My spaceship is full of art
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- princess spaceship
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My spaceship is full of art
Welcome back to my magical world of art and sewing. I've been drawing since I was at least 5 years old, which was also the only year that I ever took formal art lessons. It's not that I didn't enjoy art class; it was just too expensive for my family, & by the time it became a separate subject in grade school I decided to take more socially engaging classes like band (no regrets). So my informal art education is just years of doodling in notebooks, thinking up strange hybrid creatures, & drawing from photographs and real life. I started playing with watercolors almost 2 years ago as part of a reading-art challenge.
As far as the sewing goes, my mom (an avid quilter) taught me some of the basics back in high school and the rest has been gleaned from books, tutorials, and lots of practice. When I started watching MLP back in 2012 I decided to learn how to sew my own pony, using patterns from Voodoo Tikki. I made an Apple Bloom, Pinkie Pie, and a tiny AJ that I never really finished. When my daughter got interested in Pokemon over a year ago, I decided to try my hand at sewing some of those, too. I started off testing patterns that I'd found through browsing Pinterest, then I would tweak patterns that used some of the shapes that I figured a plush would need, and eventually I started devouring tutorials on how to design my own patterns. It's been a ton of work, but I love seeing my kids and their friends playing with what I make.
Since I don't want to clog up this post with a ton of images of past work, check out this gallery for some of my favorite works over the past few years.
Anyway, new forums, new thread, new projects!
As far as the sewing goes, my mom (an avid quilter) taught me some of the basics back in high school and the rest has been gleaned from books, tutorials, and lots of practice. When I started watching MLP back in 2012 I decided to learn how to sew my own pony, using patterns from Voodoo Tikki. I made an Apple Bloom, Pinkie Pie, and a tiny AJ that I never really finished. When my daughter got interested in Pokemon over a year ago, I decided to try my hand at sewing some of those, too. I started off testing patterns that I'd found through browsing Pinterest, then I would tweak patterns that used some of the shapes that I figured a plush would need, and eventually I started devouring tutorials on how to design my own patterns. It's been a ton of work, but I love seeing my kids and their friends playing with what I make.
Since I don't want to clog up this post with a ton of images of past work, check out this gallery for some of my favorite works over the past few years.
Anyway, new forums, new thread, new projects!
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
My big project for this year (well, since June/July) has been to sew a Christmas plush for all of my nieces/nephews. There's a lot. Luckily, all the girls are fine with getting mermaids, so I designed my own mermaid, mer-man, and baby mermaid plushies this summer.
The boys are a bit more varied in tastes, but that just means I get to try my hand at more things! The next few posts will show my process/progress on the elusive Umbreon.
Gathering materials to make the pattern: Eevee pattern & plushies, official art, and my own sketch of Umbreon vs Eevee
This helps me to figure out where to tweak/lengthen, as well as circle placement.
Longer legs, with a hopefully wider stance.
Cut out all the pieces, and hope the pattern will work!
Next step: Cut & sew the fabric!
The boys are a bit more varied in tastes, but that just means I get to try my hand at more things! The next few posts will show my process/progress on the elusive Umbreon.
Gathering materials to make the pattern: Eevee pattern & plushies, official art, and my own sketch of Umbreon vs Eevee
This helps me to figure out where to tweak/lengthen, as well as circle placement.
Longer legs, with a hopefully wider stance.
Cut out all the pieces, and hope the pattern will work!
Next step: Cut & sew the fabric!
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Umbreon project part 2:
I've got yellow minky and this black faux fur stuff. There was black fuzz everywhere. Everywhere. I'm using a different black fabric for the next attempt.
Taking everything to my sewing room. It's important to have a separate area in my house for this because there are 2 small children that like to push buttons while I sew. This is not fun. The door now has a lock.
Black furry fabric is annoying to sew. I have to pin every inch or it will slide away, even when it's a straight line.
Keep sewing, picking out the bad lines (curse that fabric! ), and clipping corners/curves (the fuzz! ). Turn everything right side out. Then comes the long, patient game of stuffing everything. I like to do head separate from the body, so that the polyfill doesn't shift around/out of the head over time. I've got a store-made plush of an emperor penguin who has been snuggled/washed so much that its body is fluffy while its beak is just a hollow cone. Oh, also, I had to make the tail smaller than what I originally planned; I just took it in all around an cut off the excess.
