Remember those plushstaches from a while back? It turns out making your own mustaches is dangerous, because it’s hard to tell when to quit. At first it’s fine to have just a couple, but soon you find yourself asking “do I really have enough mustaches?” Today I will be the villain, but what if tomorrow I need to be a stoic cowboy? Black and brown are so droll, what about pink or teal? Or sparkles? It is truly a dangerous path.

Lucky for you, in the ongoing quest to fill-out my cache of ‘staches, I have created some new patterns! These are made the same as the previous ones, but in case you need help, here is my handy tutorial.

For your wearing pleasure, I introduce to you:

The dapper “Little Belgian Detective”

And the sure to impress “‘Boh ‘Stache”

You can get both patterns (it’s a two-in-one) right here:

Good luck and remember, a girl (or boy) can never have too many mustaches! Especially if they are horrendously trendy.

]]> https://jefita.com/2014/04/14/fashion-tips-for-supervillains-part-2/ Mon, 14 Apr 2014 15:18:10 +0000 http://jefita.com/blog/?p=873 Or further tips for the thrifty costumed caperer.

 Lord Baron Von Partyfoul and The League of Evil

I survived my weekend of villainy, only to be struck down by an unknown malady. Curses! Now that I seem to have made a recovery, I shall continue this tale.

Armed with my concepts I set about formulating the plan of attack. I typically break the down process down into three main categories:

What do I already own?

What can I make myself?

What do I have to buy?

After gleaning what I could from my rather considerable stash (who would have guessed it would be so useful for villainy?), I proceeded to the fabric store to for further resource acquisition. This is always the most dangerous part for me, both for my budget and the space in my apartment. With practice I have gotten better at navigating its pitfalls and emerging mostly unscathed. I try to keep these things in mind and usually end up alright:

•  Start at the remnant bin. Best way to get small pieces of expensive fabrics.
• (Almost) Always go for the cheaper option.  You are making costumes, not high fashion.
• Stay out of the “special occasion” fabrics. Again, costumes, not ball gowns. Unless you are some sort of diabolical debutante…
• Am I going to want to set my machine on fire attempting to sew this? Pleather and slinky knits can do wonderful things, but are tricky to sew. Just keep that in mind.

And as I learned this time, beware the trim aisle! This is where I got in trouble. That big fancy chain on Lord Baron? Twenty bucks a yard. Fortunately I only got one yard, and had a half-price coupon to mitigate the damage.

He knocks the cups out of the hands of society!

Materials acquired, I set to work. I made all the  lovely armour first. I have become quite adept at cereal box armour. It’s amazing what you can do with some beer boxes and some spray paint.

 Next I did all the sewing. Most of it was pretty simple and went smoothly. There were only minor altercations with the sewing machine. A plumbing leak and subsequent emergency rearrangement left my good sewing machine trapped behind my bed, so I had to make do with my mediocre machine. We had a few disagreements. It realllllly wanted to eat the fantastic silver fabric I bought for traffic safety. I realllllly wanted it not to do that. We somehow muddled through it without mutual destruction.

 All told I ended up making:

• 1 helmet
• 2 sets of shoulder armour
• 3 capes
• 2 pairs silver under/over pants
• 1 pair pleather spats
• 1 pair fancy arm guards
• 1 set epaulets
• 4 hench hoods
• 4 traffic safety sashes
• 1 faux fur wrap

And assorted costume assistance for my villainous compatriots. Inevitably I change my designs as I go along, and some elements get left by the wayside. I didn’t do a fancy collar, and I didn’t make boot thingies for my henchmen. I was also too cheap to shell out for red gloves for them. I spraypainted kitchen gloves instead (with mixed results). I did however make a nice fur wrap for myself to keep off the spring chill. I may be a cold-hearted villainess, but I hate being cold.

 The lovely Lady MacDeath and I

 The only things we ended up buying pre-made were some black leggings, a black shirt, rubber dish gloves, and the ridiculously awesome henchmen goggles.

The Lead Hench also got fancy epaulets…and a balloon.

 I ended up spending about $70 on fabric (without coupons it was over a hundred bucks). Goggles and extras probably brought the total for supplies up to around $100. That seems like a lot (and I did splurge a bit and ignore my own advice on a couple of items), but that was enough to make costumes for me, Mister, and four henchmen. Pretty good for budget villainry! I bet would could have afforded some more henchmen. Because you can never have too many henchmen.

I’m pretty sure they’re conspiring to get health benefits.

 (And many thanks to Henchman Frank, Miss Demeanor, and Lady MacDeath for some of the excellent pictures.)

