Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!

My attempts to make him a cloak were causing me undue stress, so I opted to make him a toga instead. It's not actually out of character, as he wears one several times in the series. The moon-and-star motif is an homage to the cloak he wears in "Ramadan", if you're familiar with the series.

He's really not at all li'l. But I'm still quite proud of him. Wow. I can't believe I actually finished a creative endeavor. This is unheard of.

Anticlimactic though it may be, here's a picture of the blanket I made my mom for Christmas:



Shhh! Don't say anything. It's a surprise, since she's been really cold this winter.

Well, he's pretty much finished. Except the mouth. I'm leaving that alone for the moment. Unfortunately, my computer is not detecting the thumb drive I use to transfer photos from the camera to the computer, so I can't post the picture. Pity, too. He's very photogenic. And he looks quite fetching in his outfit. You'll just have to wait to see what it is.

Sunday night's all right for stitching

I don't know exactly when Veteran's Day became synonymous with "giant sale at the craft store", but I'm willing to go with it. I had a truly ridiculous haul for only $30. It's all pictured below.

I now have shimmering thread in four colors:



two spools of tulle:



May I just say that the remnant bin is the greatest invention known to man?

This is a really fabulous sheer metallic fabric in the same shade of purple as the thread above. It also has red notes, but they don't really show up on film. It also looks darker than it is in the photo because it's draped over a black chair.


I also got lavender satin and two spools of satin ribbon in red and black. They're designed to be used as edging for blankets, but I plan to use them to finish some of the rougher edges of my remnants.


How could I ever pass up red taffeta? I also got some nice stretchy billowy black fabric that will make me a lovely skirt when I, y'know, learn how to make skirts.


I also found four long fleece remnants to go with the black one I'd bought on impulse. The hell with throw pillows, I'm making a quinticolored blanket! (Is quinticolored even a word? It is now!)



This was the crown jewel of the remnant bin. God truly smiled upon me. The picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice. It's flaming red satin with a design of black clustered cherries. And there's enough of it to make me a dress! When I, y'know, learn how to make dresses.



We also know I've been dying to hand-bead something for a while now. I found a lovely plain black off-the-shoulder top at TJ Maxx for $6 and have been stitching my leftover black beads onto its borders. It'll match my bracelet and give the top a little sparkle. I toyed with the idea of using brighter beads, but then I figured I'd better see if I could hand-bead without completely sodding up the top first. I'm pleased with it so far. I just hope the beads aren't too heavy for the fabric, thus causing it to droop.



Nearly forgot to talk about the subject of this blog! I've been working on putting a satin edge on his cloak, which I will then decorate somehow (likely with beads to give it a little sparkle). However, I messed up and forgot to keep the rough edges of the satin on the same side of the fabric. Thus, I can either do the other two sides (not a big deal at all) with satin as well and pay attention this time, or use a different piece of fabric and turn this into something else. We shall see.



This crafter's bug is a dangerous thing.

All right, all right! Jesus!

I'd had enough of being harassed, so I pulled him out of the bag and commenced work. Here's the (nearly) finished product:



And a head shot:



Overall, I'm tickled. His hair has a life of its own, I swear.

I say "nearly finished" because there are several things I'd like to work on. Number one, I think he needs a bigger nose because this one barely shows up at all. Number two, I need to figure out exactly how to do his mouth. I'd like it to be an enigmatic smirk, but I'm not exactly sure how to go about stitching that. But if I leave him without one he'll just look like Dilbert. Also, his head has a regrettable tendency to flop about, so I think I'm going to have to shore up his neck somehow. And of course I need to make him clothes. It would be beneath His Darkness' dignity to be wandering around without clothes on. I plan to make him a cloak and some kind of tunic. Although I haven't given up on the velvet onesie idea. There is much to be done.


I've been encouraged in the strongest terms (ahem) to post pictures of some of the other crafty projects that have distracted me lately. Most of them involve beads. I'm currently fighting the urge to stitch beads onto damn near everything I own. I can probably channel the urge into beading Li'l Morpheus' outfits.

My current holdings:


I made myself a bracelet last night (sadly, I couldn't seem to get the picture in proper focus):



I plan to make another in order to match this pair of shoes:



It doesn't really show up that well, but the straps are beaded in gold, slate blue, purple, and grey. Good times, noodle salad.