On a Cat in a Hat: A Photo Post

Well, this year has started off slow in regard to getting anything posted. Hoping to remedy this is coming weeks.

For now, though, to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, may I present you with a cat in a hat? 

♥ ♥ ♥

On a Little Lion: A Photo Post

This is Raspberry! 

 

Raspberry was made using the lion pattern from the November 1961, Woman's Day magazine that also contains the patterns I used for my herd of reindeer and the elves I made last year. As usual, I altered it, making the decision to skip giving him a mouth and, after a little over an hour of sewing yarn on, deciding the the mane didn't need to go under the chin.

I bought the fabric I used (which hard to see in the photo, has gold, shiny streaks in it) specifically for this pattern and had a brief moment of hesitation when I started, but it ended up giving this little lion the perfect 60's look!

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On A Few Wonderland Ornaments: A Photo Post

I bought these about a month ago and decided rather than save them to share in December along with the rest of my Alice ornament collection, today I would go with a Christmas in July themed Photo Post.

I managed to find these three in one bunch. There are a few larger sized (as in about 4 inches versus the little 1 inch wooden ones) wooden Wonderland sets that you see around regularly, but I had never seen these ones before and am actually quite curious to know if there might be more that go with them.

 

I'm very taken with this particular King of Hearts, his mustache, and bright yellow outfit!  

 

 

Then there's this four Christmas Hatter with his teapot, which I thought was awfully cute!   

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On Gunter Meets Pudding: A Photo Post

 Gunter--Pudding; Pudding--Gunter. Remove the Pudding!

A random and spur of the moment project that ended up being perfect for my tired, unfocused brain as aside from size (pieces were cut free hand) and color of the holly leaves, there are very few choices to make when it comes to how a classic pudding looks. Gunter approves of the pudding! ♥

On Chess Piece Felt Queens and Some Action Figures!: A Photo Post

The White Queen and Red Queen are ready to attend this weekend's virtual Lewis Carroll Society of North America meeting on my sweater!

And continuing with the Alice theme, I'm completely enamored with the set of Furuta action figures I treated myself to last month along with the Kaiyodo White King, Haigha, and the standing White Queen figures towards the back. The Furuta ones aren't quite as detailed as the Kaiyodo ones I've been collecting over the past few years, but I still absolutely love them and they cover a few illustrations Kaiyodo did not.

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On A "Hoppy" Spring!: A Photo Post

Continued failure to get blog posts written and up, so a quick photo post to wish everyone a happy first day of spring!

"On your mark, get set, HOP!"

♥🌼♥

On An Ominous Seagull: A Photo Post

Maybe it's just my liking for The Birds, but the final photo for the seagull craft tutorial I'm creating for work comes across as rather ominous. Shadows courtesy the window panes.

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On Heart Shaped Scraps: A Photo Post

Small and quick Valentine's Day themed project in progress.

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On a New Sewing Project: A Photo Post

Started a new project yesterday, which contains probably the most exciting shaped pieces I've ever worked with. Now to figure out how to get them pleated properly!

And, for those wondering, yes, I'm still planning to share Peter Pan skirt photos! Just waiting for a slightly warmer day to wear it! ♥️

On Alice in Wonderland Wall Decorations!: A Photo Post

A few weeks ago I was browsing on Etsy and was delighted to come across an almost a complete set of Dolly Toy Co. pressed cardboard Fairytale Pin-ups for Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Needless to say, I bought them right away and now they're living on my one of my walls! While I doubt I'll be able to track down the missing story placard that goes with them, I did manage to find a picture of one, so I think I might just print that out on card stock and place it next to the lantern.

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On a Lily in Bloom: A Photo Post

Courtesy of stress and a lengthy cold, I took a mini blog vacation last month. Hopefully I'll have some sewing projects to share by the end of this month, along with a few other things. 

Meanwhile, here's a photo of my Aztec lily, which is a shy bloomer in comparison to the other two plants that dominate the space where it's planted. 

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On Felt Christmas Ornament Pins: A Photo Post

Did a little Christmas crafting yesterday!

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On a Bat Pin: A Photo Post

Needed a bat pin to go with the craft I was doing at work today, so I made one! (Feel free to sing the Batman theme now with "Bat Pin" being substituted for "Batman" :p)

 

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On a Fabric with Keys: A Photo Post

If one buys Cotton+Steel fabric with keys and keyholes, should one use it to make a dress with a keyhole neckline to continue the theme? 

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On Bookbinding (Round 3): A Photo Post

Well, I guess this month I will only be sharing bookbinding photos and the usual book review post. 

This is my last set of books for my book binding class. 

First is a sewn board binding book with pics of what it looked like inside after sewing it (linking stitch and kettle knot at end), once the Japanese tissue was put on it, and then the final product once the spine cloth and cover paper were wrapped around everything (three layers inside that cover) and the endsheets were glued down. I'm not confident that I did the spine part right, since it seems to extend past the text block too far, but I followed the measurements in the instructions and once it was glued there was nothing I could do about it. 

Next is my final project, which is a tunnel book I have entitled "The Sewing Room". I went way overboard on it, but am pretty happy with the results. All the images, aside from the pattern pictures and fabric swatches, are pictures of my actual sewing supplies and notions. :)

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On Bookbinding (Round 2): A Photo Post

Next round of my bookbinding efforts.

First up is my carousel book stretched out rather than in a circle (it's in the mail currently, so maybe in a few weeks I'll picture of it in circular form).

 

Then we have what has become my favorite book to make, the tunnel book! Technically this was just supposed to serve as a model, but the Walrus and the Carpenter made it in. 

And finally, my long stitch book, which took a long time to do and involved some un-stitching, re-stitching, accidentally jabbing myself with an awl and needle, and nearly poking a hole in the cover trying to sew the last page section in. Still somewhat concerned it has some construction issues, but for a first attempt I think I did okay.  

Next round you'll be seeing a sewn board book and my final project, a tunnel book that I have decided to describe as what you'd expect if a bulletin board used for planning in a sewing room decided to hold a fashion show!

♥ 🕮 ♥

On Bookbinding (Round 1): A Photo Post

This was supposed to be a sewing/outfit post (in a sense it kind of still is about sewing), which is unfortunately still in draft state, but due to being really busy lately you're getting another Photo Post! 

Last weekend I started learning the basics of bookbinding, which involved making a simple pamphlet, a dos-a-dos pamphlet, a two section pamphlet, and an accordion book. For it being my first attempt at making these particular types of books, I feel I did pretty well and am hoping this weekend's carousel and tunnel books look just as good.

This one involved a struggle in getting the two sections to line up with each other and stay lined up as I poked holes through both sections of pages and the two layers of the center cover piece. 

 

Beautiful turquoise on the outside cover and pretty red on the inside!

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On Old Photos: A Photo Post

I'm taking a photography preservation class this summer, which involves having a lovely materials kit that includes some very nice old photos among its contents.

I very much want the dress and the brooch belonging to the lady on the right. 

 The back of the card on the same photo is equally delightful.

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On Some Felt Pins: A Photo Post

Last weekend I wore my overalls made from the Wearing History pattern, which reminded me I wanted to make a V for victory pin for myself. Because I was indecisive, I ended up with several color variations and can happily say I've filled this tiny gap in my accessories. As an added plus a few of the sewing projects I'm thinking of starting are 40's patterns with fabrics that red, white, and blue, so they'll go well with them too!

After making a couple I also decided that I wanted to make some dress pins and more pea pods (no idea why on the later), then got bored with them and made more victory pins. Now because I'm tired of working with tiny felt pieces they will reside in the pencil case with other pieces that need to be sewn or need pin backings until .

 

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