Okay, I’m back! I spent last week down visiting the storied Grandma, down in North Carolina. I thought I’d be able to wrangle out a post while I was there, but as is often the case, my ambition and reality didn’t align. C’est la vie.

While I didn’t get any writing done, I did do a lot of plotting…nefarious plotting.The Mister and I have decided to turn to a part-time life of villainy (this may or may not coincide with a pubcrawl next week). As most of our dastardly plans revolve around making a public spectacle of ourselves (such is the wont of supervillains) we find ourselves in need of some dramatic costumes. Otherwise people might mistake us for regular villains. Or drunken louts. One of the two. Maybe both.

Designing a villainous costume is certainly fun, but it is also more challenging than one might think. You have to strike a careful balance between menace, flair, and utility. There are many important practical considerations that are often overlooked. I tried to address these questions while designing our outfits:

• Will I freeze my a$$ off in this outfit? (or alternatively, overheat?)
• Am I going to lose any parts of my outfit?
• Can I make most of this out of bargain fabrics and cereal boxes?

And perhaps most relevant in this case:

• Can I comfortably drink in this outfit?

After a week of plotting, I think I’ve hit most of the important elements. Of course a super villain is nothing without minions, so I didn’t forget about properly attiring my underlings either. The state of dress of a henchman says a lot about you as an overlord.

So I’ve got my concepts down. What now? Stay tuned for next week when I realize my drawings!

]]> https://jefita.com/2014/03/26/fashion-tips-for-supervillains-part-1/feed/ 1 https://jefita.com/2014/01/13/itty-pretty-drawstring-bags/ Tue, 14 Jan 2014 01:34:03 +0000 http://jefita.com/blog/?p=715 I’m a bit of a packrat crossed with a magpie. I collect all sorts of little odds and ends. Over the years, I’ve managed to curb most of these tendencies, but one thing that remains a great weakness is fabric remnants. Every time I go to the fabric store I am compelled to beeline to the remnant bins and rifle through those half-price goodies. I know I don’t need them, but how can I resist? It’s like a treasure hunt and it’s rare that I walk away empty handed. These frivolous purchases have come to make up a large portion of my fabric collection. I suppose if I was a quilter it would all be perfectly justifiable, but I’m not and I refuse to be. (I’m pretty sure it would spell certain doom for me and the livable space in my apartment if I had that kind of excuse to buy fabric.) Luckily I’ve become quite skilled at coming up with other uses (excuses) for my ever growing collection. Most often I channel this into one of my sewing favorites, all manner of bags.

Last year I started making these particular little lined drawstring bags. They aren’t anything new or amazing concept-wise, but they are pretty cute, easy to make, and don’t require much fabric. Perfect for using up those remnants and fat quarters.

I also think this is a good way to practice hand sewing, if you’re into that sort of thing. Despite the fact that I own three sewing machines, sometimes I just want a good hand sewing project. I find it pleasant and calming. And sometimes I get struck by unbearable envy of little Japanese women who hand sew everything, and it’s all disgustingly cute.

Anyway…

If you don’t like hand sewing you can whip these little bags up lickety-split with a sewing machine (less than half an hour if you are on good terms with your machine). Either way I think this is a good beginner sewing project.  They are cute, easy, fun, and also make nice little reusable gift bags.

Itty Pretty Drawstring Bags!

or

Justifying a Burgeoning Fabric Collection

Almost any sort of fabric will work for these little bags as long as it’s not super stiff or heavy (like thick denim). I usually use quilting cotton or other lightweight woven fabrics and that is probably the easiest to work with. The finished bags end up with a 3” (7.62 cm) square base, and uncinched stand about 4 ¼” (10.8 cm) tall.

Materials and Tools

• 2 pieces of at least 7” x 14” (approx 18 x 36 cm) fabric (a fat quarter or a remnant wider than 7” should be fine)
• Sewing thread (matching or contrasting)
• Hand sewing needle or a sewing machine
• 30″ (~76 cm) or so of cord (for the drawstrings, so not super thick)
• Scissors (and/or a rotary cutter)
• Pins
• Safety pin

Optional

• Embroidery floss or decorative thread (if you want to decorate the bag)
• Beads (to put on the drawstrings)
• Beeswax or a thread conditioner (Like Thread Heaven) if hand sewing

A couple of notes on hand sewing: I use a plain running stitch to make these bags, but if you wanted something a bit stronger you could also use a back stitch. Remember that the smaller you make your stitches, the less visible they will be. If you’re just starting out with hand sewing, don’t sweat it if your stitches aren’t very small or even. This will come with practice and probably nobody but you will ever notice they aren’t perfect.

