wonderland, part 6

One of a pair of hats made for the Children of Hearts by Peggy H. I had her make these from a vintage pattern, and asked that she improvise a heart ornament on the front.




I sent Phoebe G. home with a sackful of materials and this link to a tutorial from Threadbanger, and she returned a pair of ears for the March Hare and one for Mouse (she's currently at work on a pair for the White Rabbit, one for the Dormouse, and a set for Goat). Phoebe had to create her own pattern for the ear part of the Mouse hat, a first for her, and she accomplished it wonderfully. Phoebe and her grandmother also tackled Caterpillar's coat, which I'll save for a future post.





Brilliant work, everyone! Sewing party tomorrow, and I'm hoping we get through tons more stuff from our list . . . Show opens on the 12th of August! Whee!

Spoonflower Fabric Design Contest: Cut Paper Design Challenge

This week, when I needed a little "me" time, I made this to enter in the Spoonflower Fabric-of-the-Week contest. The theme this week is Cut Paper Collage.



You may remember that I won their open fabric design challenge one week a year ago; there are a ton of really excellent designs entered, so I'm really angling for the top ten this time around. Vote if you like it! Vote for other cuties too!

wonderland, part 5

After many revisions, I'm still pretty pleased with how it came out . . .



And here's a photo of the nifty, simple, fingerless fur gloves that Roxann P. and Autumn E. made from the pattern I created:



Simple Tutorial for Fingerless Fur Gloves:

1) Trace your hand and wrist onto paper. Add 1/2 inch seam allowance.

2) Draw lines across fingers and thumbs marking where you'd like the gloves to end. Cut out pattern.

3) From furry felt, cut two pieces for each glove.

4) Right sides together, stitch 1/4 inch from edge.

5) Turn inside out. No need to stitch edges as furry felt does not unravel.

6) DONE!

Wonderland, part 5

After many revisions, I'm still pretty pleased with how it came out . . .

Wonderland, part 4

Vicki provided a bunch of faux breads (and ended up making some butter, too, but that will wait for next time) . . .



. . . and tea cups and saucers and a couple o' pig noses. . .

Wonderland, part 3

Some stuff the VFD (Volunteer Fabrication Department) has been working on for this summer's production of "Wonderland"; I'm a little less hands-on this season, but I'm having fun designing projects and farming them out to the crew!

Lisa S.-B. rocked this invitation from the Queen of Hearts to the Duchess . . .


(Foam core base covered with white butcher paper and double-sided rug tape)

and went above and beyond, putting a seal on the back . . .



And check out this fez. I handed Lisa a buckram fez base I made and a pile of materials, and she made Caterpillar's fez really beautiful.


(Buckram base with stitched recycled-poly felt, upcycled leopard-print trim, and a tassel from EconoSales fabric store)

I'm so impressed with her stuff so far.

And here's a giant key I made.





It's a wire frame covered in tissue papier mache and sprayed with hammered metal and antique bronze spray paints. I get the impression it might be a bit larger than Vicki was thinking we'd need, so I might end up finding/making a smaller one if there's time . . .

More coming soon. I hear Phoebe's got a couple of hats done, and Sarah's books may be done by the beginning of next week! So exciting to see stuff coming together!

Wonderland, part 2

"Wonderland" is underway, and I posted a couple of "Wanted" messages on Eugene FreeRecycle and Lane County Pay-It-Forward asking for bits of stuff people might have laying around that could be used for costumes, set pieces, and props.

Several responses, but only three offering useful goods: 1) a woman offering sheets from her niece's hospital bed; 2) a woman offering some pieces of solid-color knit fabrics; 3) a woman offering a stack of her mother's "vintage" blazers . . .

I get a little nervous whenever the word "vintage" is used to describe something. It means different things to different people. What it DOES cleary mean, when not followed by a date, is that you have no idea what might show up.

I asked her what decade they might belong to, and got a little excited when she replied that she wasn't sure, but that her mom had entered the work force in the 1940s, and that she remembered her mom wearing these well into her old age.



I got a whole sack full of 1970s, Sears brand, 100% polyester blazers with nice, wide lapels, like the red one shown here. I'm a creative person, but I'll admit, I'm having a hard time imagining how to squeeze these into a production of "Wonderland" set at the turn of the century . . .

Wonderland, part 1

Wonderland is coming this summer, and I've got the bebe to think about, but I'm still doing the production design for this one. And I have a budget of $300. That's community theater, folks!

Anyone have any spare:

*fabric (felt, fleece, fake fur, calico, muslin) in 1/4 yard or larger pieces (fake fur can be smaller)

*clothing (black shoes, suit jackets, ties, vests, shirts, long skirts, anything that can look or be altered to look turn-of-the-century)

*large pieces of masonite, cardboard, or foam core board (3x3 up to 4x8) for set pieces and props

*time to spare crafting all of this stuff between now and August?

I can even get you a tax receipt. That's how I roll.

New Year, New Things to Love

I thought I'd put up a little post about what I've been up to, and one of my favorite Christmas gifts.

I designed these two pairs of shorts (click the button that says "one yard" to see both designs; it defaults to a 1/4 yard segment) for a Spoonflower design challenge: Children's clothing on one yard of fabric. A yard costs $18, and the shorts fit up to a 23-inch waist (with elastic).

I took fifth place out of seventeen entrants; a quick look at the Spoonflower blog will show you the fantastic designs that won the contest. No arguments here! The winning design is lovely.



And here is one of my favorite Christmas presents: a set of measuring cups designed to look like Russian matroyshka (stacking dolls). Both the tops and the bottoms of the dolls are marked for measuring! Aren't they adorable?

Fabulous!

I like everything about this!



I like the packaging design, I like that it's available in a bunch of colors, I like that you don't have to get messy dye-fingers, I like that there are different formulas for natural and artificial fibers, and I like that I can buy it locally from Oregon Art Supply. Before this, I had to special-order dyes for polyester and nylon.


http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/5590684-AA.shtml
http://www.oregonartsupply.com/

New Designs Available for Purchase

Fabric I designed are now for sale on Spoonflower!

http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/nightgarden

Meet Your Maker: Holiday Show!

The next Meet Your Maker indie craft show will be held Sunday, December 13 from 11 till 5 p.m. at the Fenario Gallery in Eugene! This should be a really great show, and GREAT motivation to get some stuff done. I've been quite lazy at the art lately, but with good reason. Also, my fellow artists and crafters, there are still spots available! If you can find a way to be in town that weekend, sign up soon. Spots are only $30 . . .http://meetyourmaker.net/

Re-Post from Design Sponge

Saw this twiggy tea ball / stirrer on the Design Sponge blog this morning . . . too lovely for words, so I'll let the picture suffice . . .

Delays

Sorry I haven't updated the blog in awhile. Not sure who I'm apologizing to really, unless somewhere there's an invisible legion of Night Garden Blog readers. ;)

At any rate, it's been a slow month for art projects, and I'm working on something pretty big right now. Please stay tuned; I'll post something Really Cool soon.

xo

Stacking

Many thanks to SciencePhotography.com.