Next up: attach everything, make eyes, cut out pieces for another Umbreon (so I can keep one).
I've got yellow minky and this black faux fur stuff. There was black fuzz everywhere. Everywhere. I'm using a different black fabric for the next attempt.
Taking everything to my sewing room. It's important to have a separate area in my house for this because there are 2 small children that like to push buttons while I sew. This is not fun. The door now has a lock.
Black furry fabric is annoying to sew. I have to pin every inch or it will slide away, even when it's a straight line.
Keep sewing, picking out the bad lines (curse that fabric! ), and clipping corners/curves (the fuzz! ). Turn everything right side out. Then comes the long, patient game of stuffing everything. I like to do head separate from the body, so that the polyfill doesn't shift around/out of the head over time. I've got a store-made plush of an emperor penguin who has been snuggled/washed so much that its body is fluffy while its beak is just a hollow cone. Oh, also, I had to make the tail smaller than what I originally planned; I just took it in all around an cut off the excess.
Next up: attach everything, make eyes, cut out pieces for another Umbreon (so I can keep one).
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Umbreon project part 3:
There are many ways to make eyes/mouths. Some people use pre-made safety eyes/noses that you somehow adhere to the head-- it looks like a special nut/bolt, but eye shaped. I don't know all the specifics since it doesn't appeal much to me. You could also use modeling clay to sculpt the extra features, but again- I'm not versed in that method either. Since I have little kids, I want to limit the amount of choking hazards & make things extra snuggly. Perhaps the nicest way would be to have embroidered add-ons, but I do not own an embroidery machine & don't want to spend the time doing hand embroidery of large areas. Instead, I use needle felting to make eyes/mouths. In this method, you cut out pieces of felt in the right sizes & colors, & then stab them together repeatedly with a special barbed needle. You need to make sure that the surface that you work on has some give to it, or else you'll break your needle on the first go. My friend that taught me this technique has a thick sponge that she uses, but she also says that a nice thick carpet works in a pinch.
It took me a few months of crouching over the floor in my house, only felting in bits as my youngest napped, before I realized that we had some carpet samples in our laundry room from when we redid our downstairs carpet (a necessity due to the previous home-owners having several cats & me being allergic). It' been really convenient since then to pin my felting projects in place on the portable carpet, working on it whenever the time comes up. Plus, it makes me think of some strange bug collection, but for eyeballs.
Finished eyes, & half-finished paws. On the left, you can see how embroidering toes on the paws kind of smoosh down each paw (compared to the 2 on the right).
All put together. To attach the ears/head/tail, I used a ladder stitch, reinforcing at the ends at tying anchors at hidden parts on the body to help prevent the seams from busting with rough play. Of course, too rough play and there's nothing much you can do but sew it back together. I used a whip stitch to put on the eyes and forehead circle on. Not bad, but I'm going to alter both the tail and ear pattern pieces before I make the next one, & I should have used red instead of black thread to attach the eyes, come to think of it.. Oh, & use a different type of fabric for the black. Not only was it hard to sew with on my machine, but it was super difficult with the long pile of the fur to see where I was ladder & whip stitching. It feels amazingly snuggly, though.
There are many ways to make eyes/mouths. Some people use pre-made safety eyes/noses that you somehow adhere to the head-- it looks like a special nut/bolt, but eye shaped. I don't know all the specifics since it doesn't appeal much to me. You could also use modeling clay to sculpt the extra features, but again- I'm not versed in that method either. Since I have little kids, I want to limit the amount of choking hazards & make things extra snuggly. Perhaps the nicest way would be to have embroidered add-ons, but I do not own an embroidery machine & don't want to spend the time doing hand embroidery of large areas. Instead, I use needle felting to make eyes/mouths. In this method, you cut out pieces of felt in the right sizes & colors, & then stab them together repeatedly with a special barbed needle. You need to make sure that the surface that you work on has some give to it, or else you'll break your needle on the first go. My friend that taught me this technique has a thick sponge that she uses, but she also says that a nice thick carpet works in a pinch.