The Making

1. Print out the pattern (Click to download pattern) or draft it out on paper or directly on the fabric. Here are the dimensions to draft it yourself (seam allowances included):

   
   Important: All seam allowances ¼” (.6 cm) 

2. Fold your fabric in half and then layout and cut your lining and shell pieces according to the diagram. Trace the pattern on the fabric first or pin it on and cut around it. If you need guidelines for your stitching, you can lightly mark the seam lines too. Pencil usually works fine if the fabric isn’t too dark.

   Note: It’s not super important for this project, but it’s good practice to pay attention to the grain of the fabric when laying out and cutting patterns. In this case the grain should line up with one of the straight edges of the pattern.

3. Take the shell fabric, still folded along the bottom edge with the right sides together, and straight stitch down the sides. Repeat with the lining piece, starting 1 ¼” (~3 cm) down from the top edge (where the stars are on the printed pattern). If you are using a machine, be sure to back tack at the beginnings and ends, especially on the lining.

    

   Optional: Press open the side seams after sewing. Be sure to fold the seam allowances in at the top bit of the lining too (where you didn’t sew). Even just finger pressing will make a difference.

4. Pull open one corner of the shell and flatten, matching the side seam with the center bottom (the fold line). Sew straight across the corner. (if you want to get technical, you are creating a gusset here) Repeat with the remaining corner of the shell, and one of the corners of the lining (leave the other side open). Press allowances towards the bottom, if desired. You should now have two square bottomed cylinder things (except for the lining which will have an opening at the bottom/side).

    

   That corner magically becomes a straight side!

5. Nest the shell fabric inside the lining so that right sides are touching. Match up the top edges and the side seams (pins are helpful here) and then sew all the way around the top edge.

    

6. Turn the bag right-side out now, through the opening that you left in the lining. After everything is right-side out, fold in the seam allowances of the opening in the lining and top-stitch very close to the edge to close. (Or you could be fancy and use a blind-stitch to close it.)

   

7. Flip the lining so that it nests neatly inside the shell fabric. There should be about a ½” fold of lining fabric that sticks up above the edge of the shell. Try to make sure that all the seam allowances of the top edge are turned down towards the bottom (It helps to use a knitting needle or other slender stick for this). Sew all the way around the top along the seam, just above the shell. This will make the tube or casing for the drawstrings.

    

   To keep the allowances tucked in at the tube openings, you can add a few stitches to tack them down.

   Optional: I like using contrasting or decorative thread for this part sometimes. If you don’t want it to show, choose a thread that matches the lining and “stitch-in-the-ditch” trying to sew as close in the seam line as you can.

8. Cut two pieces of cord at least 15″ (38 cm) long for the drawstrings. It’s better to go long here and then trim the length after. Attach a cord to the safety pin and use it to thread the drawstring through the tube at the top, starting at one of the side seam openings and going all the way around (not out the opposite side seam). Repeat with the second drawstring, but starting from the opposite seam opening.

    

9. Knot the cord ends together on each side and trim the ends to about ½”. If you want thread a big bead on each side before tying them off.

   

   If you cord frays a lot, either melt the ends (if it is synthetic) or put a bit of Fray Check or glue on them.

Bonus round: Do some decorative stitching around the bag (through both layers or just one) with some embroidery floss or other pretty thread. If you are ambitious you could use a plain fabric for the shell, and decorate it with lots of pretty embroidery before sewing the whole thing together. Little beads, buttons, or sequins could be pretty cute too. Go nuts.

Thanks to my sister for the lovely photos!

Tada! You are the proud owner of a cute little bag. Now go show it off and find some treasures to put in it.

If anything needs clarified in the instructions, please let me know!

To be the owner of a handsome mustache is quite a thing and seems rather popular these days.  However, life is very unfair leaving some of us genetically powerless to grow our own or forbidden to do so by the edicts of fashion or significant others. Long troubled by this problem, last year I finally created my own solution to this age old inequity without the need for razors, wax, or hormone treatment. It turns out it is quite simple (and inexpensive) to create your own facsimile of awe worthy facial hair. All you need is some felt, a needle and thread, and some sort of stuffing. Although perhaps not as satisfying as the real deal, a plush-stache is still very enjoyable. In fact, if you are already a mustache bearer, you can even increase your coolness without all the maintenance.

