Day Twenty-Two: glove squirrel

For some reason the needle I found in my sewing box was larger and less sticky than the one I put back in my sewing box last night. It still stabbed me a bunch of times, though.

I began by stuffing the pieces (minus the ears) with stuffing. This made them look better, I'm pleased to say, a little more uniform. I didn't notice until the end product that I stuffed one arm more fully than the other, so my squirrel kind of looks like that dude from that KFC commercial who has one GIANT arm and one puny arm. I mention this now instead of at the end so that you will know to be careful with how much you stuff.

Then I sewed the arms and tail shut and attached them on. When I got to the part about the head in the original instructions, they gave me a fancy way of sewing it shut so that it looked nice, and I think they should have mentioned that at the beginning. Why wouldn't you want the arms and tail to look as nice as the head? I don't know. Anyway, I will tell you the trick: fold the left side in, the right side in, the top side on top of those sides, and then finally the last side and sew it shut! It keeps all the fraying edges neat and tucked away.

But I got a bit ahead of myself. Before I did the head, I closed up the arms and tail and then attached them to the body in a haphazard manner. I'm still not sure how people can sew on extra pieces without the seams showing like Frankenstein. Tips?

Then I did the head, closing it up with the fancy instructions like they told me to. The ears were the easiest thing about this whole project. All you do is fold them in half and sew the bottom together, and that makes it look like a real squirrel ear, and then attach that to the head.

Then I sewed the head to the body, but I think I did it a little bit incorrectly because he doesn't have a neck and he looks a bit snobby.

The instructions called for a wood button, but I found a nice non-wood button in my sewing box, so I attached that. Then I was supposed to use embroidery thread for the eyes, I think because it's thicker, but I didn't have any so I just used regular black thread.

My mom thinks he's cute.

Day Twenty-Two Highlights: completing yet another project, his face, finding mysteriously improved needles.

Day Twenty-Two Lowlights: never being as good as the example, getting stabbed by a needle, snobby squirrels.

Tomorrow: I have no aspirations for tomorrow. We'll see what happens.

Day Twenty-One: glove squirrel - updated with pictures

This is going to be an unfinished post, partly because my craft is unfinished and also partly because I didn't download the pictures onto my computer yet. I was about to, then I accidentally knocked a bunch of stuff off my desk, and then was too grumpy to do anything except go to bed. I will write the post in part today, and then update it with pictures and stuff tomorrow.

I am making this: a recycled glove squirrel. Except that my glove is red, not brown, and it's not a glove who lost its partner. I am stealing a glove from its partner because I want to make this craft.

Materials:
- glove
- stuffing
- thread
- button
- the instructions say pipecleaners, but I have gotten that far and do not need them. So you can decide.

I used the guideline on that website to chop up my glove. A note: chopping up a glove makes a lot of little glove fluff bits to fly everywhere. Maybe wear some kind of oxygen mask and goggles to protect yourself from fluff bit inhalation. (Learn from my mistakes, people. The overarching theme of this blog.)

Then I hand sewed the edges together to create the legs/body, head, and arms. Of course, of COURSE mine are deformed, and look nothing like the ones in the example. Mostly just the legs, but still; I don't understand why that always happens. The hand sewing was difficult because the needle is still sticky from when I sewed that self-adhesive velcro onto my laptop bag, and also the needle was feeling extra stabby today. I got myself a couple of times pretty deep. (That is another reason why this project is unfinished today. I grew to detest the needle, so I needed to take a full-night's-sleep-length chill break.)

At this point I have the bits sewed, but not stuffed. That will be my next step! I'm sure I can handle that.

Day Twenty-One Highlights: squirrels.

Day Twenty-One Lowlights: sticky, stabby needles; knocking stuff over.

Tomorrow: pictures of today's work, and hopefully completion of glove squirrel!

Day Twenty: laptop bag

You guys!!!!!! I totally finished the stupid laptop bag today!!!!! I'll admit, I wasn't going to. But I didn't have work or anything today, and I figured it would take me a lot of time to finish, so today would be a good day. So I dragged out the sewing machine and the unfinished laptop bag and set to work. For materials, see here.