It took me a few months of crouching over the floor in my house, only felting in bits as my youngest napped, before I realized that we had some carpet samples in our laundry room from when we redid our downstairs carpet (a necessity due to the previous home-owners having several cats & me being allergic). It' been really convenient since then to pin my felting projects in place on the portable carpet, working on it whenever the time comes up. Plus, it makes me think of some strange bug collection, but for eyeballs.
Finished eyes, & half-finished paws. On the left, you can see how embroidering toes on the paws kind of smoosh down each paw (compared to the 2 on the right).
All put together. To attach the ears/head/tail, I used a ladder stitch, reinforcing at the ends at tying anchors at hidden parts on the body to help prevent the seams from busting with rough play. Of course, too rough play and there's nothing much you can do but sew it back together. I used a whip stitch to put on the eyes and forehead circle on. Not bad, but I'm going to alter both the tail and ear pattern pieces before I make the next one, & I should have used red instead of black thread to attach the eyes, come to think of it.. Oh, & use a different type of fabric for the black. Not only was it hard to sew with on my machine, but it was super difficult with the long pile of the fur to see where I was ladder & whip stitching. It feels amazingly snuggly, though.
- drunkill
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
These are great, more pics please.
- West Filly
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
I know people who make fursuits and I gotta say I know exactly what you mean by fluff EVERYWHERE. Your pokemons look awesome though.
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
I'm still finding fluff on things that weren't even near the cutting/sewing. I can't fathom the mess that would come from a huge suit...
Here's a Poliwrath that I made for a craft exchange. I was originally going to have my SIL make a vinyl cut out for a more accurate swirl, but it got lost in the mail. So the night before I absolutely had to mail it the NY I went to the craft store & invested in some fabric paint. I couldn't get the right number of rotations, but it looks good, & hopefully won't risk peeling like vinyl sometimes does.
Oh! That reminds me: Halloween costumes. My daughter likes watching Stampylonghead's Let's Play BOTW games, so she decided to dress as Stampy-Link, with an orange Hylian Hood. I had to mail a few things to my SIL in TX to get the vinyl on, but wish I had looked for someone closer to home. I had to make last-minute costumes for myself & daughter for a party the weekend before.
Click for Fullsize
Like, seriously last-minute. I was sewing on the ear/fin flap things onto my Zora hat while Durandal was driving us to the event. It's why I didn't realize that I put them on backwards until I took the thing off later that night. & why I don't have white/red face paint.
Click for Fullsize
Luckily, the real costumes came the morning of Halloween, But that left little time to find the right accessories...
Here's a Poliwrath that I made for a craft exchange. I was originally going to have my SIL make a vinyl cut out for a more accurate swirl, but it got lost in the mail. So the night before I absolutely had to mail it the NY I went to the craft store & invested in some fabric paint. I couldn't get the right number of rotations, but it looks good, & hopefully won't risk peeling like vinyl sometimes does.
Oh! That reminds me: Halloween costumes. My daughter likes watching Stampylonghead's Let's Play BOTW games, so she decided to dress as Stampy-Link, with an orange Hylian Hood. I had to mail a few things to my SIL in TX to get the vinyl on, but wish I had looked for someone closer to home. I had to make last-minute costumes for myself & daughter for a party the weekend before.
Click for Fullsize
Like, seriously last-minute. I was sewing on the ear/fin flap things onto my Zora hat while Durandal was driving us to the event. It's why I didn't realize that I put them on backwards until I took the thing off later that night. & why I don't have white/red face paint.
Click for Fullsize
Luckily, the real costumes came the morning of Halloween, But that left little time to find the right accessories...
- Durandal
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
I love my tiny Link and big Zelda
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
More plush thingies! Made some of these a while ago, but I haven't got around to photographing them until just now.
Heart, 3 red blood cells, and the common cold.
More Poliwraths. I'm still not sure how I'm going to get rid of the fleece draft version.
Reversible octo-plushies. The shorter legged version turned out better, but it was still a pain to get all the corner connections sewn before I flipped it.
Heart, 3 red blood cells, and the common cold.
More Poliwraths. I'm still not sure how I'm going to get rid of the fleece draft version.
Reversible octo-plushies. The shorter legged version turned out better, but it was still a pain to get all the corner connections sewn before I flipped it.
