Saturday, September 18, 2010

gone bananas


Last night, I finished my monkey plushie.  What do you think?  I rushed through the pattern and had some construction problems (my own error) so he's a lil lopsided and puckering at the sides.  But he's still wonderfully soft and cuddly.  I need to cut him a little larger to account for the seaming and I need to be more careful with the sewing machine to keep his nice rounded shape.  But it's ok, I'll be more careful for next time and then he'll be ready for the shop!  My bf says the 'messed up' parts are what he likes best but they still bother me.

I got in a bit of a funk last night about my crafting.  Although I've made a few plushies, the perfectionist in me keeps focusing on the bad parts than just allowing myself to love all the great things - I mean, I made these things with my own two hands!  That's pretty amazing.  I need to stop comparing myself to other sellers and just do what I do.  My friends are always amazed and love my stuff and I can only try to make stuff and put it out there for other people to enjoy.  Being imperfect makes it homemade anyway and adds to the charm and character of my work.  I'll chalk it up to a small disheartened setback last night but I'm ready to forge ahead today.

I'm planning on working on and re-working some jewelry pieces this afternoon/night.  I'm still rusty on my wire work which is frustrating because I find myself wasting supplies doing things over and over again.  The wire just won't cooperate sometimes!  But once I get some more practice, it should be better.  And I need to stop overthinking my designs.  If I just let the wire and beads lead the way, I think the pieces will become more fluid and come together nicely.  I've been thinking of ways to simplify and improve what I've done and what I'm planning to do so I think that'll help me focus and get down to business.  I also got some small ziploc-style bags to store each of the pieces so I can finally protect them from tarnishing and getting dirty since I lack any way of storing everything up.  I'll choose some nice heavier stock scrapbook paper to use as a holder and then place each piece in its own bag.  Every piece will still be gift boxed and packaged nicely when bought so no worries!  This is just a way I can store them nicely now and protect them so they won't get damaged or tangled.

I hope I stay inspired and focused today!  Lots to do and I think I need a break from plushies anyway :)

Thursday, September 16, 2010

a whale of a tale


Isn't he just adorable?  I'll be creating another one to sell in the shop, so look out for him if you want to get your hands on one, too!  He's super soft and cuddly and looks adorable as a pillow/cushion on my bed.  Have I mentioned lately that I love my sewing machine??  But my poor jewelry has been neglected so I need to get back to that, too.  I haven't forgotten about my lovely sparklies!

I also worked on a monkey plush yesterday but I went a bit too fast and messed up a part of him.  We'll be headed to the craft store tonight so I can get some much-needed sewing supplies.  Hope to be able to fix him by tomorrow, then a new picture will come!  I'm loving having this week to experiment with plushies and my sewing machine.  But next week it's down to business.  Going to be working on the inventory now that I have some confidence and created some working patterns.  I really think I might be able to reach my goal of opening shop by the end of this month.  Yay!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

a hammie plushie is born

After working on my pattern yesterday and carefully hand stitching all of the facial details and working on the little hands, feet, and ears, today I sewed up the body of my hammie plush by hand and with a little help from my sewing machine.  She was stuffed with polyfil and lots of love and then she was born!  What do you think?


Look, and she even has a little tail nub, hehe :)


She needs a little work but I still love her anyway.  I'll need to work on one for the shop! :)  For now, she looks super cute as my new Etsy avatar and she's soft to cuddle, hehe.  I'm excited I actually made something and that I've figured out how to use my sewing machine.  Yay!