Plushstachery

or
How to Make Yourself an Awesome Mustache

This project has a very good satisfaction to effort ratio.  It takes very little work to make one of these mustaches, but they are very fun to wear around.  Even though this project does involve hand sewing, it is super simple and doesn’t take too long.  It doesn’t matter if your stitches are perfectly neat and there is no tricky business.  In fact I would say this is a very good beginner sewing or plush making project.

Materials/Tools

• Felt (one sheet is usually enough)
• Thread (preferably matching the felt)
• Stuffing (such as polyfill or felt scraps)
• Thin elastic cord (I recommend the clear stretchy kind for jewelry/beading)
• Paper (for pattern)
• Marker (I’m rather fond of fine-tip Sharpies) or white gel pen (something that will mark felt)
• Needle (a large embroidery sized one and a regular sized one)
• Scissors

Optional

• Pipecleaner or wire
• Embroidery Floss or other decorative thread

The Making

1. Print and cut out one of my mustache patterns (Plushstache_pattern1.pdf) or design your own.  I would recommend checking out the design on your face in a mirror after cutting it out.  It’s less trouble to redo the paper than the felt. Also, remember that the easy way to make your design symmetric is to draw half the mustache then fold at the middle and cut it out.
2. Trace two copies of your ‘stache onto the felt and then cut them out.
   
3. Place the two pieces together (put the marked side in if you don’t want it to show), pinning if desired.  Start sewing at the top middle, using a whip stitch, moving towards the tips.  When you are almost back to the middle on the bottom, stop and tie off, leaving a gap so you can stuff it later.  Now do the other half the same way, but wait to tie off until you have finished the next step.
   Optional:  If you want, you can put a pipecleaner or wire inside your ‘stach to help keep it’s shape better.  I like doing this so I can shape it to my face too.  Shape your wire beforehand, and then insert when you stuff on very straight designs or just after coming around the tips on complex designs.  Hopefully the diagram makes sense of what I said.
4. Start stuffing! Starting with small pieces gently push the stuffing into the tips first with a pencil or other pokey tool.  Continue stuffing just until desired amount of “bushiness” is achieved. Don’t add too much stuffing! My villainous pattern only has a tiny amount in the middle, under the nose area.  Sew closed the opening after you are finished stuffing.
   
5. Thread the embroidery (or other large eyed needle) with a long length of elastic cord. It’s better to err on the side of excess here. This is what is going to keep the mustache on your face so it needs to be long enough to loop behind your ears after attached to the mustache. Following the diagram, thread the elastic through the back of the mustache and then knot the loose ends together.  Now check to see how your mustache fits.  You should have a large loop on either side that fits over and behind your ears. It should be just tight enough to keep the ‘stache right under your nose, but not so tight it cuts into your face (otherwise it will look like you have cat whiskers). Adjust the position of the knot until the right fit is achieved then trim ends to 1/2″ or so.
   

   This is the type of cord I used along with a large embroidery needle

   

   The back should look something like this when you finish

6. Go awe the world with your newfound mustached glory!
   

If you create your own glorious mustache, I would love to see it!

And remember, don’t let hipsters dim your enjoyment of mustachery.  Frankly, proper mustaches have always been cool.

Last week I agreed to update my poor neglected blog if my little sister updated her neglected photography. Much to my dismay, she had updated within five minutes of said agreement. So here I am, completing my half of the bargain. Recently I have designated Sundays my “experiment” day of the week. A couple of weeks ago, confronted with the remnants of an ill advised lemon purchase and a bunch of leftover ginger for stir-fry, I decided to attempt making ginger beer. It combines three of my favorite things: efficient use of resources (a.k.a. getting rid of leftovers), new projects, and SCIENCE!

Ginger beer is really just ginger ale with some attitude, but it does involve one of mankind’s oldest and most cherished forms of mad science–brewing. To get the soda carbonated, you have to do some fermenting. Just a little bit.  Not enough to make it legitimately alcoholic.

By the way kids, I don’t know if you know this, but yeast is really cool. It’s a domesticated microbe. You should check it out sometime.

*Ahem* Moving on. So this project isn’t exactly “instant” gratification, but it is super easy and very gratifying…if you like cool, refreshing, zingy beverages.

Ginger Beer

Now I’m not going to give you a complete how-to.  The internet is rife with ginger beer how-tos.  I will however tell you what you need, and my notes on the process.

The Recipe

There are lots of recipes for ginger beer/ale out there and most of them are pretty similar.  I chose to use one from Alton Brown:  Ginger Ale

It is labeled “ginger ale” but I consider it ginger beer.  It has a healthy peppery bite compared to the mild mannered stuff you buy in a can.