- Mr. Big
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- Durandal
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Okay somehow you managed to make that heart and blood cells without me realizing because I saw it and thought it was ToeJam for a second
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
I made another Umbreon. So, I altered the ears/tail patterns, but that's the only pattern change between the two. You can really see the difference that the fabric types make in the whole shebang.
New Umbreon uses ultra-cuddle instead of fake fur; I like to think of it as smooth-haired and long-haired versions of the same breed.
Also, my daughter wanted her Mermaid baby to have a brother, so I figured I'd let her choose the colors for everything & then time how long it takes me to make one of these simplified Mer-folk. Allowing for a break midway through the thing, it took me 2hr 45 min. Or, thereabouts.
Left is Orange Peach, right is Trident.
Next projects include an orca whale with an open mouth full of teeth, as well as stuff for Secret Celestia. Funny, I didn't sign up this year because I thought I wouldn't have time to do anything, but I can't resist helping out Durandal with his santee(s). Maybe I should have jumped in anyway?
New Umbreon uses ultra-cuddle instead of fake fur; I like to think of it as smooth-haired and long-haired versions of the same breed.
Also, my daughter wanted her Mermaid baby to have a brother, so I figured I'd let her choose the colors for everything & then time how long it takes me to make one of these simplified Mer-folk. Allowing for a break midway through the thing, it took me 2hr 45 min. Or, thereabouts.
Left is Orange Peach, right is Trident.
Next projects include an orca whale with an open mouth full of teeth, as well as stuff for Secret Celestia. Funny, I didn't sign up this year because I thought I wouldn't have time to do anything, but I can't resist helping out Durandal with his santee(s). Maybe I should have jumped in anyway?
- Mr. Big
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- Durandal
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
The sleek umbreon is seriously legit and I want to nuzzle it forever
- Mr. Big
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Are you planning to take plushie commissions, by any chance?
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Ah man, commissions... The short answer is, maybe? But first I've got to finish all of the Christmas sewing projects already on my docket. Plus, I'm not sure what prices to charge for things-- I wrote a huge post on my (personal) FB page, which I may as well copy here. Hidden because it's long.
Anyway, here's my orca plushies:
The new skill here was creating a pocket-mouth. So far these have eaten hands, feet, blind bag ponies, and Cheerios.
Here's my 'draft' guitar. There's only 4 strings (instead of 6) because this is child sized and it would have looked too crowded with more strings. These strings are made with white fabric paint, but the next one I make (a red guitar for my nephew) will use grey embroidery thread. The trick to making large, flat plushies is to sew quilt batting to both pieces, & have multiple turning/stuffing openings (just makes both easier, even though everything will go through the same hole in the end).
A lot of that was aimed at an audience that I figure doesn't have much experience with the high prices usually associated with custom plush, which is probably not much of the case here. I've since given away both old Pikachus & a new baby mermaid.
Anyway, here's my orca plushies:
The new skill here was creating a pocket-mouth. So far these have eaten hands, feet, blind bag ponies, and Cheerios.
Here's my 'draft' guitar. There's only 4 strings (instead of 6) because this is child sized and it would have looked too crowded with more strings. These strings are made with white fabric paint, but the next one I make (a red guitar for my nephew) will use grey embroidery thread. The trick to making large, flat plushies is to sew quilt batting to both pieces, & have multiple turning/stuffing openings (just makes both easier, even though everything will go through the same hole in the end).
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Merry Plush-mas! These are all the plushies I designed and sewed for my nieces/nephews for Christmas this year. Not pictured are the things I sewed for this forum's Secret Santa thing.
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- Mr. Big
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Just want to say I LOVE ITprincess spaceship wrote: βMon Dec 18, 2017 8:00 pmNot pictured are the things I sewed for this forum's Secret Santa thing.
Max loves it, too.
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Yay! Kat is cat approved.
So, I had been musing over making a Princess Kat plush as a Christmas present even before Durandal drew your name again for this year's exchange. I even saved a copy of your Princess Kat reference sheet from your old art thread (pre-forums crash) into my "plushie time" folder on my desktop. The face was probably the hardest part because she is never drawn/shown from the front, & it's hard to capture the together-cartoony-ness of big bulging eyes.
