Shhhh.

Don't tell anybody, but I finished the frog. The first "real" one. I think she's pretty cute. I'll know better in the morning when I haven't been staring at her non-stop while sewing.

She has a lily-pad print body so I'll probably call her "Lilly". Not a big stretch, but I'm going for the easy ones here at the beginning. :-)

Her eyes are not nearly as blue as they seem in these pics. They are much darker in real life.

Her arms are her handle and I will definitely be making some adjustments there on future frogs. They were a major pain!....and I'm not sure I like how they look. (again, I'll know better in the morning) Her legs, however, are Todd's favorite part. They make him laugh out loud.

There is a pocket sewn on her tummy and the opening into the bag part is elastic. She closes with velcro tabs.

Not bad. Not practical, from a sewing/time point of view, but not bad at all.

What I did last weekend.

Easy-peasy. And fast! The washcloth and tribble set are my new fav', mostly because to make the two takes exactly 1 ball of Peaches and Cream....and probably any other brand of kitchen cotton. I love it! The doily dishcloth pattern is here and the tribble pattern is here.

Frog in my throat....

So here it is. The proto-frog.....first-frog?.....faux-frog?


Whatever. Here it is.



The arms are the handle.


The tongue will someday be a measuring device. I tried marking it with sharpie but it looks pretty bad. I'll come up with something.







Definitely some issues to be worked out. Which is, of course, why I make a proto-whatever.
I'm pretty sure the dimensions are alright, though. And I've simplified some parts for future sewing.

So fun!!!

Life Cycle of a Sock Turtle

It has come to my attention that I never showed you the sock turtle I made. I was all inspired by that bug and wanted to design something else. The turtle seemed the easiest place to start.

I drew out a paper pattern I thought may work. Then I made it with some scrap fabric I had around the house.

This was the proto-turtle:

His seams were rough, some parts were hanging out unsewn and his head was sewn on backwards....but he was cute anyway and I could see how the parts would or would not work.

After that I redrew most of the pattern pieces, making it bigger and in some places more logical.

I had a friend who was following the sock-creature saga and told me 1) she had a lot of quilt fabric I could come browse and take whatever I wanted and 2) she really wanted a sock turtle.

We worked a trade. We went through her fabric, putting color combos together. She chose her fabrics for her turtle and I took enough fabric to make at least 3 more.

From there I chose which pattern I wanted on the shell. I was looking for a good mariner's compass since it's a sea turtle, but none of the ones on-line seemed to fit. I found one that was close enough (actually a star and flower pattern) and changed it up a bit to fit the bill.

Here's what I came up with:

I was so excited! I sewed and sewed and tweaked and tweaked until she was done.

I think we've decided to call her "Tilly" but I'm not sure on that. In the end she was in some ways far simpler than the bug (no extra pocket or draw string closure or lining) and in some ways far more complex (the pieced shell and corded trim and handle).

The next turtle will be a little different. I think I will do away with the velcro closure and put a clasp. I'm also pretty sure I'll sew a clear "pocket" into the underside of the shell for both small tools and a pattern page.

All in all I adore it! She has been safely delivered to her new "mommy" and now I'm working on a frog. It is still headless but what I have so far made my hubby laugh out loud with glee. That's gotta be good, right?

extra photos

Here are some extra shots of this bug in progress and finished.


this is how much batting I used for each eye.


her backside. 8^0


a peek inside her mouth.

Aside from my anal retentive streak, I really enjoyed sewing this. I know now why they sell for $36. Two days of work.

But she's MINE, ALL MINE!!! mwah, hah, hah.

Finished.

Well. I spent today accomplishing not a thing around my house. I only managed to cook for my family because the whining finally got on my nerves. ;-)


What was I doing instead? This!



the blue to the right is the liner. it's a heavy flannel.


her eyes look uneven in this pic but not in real life. they're off but not noticably or it's just the photo.


i had no idea she'd be so cute with her "mouth" closed. her straps are also flannel so they hold themselves closed.


those stripes are really a clever pocket for doo-dads


She's a "sock bug" and she's a bag for carrying around your socks-in-progress. I'm thinking I'll call her Diva after the seller at Etsy dot com from whom I blatantly plagiarized her. You'll notice that I changed her eye color part way through. I think for the better.
The fabric all came from Mom's stash except for some "interfacing" which I used an old shirt for. Free is good. Though I can't even count the hours I mis-spent on this thing.

I was a total sewing maniac today. I went all OCD on this bag, which is hilarious if you know me at all. I was basting every seam, ironing the snot out of everything and ripping like a maniac at the end when the final seam would NOT sew straight.

Next? Well, I'd like to try a fish and I've made some notes for a possible frog. But first I need to do some dishes...and laundry....and picking up...and sweeping...........

Finally!!!

My final yarn installment arrived today. Let me just say that MCY/Etsy is a bit slow on delivery. It was the first yarn I ordered, by several days, and it arrived almost a week after the rest of it from several other places.

Aside from that, it is gorgeous! The red is a lace-weight 100% silk which, I must say, is intimidating. I may just stretch it out and roll on it instead of knitting it. yum! The other two are sock weight and are also just really gorgeous......though they do smell slightly of cigarette smoke, which I can live with, especially at their prices!

Look:

Yummy, yummy in my yarn basket's tummy!

No plans yet for the pastels or the red but I'm thinking these cabled socks for the blue. Still not sure. The pattern may get lost in the color gradations. I'll know better after I wind it into a ball and see how the colors move.

:^D