First, I made sure that the material hadn't shrunken and my laptop hadn't grown by sizing them up together again. (One of the major problems with my first attempt was that the bag ended up being too small, so I went the opposite way here and made it really large.)

Then I hand-sewed the corners of the soft stuff to the fabric to anchor them. (Another problem I had originally was that I made the soft stuff and the material the same size, so the whole thing was lined - I realized that only the part covering the laptop needed to have the soft stuff in it, not the seams or the lid flap.)

Then I folded it over and pinned the sides (another lesson learned: USE PINS FOR EVERYTHING), then sewed the edges using a sewing machine. I did this a few times, because after I sewed it the first time I realized that it was too big.

I wanted it to be snug around my laptop, not loose. I folded, sewed, and cut a few times to make it fit properly.

At this point, I turned it all right-side out like you are supposed to, and unfortunately it looked like crap because of a bunch of other stuff that was going on. So I turned it inside out again, and decided that the seams showing was going to be an artistic statement! I am starting a new trend here, people, like visible zippers. I bet that was a mistake too! Some designer finished the dress and realized, "Oh crap! The zipper is showing!" but they were on a deadline, so they said, "I'm starting a new trend! Visible zippers!" That's how these things start. (Although I don't like visible zippers.)

Then I added velcro to the lid flap with my sewing machine, only it was the crappiest velcro of all time. It's supposed to be self-adhesive, which I didn't realize until after I sewed on the first two velcroes, so I sewed on the removable strip along with the rest of the velcro. Whoops. Then I hand-sewed the other velcroes by hand, because I couldn't figure out how to stick the large pocket-part (the part that holds the laptop... note to self: learn appropriate terminology for stuff) in the sewing machine without sewing the whole thing shut.

Here is where the stupid velcro showed me how stupid it was: because of the self-adhesiveness, every time I put the needle through the velcro the needle would adopt some stickiness. By the time I'd finished attaching the velcro, the needle was sticking to my fingers and the thread was sticking to the needle, which made the whole thing a very irritating, cumbersome process. STUPID VELCRO.

I persevered, however; no matter how annoyed I was, I didn't want to put this thing away unfinished AGAIN. So I finished all the velcroes, stuck my laptop inside, and shut the lid.

IT'S FINISHED! And not too bad looking, if I do say so myself. I can't believe I actually finished this. I expect applause and confetti.

Day Twenty Highlights: FINISHING MY LAPTOP BAG, and also the fabric - I'd forgotten how much I liked this fabric.

Day Twenty Lowlights: stupid self-adhesive velcro, sticky needles.

Tomorrow: I'm at a wedding for most of the day, so it might end up being something like my scarf.

Day Fifteen: laptop bag redux

So I decided that I'm going to redo the laptop bag. It's something that I really want to use, and my first attempt was kind of shoddy. Sorry this is not a riveting new idea... what with all the reduxes and give-ups, I'm not accomplishing very much at all. But holy crap, you guys, I'm halfway done!

Materials:
- material (same stuff as last time, still from Value Village)
- ruler
- sewing machine
- some kind of insulator/protector soft stuff (I found mine in my garage)
- velcro

VERY IMPORTANT STEP ONE: iron everything. That Martha Stewart knows what she's talking about. Even though this project was not her idea, I am following her lead on the importance of ironing. (Speaking of Martha Stewart, I found out what stupid notching is. It's making little cuts in the fabric, from the edge of the fabric to the seam, so that when you turn it right-side-out the curvy bits are allowed to be curvy, instead of being restricted by the material. GENIUS.)

The next step, which is more important than I initially realized, is to make sure you have TONS of fabric. In my first attempt I only added a few centimeters to the measurements of my laptop, which made it a very snug fit when everything was finished. This time it's going to be roomier.

VERY IMPORTANT NEXT STEP: pin everything. That way it doesn't slide around all over the place when you are sewing. Probably this is common sense to most people, but I often don't get stuff until I've messed it up once or twice.