Another hard part about making P.K. was finding the right shade of dusty greyish lavender... I'm not great with colors. & I still think that the lavender that I used to make the practice plush is a better color for her than the deluxe fleece I used on the final draft (which is more of an Espeon color-- will make one of those soon!)... Alas, the JoAnn fabric store where I get my supplies doesn't have a huge selection of minky/ultra cuddle/ super soft fabrics. & I'm not sure what online sources would give me the most accurate color selections. There was a lavender minky that could have passed, but it was one of those weird textured things, & it's the fuzzy princess, not the bumpy princess.
...I'm not sure what to do with my test plush, tbh. I usually make 3 of a thing (if one is meant as a gift), which means one test, one good one for the gift, and one good one for me to keep as a reference. For other patterns I've been doing random giveaways. So, Mr. Big, since this is your intellectual baby, what do you think I should do with the test plush?
Also, I made these Boos for Gloomy's present. It's a modified sphere, with a dart sewn at the tail juncture to help keep its shape. I've started doing this with noses, too (as well as Princess Kat's side hair floofs), & I like the effect it gives. I made the pattern for the bows, too, but Durandal ended up actually making it, as I was probably busy crafting Kat at the time. Hmmm, I think I was supposed to anchor the tip of the upward arm/wing for Lady Bow closer to its mouth, to make it look like she was laughing. Oops.
Next project: Miraculous Ladybug plushies for my daughter's birthday this Friday. If I can get them all done in time it'll be 5 little plushies. Or maybe four, if I don't have time to piece together her Kwami OC.
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Heh, the test plush looks cool, too! As for what to do with it, maybe keep it or give to someone you know?princess spaceship wrote: βMon Dec 25, 2017 10:43 pm
...I'm not sure what to do with my test plush, tbh. I usually make 3 of a thing (if one is meant as a gift), which means one test, one good one for the gift, and one good one for me to keep as a reference. For other patterns I've been doing random giveaways. So, Mr. Big, since this is your intellectual baby, what do you think I should do with the test plush?
Funny you mentioned about how I never draw her face from the front. Whenever other artists do draw her, it's usually from the front, meaning that it IS possible. I just never attempted it myself
I thought the eyes came out well, considering it's hard to capture the cartoony-large eyes in 3-D. I'm wondering how you put the black dot pupils on fabric?
- Durandal
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Fabric paint. Works quite well for complex designs
Click for Fullsize
We toyed around with the idea of having pins with large black pinheads as the pupils so you could "re-pose" them as needed, but all the ones we tried were way too tiny.
I also really wanted to sew neodymium magnets to make the tail removable but we didn't have time
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Too much work-- Plus I'm not sure how secure it would be, seeing as how the tail part at least would have to be hand stitched. & the tail opening was small enough as it is.
How about a Forums giveaway for the test Kat? (I made another of the nice fabric ones to keep, which uses a larger snoot size, or I would just keep it) We could make it like the old gangtag contests, but held in PPPP. I'm not sure what to make people do, though, so I'll need to think on that...
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Daughter's birthday was yesterday, so I made her a bunch of plushies as her present.
We've been watching a bunch of Miraculous Ladybug together, & when I saw the "puppeteer" episode, I knew I was going to have to sew some dolls for my kids. When my daughter came up with her own OC- kwami and all- I knew I'd have to include Wing-Wing in the mix.
Click for Fullsize
Quickly colored in Photoshop from my ink illustration. I couldn't find the normal tool setup, or it would have looked nicer, I swear.
all the Kwamis together. I stayed up super late Thursday so that Wing-Wing would be a total surprise to my daughter. & then my 20-month-old kept me up even later, which meant all of yesterday I was like AJ in Applebuck Season
Cat Noir & Plagg. Despite this being a birthday present to my daughter, my son has pretty much claimed "Cat O-R" as his own. It's cute.
Tikki and Ladybug. It took me forever to get the spots on, since that part had to be done by hand. A neat sewing tip that I picked up for that step was to secure the spots in place using a simple glue stick, since that would have been a stab-y nightmare had I used pins.
We've been watching a bunch of Miraculous Ladybug together, & when I saw the "puppeteer" episode, I knew I was going to have to sew some dolls for my kids. When my daughter came up with her own OC- kwami and all- I knew I'd have to include Wing-Wing in the mix.