Equipment

• A clean 2 liter soda bottle, or two 1 liter glass bail top bottles (mine came from IKEA, you can also find them at home brew supply stores)
• A fine grater (Microplane, FTW!)
• Strainer
• A pot

Ingredients

• Fresh ginger (3-4 in)
• A lemon
• Sugar (I went all fancy and used turbinado sugar)
• Yeast, bread or champagne (champagne yeast can also be found at a home brew supply store, and is pretty cheap)
• Water

Notes

I have made two rounds of this already, so I’ve had a chance to screw up and work a few things out:

• 1.5 oz = 3 Tbsp of ground ginger–I guesstimated the first time and didn’t put nearly enough in.  It was weak sauce.
• 6 oz ~ 3/4 cup sugar–This brew is not super sweet like regular soda.  In fact the yeast consumes a portion of that sugar to provide the carbonation.
• Champagne yeast provides much better carbonation and taste.  I tried bread yeast the first time and was disappointed with the results.
• Don’t add lemon zest.  I tried this out due to some comments, but it only seemed to lend a bitter “lemon cleaner” vibe.
• The gunky stuff at the bottom won’t hurt you.  That being said, I tend to avoid drinking it, but I’m too lazy to filter it out.
• And finally, let it sit in the fridge for at least a day after fermenting before consuming.  It will taste better.

So faithful readers I urge you to go forth and experiment!  If you are feeling particularly adventurous, you can try making it with wild yeast.

Or if you need something a bit more adult, might I suggest the Dark ‘n Stormy?

Now, must scurry off to make a third batch!

I have to say it’s pretty satisfying getting something that you designed yourself.  Also, I still have a childlike delight for getting things in the mail.  All in all I am very pleased with this purchase.  I ended up ordering my fishy pattern in three different color themes on quilting weight cotton.  The fabric feels good and the colors turned out perfect (I did make sure to use their recommended color palette).  So far it is working out great for my little koi.  Now I can finally get going on this project!

If you been unable to find that particular pattern you want or fancy yourself a budding textile designer, you might give it a try. For the Photoshop users out there, here is a handy tutorial for making a pattern tile-able.  I’ve also made a little diagram of how a pattern fits together.  I know it’s pretty obvious, but I find it easier if I have a visual reference.  I would also suggest that if you are making a tile-able pattern, start filling in the edges first.  Once all the edges match you can fill in the middle however you want.  And if you just enjoy making patterns, you can make your designs available to the public and you get a small commission for each sale.  Just remember folks:  if you are creating a pattern, respect intellectual property rights!  Don’t “borrow” copyrighted material even if it’s just for you.  There is so much license free material out there, so you have no excuse.

If all that is too scary, you can also browse through the tons of cool designs for sale that other people have contributed.  One of the other things I’ve seen on there that looks really fun is patterns for dolls, plushies, masks, and other goodies printed directly on the fabric.  You purchase the “project” and it’s sort of like getting a kit.  All you have to do is cut it out and sew it together.

Now that I’ve thoroughly geeked out about this, I do have to say it has some drawbacks.  It is a bit on the pricey end.  I spent a while lusting after all the pretties Spoonflower has to offer because I couldn’t quite justify spending that much on a whim.  If I hadn’t had this commission, it probably would have been a lot longer.  I don’t often use the types of fabric they offer.  It’s definitely a useful high-quality product, all the fabrics are organic natural fibers too, but unfortunately at this point in time it’s not something I see myself using very often.  Of course window shopping is free so I will continue to long even if I don’t need any of it.

Every now and then I find it important to have what I consider an “instant gratification” project.  Usually it’s the end of the week and my brain is through being creative, but I still want to make something.  Other times I use it as a pick-me-up when I get frustrated because a prototype has just epically failed or I’ve had another string of losing battles with my sewing machine.  It’s something that I know I can’t screw up and that is going to turn out fine even if everything else I’ve been working on has made me want to cry.    Ideally these projects are quick and entertaining, cheap as free (or nearly so), and don’t require any special tools or skills.  I’ve come up with many of these projects over the years, so this is the first of many in this theme.

This week’s project is actually the result of two things, just for fun and also a little bit of necessity.  I’ve been doing a lot of custom commissions lately and needed to unwind a bit.  I love custom work and coming up with new designs, but it is a bit brain taxing by the end of the week.  I’ve also been attempting to get a bit more organized.  I write lots of notes to myself, like new ideas for stuffed animals, important dates, tiny drawings for who knows what, and an assortment of other random information.  Unfortunately I usually write these things on any handy post-it note or scrap of paper within reach.  As you can imagine this leads to a disarray of scattered notes that is not particularly useful or organized.