I didn't take a picture of the next part, but I sewed two of the corners of the soft stuff to the fabric. I decided that I'm not going to have the soft stuff in the lid-flap of the bag, just the body part to protect the actual laptop, so I'm not using a piece of soft stuff the same size as my fabric, as I did last time. Did that make sense? It makes sense in my head, and you can kind of see from where I pinned it in the picture above what I am talking about.

Then, in my final step for today, I sewed around three of the sides. I'm going to leave the last side until tomorrow, when I am also going to hand sew the rest of the corners of the soft stuff to the fabric.

I labelled it for you so you can see, because the thread is not neon and doesn't show up in the picture. Tomorrow I'm going to fold it up and attempt to sew it into a bag. Wish me luck!


Day Fifteen Highlights: almost done!, ironed fabric.

Day Fifteen Lowlights: being too lazy to finish this project today, having to start stuff over because it looked stupid before.

Tomorrow: laptop bag AGAIN. Hopefully for the last time.

Day Thirteen: laptop bag continued

Well, I had grand plans for the laptop bag today, which included adding velcro and a flap to disguise the gross top. I got to the flap part, and then didn't feel like it anymore, so I quit before I screwed something up. This bag-making stuff is hard work requiring focus, you guys. Anyway, here's what I've done.

I'll do the rest tomorrow or something.

But now, an UPDATE on non-menswear stupid bunny! I'd originally planned to use it for comfort in Campbell River, but it's so stinking ugly that I needed to rethink. So I gave it to my dog.

He really liked it at first.

Then he became disinterested, probably on account of shoddy craftsmanship and sheer unattractiveness.

And then I tried to take it away and he wanted it back. So that's where it is right now.

Day Thirteen Highlights: the material for my laptop bag, finding velcro in my closet, new toys for my dog.

Day Thirteen Lowlights: losing concentration, things that require focus.

Tomorrow: I think I might try making a whiteboard, or else some novel stuff. I grew attached to my novel whilst in Whistler and I kind of miss it.

Day Twelve: laptop bag

Hey guys, I know this is a day late; I did this yesterday, on actual Day Twelve, but right before I finished there was a bit of an emergency (non-craft related) and I was with someone at the hospital for quite some time. Everything's okay, but we had to wait around for 8 HOURS for tests. Boo hospitals. One of the ambulance ladies we passed whilst wandering the halls commented that Surrey Memorial is the slowest hospital of all time, which does not instill confidence when I think about where I would end up if I had an emergency. It was actually quite an interesting experience, capped off with a girl in handcuffs and her police escort, but you'll have to check my other blog for the details. :)

ANYWAY. So, laptop case. Previously, I've made fun of people who kept that little plastic sheet on their laptops to protect them, because I thought they looked nerdy. However, when I got my tiny laptop, and it came with a little plastic sheet, I left it on... and naturally got made fun of by all the people I had made fun of before. I didn't want it to get scratched when I shoved it in my purse with my keys! And then I realized that I should have something more to protect it, especially when I brought it to Whistler and my dad crammed it in the trunk because he forgot it was there even though I told him. So I am going to create a laptop case!

I saw plans for this on the internet somewhere, but when I got to thinking about it, how hard could it really be? It's just a rectangle, I don't need instructions. 

Materials:

- fabric (Value Village)

- foamy stuff I found in my garage that my dad uses to wrap his framed pictures in

- sewing machine

- ruler and pen to mark fabric (see, I've learned stuff! No more sharpie!)

The first thing I did was measure my teeny tiny laptop, to make sure I got the dimensions right. Then I drew a rectangle out on the fabric, and THEN I put my laptop on that rectangle and folded it over, just to make sure it would fit. 

Then I folded over the fabric and cut out one long rectangular piece - I was going to cut out two separate pieces, one for each side of the case, but thought I would have to do less sewing if I just made it a long piece, folded it over, and sewed up the edges. Does that make sense? Anyway, you'll see from the pictures.