Click for Fullsize
Quickly colored in Photoshop from my ink illustration. I couldn't find the normal tool setup, or it would have looked nicer, I swear.
all the Kwamis together. I stayed up super late Thursday so that Wing-Wing would be a total surprise to my daughter. & then my 20-month-old kept me up even later, which meant all of yesterday I was like AJ in Applebuck Season
Cat Noir & Plagg. Despite this being a birthday present to my daughter, my son has pretty much claimed "Cat O-R" as his own. It's cute.
Tikki and Ladybug. It took me forever to get the spots on, since that part had to be done by hand. A neat sewing tip that I picked up for that step was to secure the spots in place using a simple glue stick, since that would have been a stab-y nightmare had I used pins.
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
New plush thingies incoming!
Something I realized while sewing Princess Kat last month was that the fabric I used would be perfect for an Espeon.
Click for Fullsize
Then I figured I'd make a Sylveon (or two) because it is super cute.
Click for Fullsize
These are both just alterations to the Umbreon pattern I made back in November.
Click for Fullsize
SQUAD time!
Click for Fullsize
& now I pretty much feel obligated to continue on with the other 5 types.
Something I realized while sewing Princess Kat last month was that the fabric I used would be perfect for an Espeon.
Click for Fullsize
Then I figured I'd make a Sylveon (or two) because it is super cute.
Click for Fullsize
These are both just alterations to the Umbreon pattern I made back in November.
Click for Fullsize
SQUAD time!
Click for Fullsize
& now I pretty much feel obligated to continue on with the other 5 types.
- West Filly
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
That sylveon is amazing :3
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
I've been meaning to revisit my Pikachu pattern for a while now- not because I'm unhappy with Pikachu 2.0, but because I wanted a smaller model that would be easier and quicker to make (& that I would feel comfortable selling for a more marketable price than my larger plushies). Also, a smaller size means it's easier to ship and carry around (for a kid). Therefore, I present Pika v3: a true pocket sized monster.
The water bottle is to give you a sense of scale.
Having one piece of fabric to make up the back of the body means I can machine stitch on the stripes before sewing now. Previously, I had to hand stitch the stripes on after sewing & stuffing, which took forever to do. Also, apparently they share secrets.
I've also been working on a chibi giraffe/alpaca/ pony pattern (change the neck lengths, basically). This guy is cute, but has trouble standing up on his own. Somehow I've got to figure out how to weight the back legs while still keeping it machine washable (so, not rice or beans).
I think I'll make some fuzzy alpacas with this pattern next, to see if a shorter neck gives it more balance.
The water bottle is to give you a sense of scale.
Having one piece of fabric to make up the back of the body means I can machine stitch on the stripes before sewing now. Previously, I had to hand stitch the stripes on after sewing & stuffing, which took forever to do. Also, apparently they share secrets.
I've also been working on a chibi giraffe/alpaca/ pony pattern (change the neck lengths, basically). This guy is cute, but has trouble standing up on his own. Somehow I've got to figure out how to weight the back legs while still keeping it machine washable (so, not rice or beans).
I think I'll make some fuzzy alpacas with this pattern next, to see if a shorter neck gives it more balance.
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Okay, I studied that giraffe plush a little more and discovered that I had accidentally made the front legs too short. Serves me right for not pattern drafting with a ruler or grid of any sort... Basically, when you have a top heavy pattern you can make your front legs slightly longer than the back legs to shift the center of balance and help your plush to stand without heavy additions.
Click for Fullsize
See how the giraffe is able to stand up when it's standing on a tiny magazine/book? That's how i figured out how much length to add to the front legs. The alpaca and zebra WIP show off the different neck lengths. I got the fabric scraps for those last two from a woman in my neighborhood. For some reason, the long swirly fur fabric didn't feel as obnoxious to work with in pink as that long black umbreon fur was... I think it has something to do with my fear of spiders.
One more of the adorable alpaca because it is just too fluffy!
I'm thinking of making more of these guys to sell before Easter, but it's hard to know what colors to make (I'd need to buy more fabric)/ who would be interested. I was thinking that somewhere around $30-40 would be enough to make it worthwhile to me (materials/time), but then I see giant Valentines' plush at the grocery store selling for the same amount. Perhaps I should remember that handmade plush is to store bought plush as movie is to Broadway play.