This is on a good day

I’ve used this unkempt method for years, so I’m pretty adept at dealing with my “rat’s nest” method of filing, but I’m working on this whole “grown-up” thing.  I suppose the modern approach is to use the computer or fancy phone or even a planner to keep track of these things, but I like the more tactile approach.  The act of physically writing things down and list making are both very gratifying to me.  My first thought was to buy several of those tiny little pocket Moleskines.  I have a strange affection for tiny little books and they come in all sorts of wonderful colors.  Then I recalled that I didn’t really have the extra money to spend on an army of tiny notebooks, and I didn’t need to anyways.  I’ve had a book on bookmaking that I’d barely touched so why couldn’t I just make my own booklets?  Double plus bonus, I could make them basically for free and they are super easy!  Thus inspired I proceeded to make several of these handy booklets and I took lots of pictures so you can too.

Tiny Booklets 101

Materials

• 1 4×6″ rectangle of thick paper such as cardstock or thin cardboard like a cereal box
• 8 4×6″ sheets of regular paper like plain printer paper or lined notebook paper
• Sturdy thread, waxed if you can find it

Optional

• Beeswax to wax the thread
• Markers, paint, stamps, or whatever you want to decorate your book

Tools

• Scissors or a paper cutter
• Sewing needle, embroidery size is pretty good
• Awl or other pointy/pokey tool
• Ruler
• Bone folder, knitting needle, or your own fingernails
  

  Click to zoom in

A few notes on tools and materials: These instructions make a booklet that is 3×4″ big with 16 pages.  A sheet of 8 1/2x 11″ paper is enough for 2 4×6″ rectangles, so you would need one sheet of cardstock and 4 pieces of plain paper to make one book.  If you are creative you can make this all out of recycled materials like leftover scraps of paper and cardboard.  If you want to be a bit fancier, you could buy some of that scrapbooking paper that has all the pretty patterns and colors.  I didn’t feel like hunting down waxed thread, so I just used regular thread and ran it through some beeswax a couple of times.  If you don’t have beeswax either, it’s really not that important.

I don’t own an awl, so I improvised and switched out the blade of my exacto knife with a sturdy needle (like for embroidery).  This is a pretty handy tool for lots of other projects too.  I also don’t own bone folder, which is a traditional tool for paper folding, but I figured out that the tip of a knitting needle or something else hard like your fingernail works too.  And finally, if you want really even pages, a rotary cutter or paper cutter is great and makes things a lot quicker.

The Making

1. Fold all of your inner sheets and the cover paper in half.  I would recommend folding the inner paper separately from the cover.  Run a bone folder (or knitting needle or fingernail) along the folds so they are nice and crisp.  If you are using really thick paper or thin cardboard, you may want to score (lightly cut) down the middle before you fold.
   

   Look at that beautiful folding!

   

   The crisper the fold the flatter the book will be.

2. With the cover paper and the pages put together, poke three holes along the fold.  One should be in the middle and the others about a 1/2″ from the top and the bottom.  If your pokey tool is kind of thin like mine, wiggle it around a bit to make the holes a little bigger.  Make sure to put something like a phone book or a stack of newspaper under your booklet before this step so you don’t also put a hole in your table.
   

   Stabitty, Stab, Stab

3. Now it’s time to break out the needle and thread.  Thread your needle with 18-20″ of thread and DO NOT knot the end.  Starting from the inside of the booklet push the needle down through the center hole and pull the thread until only a couple of inches (or enough to comfortable tie off with) are left sticking out.  Keeping a hold of that tail, bring the needle back up through the top hole and then back down through the bottom hole, gently pulling up all the slack each time.  Finally, carefully poke the needle back up the middle hole, being careful not to poke through the thread that goes across the middle.  Gently pull up the slack again and trim to the same length as the beginning tail.
   

   This is where it begins

   

   The stitching should go in the numbered order

   

   Now you’re ready for knotting

4. With one tail to each side of the string down the center, tie the two ends together in a square knot over the middle.  Trim the tails however long you prefer, but don’t cut them all the way to the knot.  It’s very important that the knot be over the middle string so it can’t pull back through the hole.  If you don’t know how to tie a square knot, I’ve included some informative pictures.
   

   It is very important the knot is around this string.