I layered the fabric and the foamy stuff I found in my garage, with hopes that the foamy stuff would protect my laptop from various attacks. I pinned the three layers together in a few places, but I suggest you pin them together in LOTS of places, because my sewing ended up a little bit crooked and the fabric bunched up in some places. And also iron the fabric.

Then, I think because I was sewing too fast (as this machine is wont to do), the thread mysteriously disappeared and my mother had to come find it for me. And then, I accidentally sewed way off on an angle, so much so that my laptop would not be able to fit in the case anymore. So I had to yank it all out. Boo.

Then I sewed it properly, in a rectangle, but I made sure to leave space at the top to overlap the laptop, like a lid. I searched for a long time in my room for snaps I KNOW I bought a while ago, but I couldn't find them, so I think I'm going to close it with velcro. That'll be easier, anyway, for a lazy person such as myself. 

This is what I meant by folding it over. And also the previous folding over, at the bottom, so I only had to sew the sides. There's all sorts of bits sticking out on the edges, so I trimmed them, but I wasn't too worried because the next step is to flip the whole thing inside-out and stick a laptop inside!

So basically it's perfect. I'm amazing! Except that the top looks a bit rough, so before I buy the velcro, I'm going to sew on another layer of the same fabric to make it look more tidy. And, on the one side there's a bit of fabric that didn't quite make it in the sewing machine, but I'm either going to glue or hand-sew that part. Hey guys, I made a laptop case!

Day Twelve Highlights: success! and wonderful fabric I got for super cheap.

Day Twelve Lowlights: long waits at the hospital, losing thread in the sewing machine, untidy edges.

Tomorrow (which is actually today): adding a topper and velcro

Day Six: menswear bunny (pt. 2)

Status of pupil dilation: back to normal. Thusly, I am about to embark on the most difficult part of this sewing project for children - the sewing. Wish me luck.

Materials:
- pieces of material I cut out from last time
- stuffing (Wal-Mart)
- sewing machine (still from my closet)
- needle and dark thread (also from closet)

Step One: cut out ears in the right colour. (Two of the pieces were supposed to be a different colour, as I suspected but was too lazy to check. But it's all right now!) Step Two: iron the pieces so they are flat. So far, I'm doing REALLY WELL.


Step Three: put the ears together, with the sides you want facing out at the end of it all (hereafter known as RS, for right side) facing in towards each other. Sew along the edges, leaving a space between the seam and the edge of the fabric. (Martha Stewart says 1/4 inch, but I alternately sewed off the edge and into the middle of the ear, so I can't really say what you should do.)

Step Four: turn the ears the right way out so you can marvel at your ability to sew an item intended to be sewn by children. I think because the ears are so small and I left such a wide edge, it was really hard to turn them inside out. But I could! With the assistance of a pen. I did it guys! I sewed my first thing! I called my mom over, and she said it was quite obvious that it was a bunny ear. I'm doing it! It was very stressful, because the sewing machine kept wanting to go to fast. I was like, "Hey now, slow it down; we're not in a race," plus the ear was so small and I was worried about ruining it somehow - but the sewing machine and I are coming to an understanding, I think. An understanding of slowness.


Step Five: one more ear and two arms, done in the same way.

Several times during steps four and five, I accidentally unthreaded the needle. Instead of panicking, I took a deep breath and re-threaded the needle like a pro. Then I started sewing into the middle instead of along the edge, so I had to stop and undo the stitches. As I undid the stitches, I notice that my material is really thin, and now has a bunch of tiny holes in it where the needle went in. Maybe that's why Martha Stewart recommended menswear.


Step Six: put the pieces of the body together and stare at Martha Stewart's picture to see what is supposed to happen now. It is at this point that I realized, with a terrible sinking feeling of immense disappointment, that I did the ears wrong. Ears do not need stuffing, so they do not need to be turned inside out. Unstitch them both, and redo. My fabric is starting to unravel at the edges. Stuff from Wal-Mart is crap.


Anyway, Step Six: put two body pieces RS facing in, and sew together. Important to leave a space on both sides to attach the arms, with one un-sewn side twice as big as the other (so you can stuff the stuffing in the big side). Martha says something about notching with scissors where the legs meet, but I don't know what that means so I don't do it.