Click for Fullsize
See how the giraffe is able to stand up when it's standing on a tiny magazine/book? That's how i figured out how much length to add to the front legs. The alpaca and zebra WIP show off the different neck lengths. I got the fabric scraps for those last two from a woman in my neighborhood. For some reason, the long swirly fur fabric didn't feel as obnoxious to work with in pink as that long black umbreon fur was... I think it has something to do with my fear of spiders.
One more of the adorable alpaca because it is just too fluffy!
I'm thinking of making more of these guys to sell before Easter, but it's hard to know what colors to make (I'd need to buy more fabric)/ who would be interested. I was thinking that somewhere around $30-40 would be enough to make it worthwhile to me (materials/time), but then I see giant Valentines' plush at the grocery store selling for the same amount. Perhaps I should remember that handmade plush is to store bought plush as movie is to Broadway play.
- Kronos
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
They look great! But what is the human-shaped plush in the back? It looks so realistic!princess spaceship wrote: βThu Feb 01, 2018 6:39 pmOkay, I studied that giraffe plush a little more and discovered that I had accidentally made the front legs too short. Serves me right for not pattern drafting with a ruler or grid of any sort... Basically, when you have a top heavy pattern you can make your front legs slightly longer than the back legs to shift the center of balance and help your plush to stand without heavy additions.
Click for Fullsize
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Oh, I made that one back in 2013, but it's been constantly upgrading since then...
Chibi Zebra is done! I love this guy's little smirk, but my daughter thinks he looks too mean. & this punk rocker needs a spiky collar, ideally, but all I had on hand was a miniature flower lei. Still works.
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
I tried to make a chibi Big Mac, but he ended up a bit beefy...
This is a more flattering angle, though, so you can't really tell. Eyes and cutie mark were needle felted before I stitched them on. Daughter tells me I need to make her a cute pink pony next.
This is a more flattering angle, though, so you can't really tell. Eyes and cutie mark were needle felted before I stitched them on. Daughter tells me I need to make her a cute pink pony next.
- Mad Surge
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Honestly slightly longer legs would make that Big Mac perfect, he's so chunky and cute
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
made a fire dog
Alas, the legs/body weren't stuffed as tightly as possible... so now flareon has noodly arms. It might also have something to do with the luxe fleece fabric that I used-- it's thicker, more durable stuff than normal fleece, so I couldn't judge the level of stuff as compared to minky and normal fleece...
I lengthened the front legs slightly (again) for the GAP pattern, and have started making more... well, giraffes to start with. Then I'll make some more alpacas (in lavender and blue), and then probably some more zebras. My plan is to build up a stock so that I can finally sell things on Etsy. I'm still trying to pin down my shop name, but there's a high likelihood that I'll just call it "Princess Spaceship", if not something like "Strombone Studios" or something else that somehow incorporates AStro in some way (to play off of my actual name). Good names are hard to come by, especially if you're trying to avoid any sort of copyright/trademark conflict (so, 'HufflePlush' is out).
It's strange not knowing if my stuff will even sell, if my price of like, $35 for one of these guys will be seen as too high; or if it'll be too low and I'll run out of everything on opening weekend. Well, I'll never know unless I do it.
Alas, the legs/body weren't stuffed as tightly as possible... so now flareon has noodly arms. It might also have something to do with the luxe fleece fabric that I used-- it's thicker, more durable stuff than normal fleece, so I couldn't judge the level of stuff as compared to minky and normal fleece...
I lengthened the front legs slightly (again) for the GAP pattern, and have started making more... well, giraffes to start with. Then I'll make some more alpacas (in lavender and blue), and then probably some more zebras. My plan is to build up a stock so that I can finally sell things on Etsy. I'm still trying to pin down my shop name, but there's a high likelihood that I'll just call it "Princess Spaceship", if not something like "Strombone Studios" or something else that somehow incorporates AStro in some way (to play off of my actual name). Good names are hard to come by, especially if you're trying to avoid any sort of copyright/trademark conflict (so, 'HufflePlush' is out).
It's strange not knowing if my stuff will even sell, if my price of like, $35 for one of these guys will be seen as too high; or if it'll be too low and I'll run out of everything on opening weekend. Well, I'll never know unless I do it.
