning about them on the Artist Trading Card Committee site, I decided these were definitely for me. Since my medium of choice right now is fabric, and since we've gotten into geocaching lately, and since my drawing skills are severely limited, it made sense to make sewn trading cards. In geocaching, it's an advantage if you choose to leave something waterproof (just in case the cache leaks), and fabric will survive. Thus came the evolution of Arise_Victorious geocaching trading cards. These are ones that EJ and I will leave at geocaches that we find during our adventures, and the ones which I hope will make amazing journeys around the world that I'll get to hear about.

Additionally, I plan to make my own ones, Eyespiral's artist trading cards, which I will trade or give in the normal manner.

Here's what the backs of the two different types of trading cards look like. On the left is an Arise_Victorious trading card, on the right an Eyespiral one. You can see the card number in the top right corner of the card.

Types of trading card


The big idea: I want to know where our trading cards go. Geocaching is familiar with trackable items, which you can purchase and track on their website, but I want ours to be our very own. So when you find one of our trading cards, you will find both the URL for this page and our email address. Then you'll either post a comment on this post or email us about your find, and when I receive them I will add your location (and name or username, if you so desire) and the date to the list underneath the photo of that trading card. That way I can keep track of all the trading cards I have put out there as well as the journeys they've taken. And you get to see where they've gone, too!

If you'd like to trade or would simply like me to post one of my Eyespiral cards to you, comment on this post with a way for me to get in contact with you to get the postal details. :)


Thanks for taking part and I hope you're inspired, too!

~Eyespiral

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Xmas crafts! Seatbelt covers, sewn luggage tags, laptop sleeves, crochet Rorschach mask, diary cover, eye mask and peg buddies.

Hello world!

Here's a quick post of the xmas crafts that I have finally finished - just in time. :)

For my darling friend Kylee who came to visit I made a couple of my long seatbelt covers since she admired the idea - she too suffers from the sharp edge of the seatbelt and the short length of standard seatbelt covers. In addition I made her a collection of luggage tags since she and her husband travel a lot and own their own place now - meaning that their address shouldn't change for a good while, and they can therefore keep using these tags for the foreseeable future. I love my iron-on stuff - didn't it make adorable tags?

Kylee's seatbelt covers


Luggage tags


Luggage tag close-up



Next we have these two laptop sleeves which I made for my sister and brother. The idea came when we found the comedian tshirt for special ($5!) but they didn't have any big enough for my brother. I filled them with batting to give them some cushioning and went with a simple flat button closure instead of velcro because I could just imagine how wrecked the ole hook'n'loop would make the fabric in a short time. My sister's one is actually made of this awesome patterned velvet-type stuff that my grandparents' old lounge chairs are made of - I'm sure she'll appreciate that.

Laptop sleeves


Since it was pretty simple, I made up a pic showing how I made the patterns for them. If you can't figure out my super-secret code, L, B and H stand for length, breadth and height, and all measurements are in millimetres. It has a 10mm seam allowance. Cut one of main fabric, one of lining, and cut a rectangle of batting 20mm shorter and narrower than the pattern, minus the flap. Pin the fabrics right sides together and pin the batting on top, sew and leave a hole in one side for turning. Trim the corners and the curve, then turn. Fold up, main fabric on the inside, and sew along one side with 5mm allowance, go around the flap and down the other side. Turn right-side-out, add a button and button hole and you're in business!

Laptop sleeve pattern


I also made this mask for my brother. It's meant to be like the one that the character Rorschach wears in The Watchmen. Can you tell he's into it? :) I would have posted a pic of me wearing it but it's far too big - my brother's head is mammoth. Anyway, it's crocheted with ivory bamboo thread, just like a long beanie, and then I made my own inkblot-type image with fabric paint and pressed the mask into it to get the pattern. Not bad for an experimental piece, I think.

Rorschach mask



For EJ's mum I made a diary cover which I like, but I'm worried she won't:

Advaita's diary cover


And for his sister a rice-filled eye mask:

Rice-filled eye mask



Ooh and this is how I've wrapped all the prezzies this year - I love the look and I reckon it's tres classy. Not to mention cheap!

Xmas wrapping


For my grandparents I put together a little composition of photos from my graduation since they couldn't come. It's cute, don't you think? Anyway, it's big and framed and now they can brag to their friends about how clever I am.





And now, my favourite item of crafty goodness this xmas - please meet the peg buddies!

Introducing the peg buddies


This little guy is for EJ's grandparents. Do the penguin walk!

Penguin peg buddy


Then we have this wise fellow for my grandma. Yes, it's an owl. I will not listen to anyone who tells me it's a platypus. It's an owl!

Owl peg buddy


And finally, this happy amphibian is for my Mum.

Frog peg buddy


Nourish them with pegs and they'll help you hang out the washing! What a fun way to use little bits of fabric and reuse those little useless hangers you get when you buy new underwear. Eco-friendly and cute, people. That's right.

Say goodbye guys! It's time to be wrapped up for the relos.

Goodbye, peg buddies


If people are interested, I may be able to put together a tutorial/downloadable pattern for the peg buddies. But really, it's just an idea that you can execute on your own, making it up as you go along - that's what I did.

Anyway, it's time for me to get going - we've found our new place and I need to get into the business of packing.

Merry xmas everyone!

~Eyespiral

P.S. Apologies for the poor image quality for this post - normally if they turn out this bad I just go and take some more photos, but since these all needed to be wrapped I can't retake them.

P.P.S. This might be the first post that I've written and posted all in one session. Amazing!