   

   Remember, right over left, left over right

   

   This knot looks very similar, but isn’t as good

5. Technically the booklets are finished at this point, but I think they look better and will lay flatter if you leave them under something heavy (like a pile of textbooks) for a couple of days.  Just don’t forget where you left them unless you like surprise books.  I suppose that’s kind of fun too though.  After this, or before if you skip it, decorate to your heart’s content and enjoy!
   

   I like my tails kind of long

   

   View from the outside

   

   I tried one with pleather, but it curled up too much.

Like I said before, these books are very easy to put together and don’t take very much time either.  It’s a great way to use up scrap paper and I can be as creative or lazy as I want with them.  They are a very appropriate purse or pocket size and I can have a different one for each new purpose.  It has been very helpful for keeping track of hours I spend on my work, and all the different projects I’m supposed to be working on.   Now I have to decide what to do with this newest batch.  Or maybe I’ll go make some more.

Where’s Waldo?

Of course to attend such an event me and my accomplice, Mr. Boy, decided it only fitting we have our own awesome costumes.  I didn’t end up having a lot of time to work on his costume, so it had to be fairly simple.  With this in mind Boy decided to be a “modern” Zulu War British soldier.  This seemed rather appropriate for our adventure.   Fortunately he already had a pith helmet, and a red t-shirt was used instead of the traditional red jacket.  Then I made him a giant plush mustache out of felt.  The mustache was very simple and fun to make and I think I might steal it from him.  Next I took care of the sash which was just two long strips attached at the waist.  I lucked out and found some white “pleather” in the remnant bin in the home decor department at my local fabric store so it was super cheap.  Unfortunately, I was in a rush so I used hook and eyes as the waist band closure.  They didn’t stay put very well and I am going to have to replace them with Velcro at some point.  Last of all I made the epaulets.  Once again the home decor department was very handy and I found the perfect fringe material.  This actually turned out to be the most expensive part of the whole thing.  Since the epaulets were going to be worn on top of a t-shirt I made made them sort of soft and used safety pins to attach them.  Even though this was a simple costume, I felt it was very successful and his mustache was greatly admired.  Seriously, who doesn’t respect a fantastic mustache?  I was very pleased since it was pretty easy to put this costume together.

Indubitably!

At this point, it became tragically apparent that the merciless beast of poor time management had finally got the better of me.  There was no way I was going to finish my own get-up.  I had been working on it piecemeal in between commissions, but as usual it was on the back burner.  Fortunately, because it is very satisfying to make costumes for Mr. Boy I didn’t feel too down about my own humdrum appearance.  Okay, maybe I wasn’t that humdrum.  I still had pink hair and my big furry purple monster bag.

Anyways, thus prepared for our adventure, we set off to enjoy the spectacle and all in all it was pretty fun.  I was far from disappointed by all the costumed goodness.  I really do love costumes and seeing the creative ways people bring their favorite characters to life.  Since most of the costumes are handmade, it was fascinating to see the different skill levels and ingenuity that was employed.  Of course there was the vast sea of anime and manga cosplays (of which I could identify embarrassingly few), but there was also everything from sci-fi to video games,  Disney to (disturbingly accurate) Rockso the Rock and Roll Clown.

Alas poor Totoro, I barely knew ye.

One of my surprising favorites were the people dressed up as various player classes from the video game Team Fortress 2.  All of the “characters” in the game are supposed to be male, but there were several female cosplayers who fit their costumes to their own gender.  I liked that out of all the costumes this group best seemed to take the roles beyond the literal interpretation, but remained true to character.  While I appreciate the effort and artistry of a very accurate cosplay, I think it is important to remember that you don’t have to be completely literal with your costumes to do a good job and have a good time.

The Red Team

I apologize sparseness of photos.   Mr. Boy was not as handy with a camera as I thought he was.  I’m headed to a huge con up in Toronto next week though and hopefully will return with all sorts of wonderful pictures.

Hmm, maybe I should get back to work now.

Anyways, picking up from where I left off last week, this is the exciting conclusion of my companion cube tutorial.  At this point I have the six sides of my cube finished and it’s time to transform it into a 3-D shape.

Materials Roundup

• 6 complete sides from Part I
• polyester fiber fill or other fluffy filling of choice (fabric scraps can be used too)
• gray thread
• plastic pellets or rice (optional)
• nylon hosiery (foot part) or sock (optional)

The Making (continued)

1. At this point I decided to trim back behind the light gray corners pieces.  In theory this helps the shape when I stuff it, but I’m not sure it’s really that noticeable in the end product.
   