I forgot to take a picture of this part, but sew the ears inside the head, pointing down to the bunny's butt. This is really important, so look at a picture here. Sew it up, turn it inside out (so it's the right way out now)... Annnnd... the big reveal...


My bunny looks like crap. Stupid Martha Stewart and her stupid unrealistic expectations. And the notching is important, I guess, because between the bunny's legs are all bunchy.

Step Seven: stuff arms. I used my magical pen to get the stuffing inside the arms, because those things are stinking TINY. Step Seven part b: stuff rest of stupid, ugly bunny body.


Step Eight: attach arms to the disappointingly un-cute non-menswear bunny. I don't know how Martha intended me to sew the arms on after sewing the body shut, but the Frankenstein-style stitches made me feel like that old duck man in a wheelchair from Nightmare Before Christmas, which lent my bunny an even creepier air.

Maybe adding the eyes and nose will make it look adorable? (This is done with a hopeful heart and a needle and thread. Just go over the same spot again and again until you have a large enough dark dot that looks like a facial feature.)


Maybe not.

I had visions of lying with my tiny menswear bunny in my bed in Campbell River, during those lonely times when I realize that everyone I know lives a 2 hour ferry-ride away. I think if I were to wake up to this thing staring me in the face, I'll have a heart attack.

I hate to say it, but if every craft post on here has the tag of 'fail' attached, I'm not sure I can continue. I did warn you all at the outset that I'm not very good at crafty things, but I think I may have secretly overestimated my ability. THIS WAS A SEWING PROJECT FOR CHILDREN. For CHILDREN. A kid could definitely not do this. Unless they were some sort of sewing superhero kid, or else really good at reading instructions.

Day Six Highlights: wrangling a sewing machine, being able to re-thread a needle like a pro, initial success

Day Six Lowlights: the sting of consistent failure, not reading instructions properly, moving away from everyone who loves me

Tomorrow: I am going to Whistler for five days. I was planning on creating a squirrel from an old glove, but now I think I will stick to writing and attempting to take pictures. (That counts as creative, right?) And honestly, this might not keep going upon my return. I am really screwing all this stuff up.

Day Five: menswear bunny (pt. 1)

I am attempting a sewing project today! Except, no sewing until tomorrow. I went to the eye doctor this morning and got those lovely drops that make everything super bright and blurry, so I don't want to try anything that requires sharp vision. (That is my excuse. It's legit, I swear.) This is supposed to be a sewing project for kids, so I hope I can manage.

Materials:
- 2 pieces of fabric (purple for the body, yellow for the ears) (Wal-Mart)
- stuffing (Wal-Mart)
- thread (my closet)
- sewing machine (also my closet)
- bunny pattern (Martha Stewart)

The first thing I did was print out the template for the bunny, which good ol' Martha Stewart explains is on more than one page, so she put a symbol in the middle to help you connect them. I don't see why it had to span four pages - it easily could have fit on one. So thanks for wasting paper, Martha Stewart.


Then I traced each part onto the material - I didn't have any menswear, like she suggests, so I just picked out fabric that I thought would be fun. Initially it was going to be a yellow bunny with purple ears, but since purple is my favourite colour, I changed it around. However, I haven't yet read the instructions, so all the pieces are purple, and I'm pretty sure something is supposed to be yellow. I'll figure that out tomorrow, when my pupils return to their normal size.

So far this project has not been difficult! Although, I noticed that I should not have used Sharpie to trace the pattern onto the fabric, because in some places it shows through. Probably there's a special pen for that, or I've seen it on t.v. where they use chalk? But I was in a bit of a rush. So I apologize if today doesn't feel like a REAL day of creativity to you; I blame it on my eyes.

Day Five Highlights: not screwing up so far, stuffed bunnies, purple fabric

Day Five Lowlights: saving the hard part for tomorrow instead of getting it over with, giant dilated pupils

Tomorrow: menswear bunny pt. 2! (Although I guess I can't really call it menswear, since it's just regular fabric from Wal-Mart.)