Works in Progress

I'm entering into my second busiest time of year (second only to the frenzied activities leading up to No Coast each year): Plush You!, Halloween, and Dia de los Muertos.

I've always wanted to participate in a Dia de los Muertos show, and this year I finally have the opportunity to do so.

I was inspired by the wodden la catrina dolls common in Day of the Dead festivities, and immediately started picturing elegant plush versions.

I've drawn out the pattern, and selected a few fabrics.

Once I got started, though, I couldn't stop thinking about Game of Thrones (I've been reading the books and watching the HBO series). In the books, the author is consistently mentioning women wearing dresses with dagged sleeves. So I knew I had to incorporate them into my catrina.

Ready to turn right side out. The dagged sleeves are sitting under her arms.

And the Game of Thrones influence didn't stop there. I've also been simultaneously working on my Plush You! pieces: three fractured fairy tale dudes, all dressed in costumes inspired by the books, the show, and my general love of tudor/renaissance/medieval period dramas. Here's a sneak peek of all them sewn up, but not turned right side out yet:

Can you guess any of their identities? Here's a few hints:

I'll show you all four finished pieces later this week, and we'll see how many of you accurately guessed my Plush You! pieces. :)

 

Plush Factory

I'm chained to my sewing machine this week. My craft room looks like a cyclone came through. Twice, maybe even thrice. Cut out critters are everywhere, as well as machine-sewn critters awaiting faces and stuffing. Piles of fabric are haphazardly strewn about. The floor is littered with scraps. All this can mean only one thing—No Coast is but a few short days away!

Am I ready? (Don't answer that.)

As usual when on a self-imposed deadline, inspiration keeps hitting. I keep thinking up fabulous new twists on critters, and I must admit, I crack myself up sometimes. Whether I'll actually have time to bring these ideas to fruition before Friday is another matter. Back to the sewing machine with me, where this small pile of owls awaits sewing.

I'll be back tomorrow with some sneaky peeks of what I'm bringing to No Coast on Friday and Saturday.

 

Busy Bee

There are only 16 days until No Coast (ack!). Which means it's officially the time of year when I put most of my life on hold to sew pretty much every spare moment. My sleep, house, and social calendar all suffer. This year is a little extra stressful since my pieces for the Go Ask Alice show are due close to the same time as well. Yikes!

I've been carving out windows of time wherever I can to get some sewing done. I sew in my craft room

at friend's houses

even during my lunch break at work!

It's amazing what just an hour here or there can do for both my sanity and my productivity. Tomorrow, I'll post some pictures of what I've been cranking out. For now, here's a sneak peek:

New Frogs

I finished these sweeties last week, but just got around to photographing them this weekend:

I have dubbed them (from left to right): Chester, Cecilia, and Arthur. All three will be appearing in my Etsy shop this week.

In other news, I Like You opened yesterday in it's new location, and they have oodles of Plushroom Soup critters (among many other super awesome locally-made goodies)! Head over to the new shop and give them some love.

And here's a super tiny sneak peek at what else I'm up to:

Both of these creatures are submissions for the Mortal Plush toy exhibit. I hope to complete two more before the May 1 deadline as well, but we'll see!

 

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

If even. . .

I've been laboring over this zombie face for the last few days. Any guesses as to the kind of creature this face belongs to?

Slacker

I have been a bad blogger lately, I know. Part of it is the encroaching holiday madness, part of it is true laziness but, mostly, it's because the only things I've been working on lately are custom orders meant as Christmas gifts, and I don't want to spoil any surprises. I can give you a sneak peek, though:

Any guesses as to what I'm making?