DIY Project: The Alot

This was inspired by a 2D creation at Hyperbole and a Half, a hilarious blog that I follow. The post in question is here.

Allie Brosh created it, not me. But I thought it looked incredibly huggable, so I made a 3D replica-stuffed toy. It's not to scale though (it's a lot smaller. I'm on a budget!). He's rather tiny, and I can hold him in one hand.

How I made him:
I used some brown faux fur fabric that I bought from Spotlight. It was called "Kangaroo Fur", which I found rather disturbing.

The very exotic faux fur

The horns, feet, claws and mouth were made by using leftover beige and brown felt that I had from making the Harry Potter Puppet Pals. The batting that went inside was also from that project.

The Alot Pattern for Alot Feet

Alas, there is only this drawing of the feet as a pattern because I have rather poor drawing skills..

I tried various ways to make great eyes, and in the end I used some white stretchy cloth that looked a bit like fleece, but thinner. I did a bit of experimenting, and I think I figured out a way to get round cloth eyes (like the sort on Sesame Street puppets?)

Anyway, instructions:

How to make round eyes out of cloth.

1. Cut a circle of cloth in white
2. Straight stitch around the circle (to prevent the thread from snapping, use double thread
3. Stuff the circle & pull the two ends of the thread like a mini drawstring closed to form the eyeball.
4. Knot the thread
5. Sew on the pupil of the eyeball.

As for the waffle-looking thing on the side, that is how to properly embroider the pupil.

Go over the pupil horizontally in black thread (unless you want the pupil a different colour), then vertically, then stitch a ring around it to define it.

I'll put in more pictures of the alot later. I can't find any more. :/

- christine

DIY Project: Harry Potter Puppet Pals

A past project. One of the ones I'm the proudest of..

TA-DAAAA!!! The Harry Potter Puppet Pals! Well, replicas, but I'm happy with them. They're pretty accurate.

I made them about 4 years back, using only this video as a guide:

Snape, Snape, Severus Snape...

I couldn't find a pattern anywhere, so I decided to make my own. I figured out the proportions by watching the video again and again and again. Probably was a major reason why the video got so many hits.

Each one took about 7 hours to make. Mostly because I was quite an amateur then, and also because of the customized trial and error that I gave each puppet. It was the first time I ever made a pattern for something.

They are hand puppets, and they are made out of felt and stuffed with batting. Dumbledore's clothes are detachable, as in canon. Video canon? No idea if that's such a thing, oh well.

Voldemort has a Nagini scarf, because I had some leftover fabric. You can't quite see it very well here, but Nagini looks pretty demented.

UPDATE: Since Hagrid appeared, I made him too! He is mostly made of felt, but I knit the beard with fun fur.

I am not going to make Neville the squash, for obvious reasons. Somehow I doubt a felt replica will do any justice to a real vegetable.

That's it for now!

- christine

Hello!

Hello! Welcome to my blog! This is a blog that will chronicle the various nick-knacks and craft projects that I've made in the past, and the new ones that I'll be working on as well. Other than that...nothing much else :)

A bit about myself: I'm starting university this year. My grandaunt taught me to sew. I also knit and crochet (though I'm rather terrible at it), and I enjoy paper crafts too. I'm also not bad with making stuffed toys. But my projects usually involve sewing. Usually. I like variety ;)

I am a big fan of Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who...a lot of my projects tend to end up being recreations of these things. I love to make recreations, but I don't like copying other people's work. For me, part of the fun is figuring out how to make a pattern for it.

Gosh. I have started a blog...in an era when people are not setting up blogs...in marketing terms, I am a VERY late adopter.

I don't know what else to write. Bye!

- christine