   This is how it looks from the back. Be careful not to clip your stitches.

2. Now it is time to start joining all the pieces together.  First I attach them all together in a flat pattern.  The order or pattern isn’t really significant, but this is how I chose to do it.
   

   Just line up the edges and sew them together

   

   This is how I joined the all together. The letters correspond to the order that I put the sides together in the next step.

3. After the pieces are all joined I start connecting the sides to form a 3-D box.  I sewed together everything but the top flap so it resembles a jack in the box.
   

   Ready for stuffing!

4. Surprise extra lesson time!  Before I go any further I have a few things to say about the art of stuffing.  It is a bit trickier than it seems and can be frustrating when you are just starting out.  I suppose it should also be noted I’m crazy nuts about certain details and may have spent an unhealthy amount of time considering this topic.  This project is fairly easy but I will be super detailed because I can!  Here are a few tips:
   • Don’t over fill. It’s really easy to get carried away and keep stuffing until your plushie is a poor bloated mutant.  Overstuffing can also permanently distort or stretch your fabric.  On the flip side, if you don’t stuff enough, it will lose it’s shape.  Ideally there is just enough stuffing to hold the shape but not be bloated.  Don’t be afraid to take stuffing out and try again.
   • Don’t wad. Be careful not to wad or ball the stuffing too much or your plushie will end up lumpy.  If it gets balled up, tease it loose again.
   • Not all stuffing is created equal. The regular (sometimes labeled  “premium”)  stuffing is good general purpose, fluffy but coarse, and inexpensive, but I think it is better suited to larger projects.  “Ultra Plush” is very soft and is really nice for stuffing smaller pieces as it is easier to shape.  However it tends to compact a lot  so it takes more and is more expensive.  Fabric scraps are probably the cheapest option and will behave completely differently than a fiber filler.  Fabric scraps are very dense when packed and will have less squishiness, especially depending on what sort of scraps you use.  I would recommend cutting the scraps into smaller mostly uniform pieces because they will create a more even filling.

Optional step: I want my Weighted Companion Cube to actually be weighted, so before stuffing I filled a little sack made from some cut up nylons with about 1/2 cup of the little plastic beanbag pellets.  In my original cube I used rice, but have since become more internet shopping savvy and discovered that the little plastic pellets are very inexpensive and I don’t have to worry about bugs or moisture making them icky.  I imagine the toe end of a sock or some other little pouch can be used to contain them just as effectively as the nylons.

I think I used about half a cup of pellets, but it’s mostly a matter of preference and what will fit.

1. Let the plushing commence!  First I take four small pieces of stuffing and push one into each of the the four bottom corners to make sure the corners get filled in.  Next I make a layer for my “bean bag” to rest on.  After that I continue to add more stuffing around the bag until I reach the top of the cube, but I don’t cover the top yet.  If you don’t put any weight in, you can skip the “nesting” part and just put a big clump in.  Just remember that the more stuffing you add, the rounder your cube will be.
   

   It’s important to get the corners first.

   

   The layer on the bottom is fairly shallow. Just enough to keep the bean bag/weight padded.

   

   Put the weight in on top of that bottom layer before adding more stuffing.

   

   Essentially I’m building a little cozy nest around my bean bag.

2. Taking my needle and thread back up, I begin to sew the top closed leaving one last side open.  Before I close it I carefully push small pieces of stuffing into the top corners same as I did for the bottom.  Then I fill in the rest of the empty space at the top and finish sewing up the final side
   

   Now you can add the rest of the stuffing.

   

   The end is in sight!

Optional step 2: Break for tea and pickles.  We’re in the home stretch now and must gather ourselves for the final push.  Mmm…Earl Grey and bread-and-butter pickles.  I would recommend having the pickles while you put the tea kettle on.  If it’s after five o’clock, a beer is also a good choice for those of age.

1. There is only one thing left to do and it’s attaching all those little light gray tabs that go in between the corners where the sides come together.  Once again I layered a piece of fleece underneath the felt for extra thickness.  This step is rather tedious and straight pins are rather handy.  I didn’t think this through all the way when I did it so I pinned them all on at once and had pins sticking out everywhere which made it difficult to hold and sew.  It was a bit prickly.  (Cringe at my puniness!)
   

   Layers upon layers….

2. Finis!  I now have a beautimus beloved Cube.  I shall go forth and taunt my geeky friends.  Hopefully this tutorial has been clear enough that you can figure out how to make your own.  If you have any questions, please let me know!
   

   Victory for cuteness!

And away I go!