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
My plans for opening the PrincessSpaceship Etsy shop have been put on hold for the time. I've been able to register as a Small Batch Manufacturer, so that at least is a good start. It means I'm exempt from certain 3rd party testing (which I'm guessing would be quite expensive), but I still need to make sure the stuff that I sew to sell all have labels w/certain info permanently affixed.
Next step: design and order labels. Which also means coming up with a cool shop logo. Since I've already sewn about 8 things for the shop, I'm just going to sew those 8 tags on after the fact & hope I don't get fined by some CPSC police. I mean, um, I'm totally going to gut those creations and include them in the ultra reinforced machine seams.
I was really stressed out/ discouraged when I found out about the stuff (luckily the registry page was only down for the weekend, not FOREVER), but despite these barriers to entry I will still go forth. But in the meantime, I'm going to spend more time drawing and painting.
Here's some sketches I did the other day to get ready for a few projects I have lined up:
Next step: design and order labels. Which also means coming up with a cool shop logo. Since I've already sewn about 8 things for the shop, I'm just going to sew those 8 tags on after the fact & hope I don't get fined by some CPSC police. I mean, um, I'm totally going to gut those creations and include them in the ultra reinforced machine seams.
I was really stressed out/ discouraged when I found out about the stuff (luckily the registry page was only down for the weekend, not FOREVER), but despite these barriers to entry I will still go forth. But in the meantime, I'm going to spend more time drawing and painting.
Here's some sketches I did the other day to get ready for a few projects I have lined up:
- Perrydotto
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
I'm rooting for you a lot.
Your sketches are great, those cinnamon rolls make me really hungry.
Your sketches are great, those cinnamon rolls make me really hungry.
/// ///
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
I'm still not satisfied with a proper logo to put on my tags, but it's not like I got a degree in marketing or graphic design or any of the like. Nope, economics and public policy for me.
Anyway, I did a thing for my kid that I think looks pretty cool. Colored pencil first, then larger in watercolor and pastel.
Click for Fullsize
Click for Fullsize
& yes, I did use my own plushies as the models for it. It almost makes me want to start a little comic starring some of my more recent plush creations having adventures in space... like a kind of MLP/star trek TNG crossover. That pink chibi alpaca would be the captain, of course.
Anyway, I did a thing for my kid that I think looks pretty cool. Colored pencil first, then larger in watercolor and pastel.
Click for Fullsize
Click for Fullsize
& yes, I did use my own plushies as the models for it. It almost makes me want to start a little comic starring some of my more recent plush creations having adventures in space... like a kind of MLP/star trek TNG crossover. That pink chibi alpaca would be the captain, of course.
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
I finally ordered tags for my plushies! Well, I realized a few hours after placing the order that I forgot to put "Ages 3 and Up" on them, which... okay, it's probably not as big of a problem as I initially felt, so if the label-making business person won't use my altered design that I submitted shortly afterwards it won't actually be the end of the world. They're supposed to get to me around April 17th or so, which means I have until then to write an "About Me" for my shop, come up with good product descriptions, and perhaps prep some more plushies. I don't want to fully finish them, since they'll each need a tag in the butt, but I can cut out pieces, finish the heads (since I like to do them separately from bodies anyway), and do lots of other work.
I don't have to affix tags to plushies that are just meant for my kids, though, so I made these two Totoro-themed plushies for Easter.
I love that little grinning face!
I don't have to affix tags to plushies that are just meant for my kids, though, so I made these two Totoro-themed plushies for Easter.
I love that little grinning face!
- Kronos
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Those look great!
As an aside, would it be possible for you to do something like No-Face from Spirited Away? His "default" form of course, not that massive multi-armed monstrosity he becomes after eating people.
As an aside, would it be possible for you to do something like No-Face from Spirited Away? His "default" form of course, not that massive multi-armed monstrosity he becomes after eating people.
- princess spaceship
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Re: My spaceship is full of art
Oh yeah, No Face should be no problem-- he's essentially a black tube with an interesting face mask at one end. Looks like Think Geek already made one (but it's not in stock).
Click for Fullsize
Another (out of stock) source made a cuter version:
If you're interested in a commission, send my a PM.