Custom-made bunny

Here's another weird glove doll, made by request for a little lady in L.A. named Ruby whose favorite color is...you'll never be able to guess this, so I'll just tell you: pink.

Ruby OK'd these lovely moisturizing gloves from this picture on Ebay:



And this was the result:



Let's take a closer look. She had a button nose at first but that made her look too much like a pig with strangely long ears, so I swapped it out for a couple stitches. I'm not sure it worked, but it does seem like a step in the more rabbit-y direction, at least.



Here she is rehearsing for the rapt conversations she's sure to have with Ruby's other dolls:



I hope they all get along! I wonder if, amongst all the other dolls, it'll be a thing of pride to have been made from a pair of gloves, or an embarrassing secret that should be kept from the others at all costs.

For the glove of it

Why do I keep feeling compelled to make weird animal dolls for children? When my sister told me my niece and nephew were going through a stuffed-animal-loving phase, I grabbed this book, a couple pairs of gloves, and before I'd even really given it much thought, these two weirdos were having a chat on my couch.



I kept thinking of the Bolivian women who hand-knit these alpaca gloves for a living wage as I snipped off the fingers and turned them into legs, arms, and ears.



I think the buttons for eyes are the clincher here. It's interesting how important eyes are, on dolls, illustrations, humans, etc. A thing really comes to life with the right kind of eyeball.



It was kind of hard to pack them up and ship them off. But I knew if they stuck around Beatrix would eventually find and eat them one night while I was sleeping.


Spared!

The story doesn't end here. P is going on a trip this week to see this little devil:



Whom you may remember from one of several posts like this. Once again, the book came out, the gloves came off.



And turned into him. I like his stretchy pants.



So, in other words, if you have a pair of gloves, especially ones you like very much, you might not want to wave them around when you see me. Or, conversely, if you want one of these, hand 'em over.

Homeless stylin'

I came across this article about a recent contest in the current issue of Threads magazine. The challenge was to take this pattern and "take it to extremes," and below is one of the winner's responses.



It's a very clever and successful solution. Maybe it's just the magazine's presentation of it that I find so bizarre and funny.



The smiling, copper-haired model showing us what to sew for ourselves (or have our mom sew for us) if we're homeless...the coat can be rolled up and worn as a backpack during the day when you're panhandling, or unrolled and turned into a sleeping bag at night. There are even pockets in the coat you can put newspapers and books in, for extra warmth on those freezing-cold nights when you curl up outside instead of at a homeless shelter (because you've had such unfortunate episodes at homeless shelters).

Snake invasion

I made a couple snakes for the lovely Cat Stat last week and when I woke up the next morning I was shocked to see they'd multiplied. During the day they multiplied further, particularly during the U.S. Open tennis matches.



Some are corduroy and others are cotton velvet. Some have red vinyl tongues and others have pink felt ones. They all have embroidered eyes and none of them are the same. It's kind of freaky.



What recourse do I have but to try to sell them on Etsy? I must warn some of my dear readers, though: if they don't sell, you might find yourselves opening boxes this Christmas containing these mighty slitherers, and have to listen to me explaining how they function wonderfully as neck wear.

Another snake

I made another snake toy this week. He went into a box last night and I sent him off this morning. Goodbye, snake number 2!

We had a teary-eyed photo shoot before he left.



He's for a little man named Van, the baby of a friend of Evany's. I hope he likes it. Moreso, I hope Van and Desi get together and have snake wars or snake coffee klatches together long into the future.

Although I suppose if this guy just ends up stopping a draft, that's not so bad.

Shorty

I'm making shorts for P. I wanted them to be seersucker but he said no freaking way. I snuck some into the pockets anyway.



I used a pattern I found at Scavenger's. I've sewn from a lot of vintage patterns, but this time I felt like I was in a time warp. Something about creating the same kind of trousers I used to rifle through racks of at thrift stores....

I had to take them in about four sizes, shorten the crazy long waist by about half, and nearly had a nervous breakdown trying to figure out the pocket installation but otherwise, it's been a lovely experience.

Fruits of my labor

It's incredibly enjoyable to see pictures of my friends' pint-sized progeny in general — but pictures of them wearing and/or playing with the clothing or toys I've made for them? Quelle joie!

Here's young Desi Baroz making use of the corduroy snake P and I foisted on him.



The little man apparently enjoys rattling its tail.



Meanwhile, across the ocean, Xan and Eshkol's tiny heartbreaker Ad is shown here sporting his kimono. I used a pattern from Heather Ross' book Weekend Sewing, and fabric from one of her collections. Yes, I have long been crushing on everything Heather Ross.

But, you know, this world of craftiness isn't without its competitive edge. When you make something for someone, you have to be prepared for the other people out there, people with their own thread, needles, ideas, and interestingly textured fabrics.



A cupcake with a pipe-cleaner-stemmed cherry on top. I cannot deny it.Très brillant!

More 20-minute drawings

Last week the drawing group met in Brooklyn.

I like this one of Margrit a lot, but I think I focused on her neck for a little too long and then, with not enough of an observant eye. But that's the funny thing about having only 20 minutes to draw; you both have a luxurious amount of time and no time at all. Get a friend to freeze in their tracks for 20 minutes and draw them, and you'll see what I mean!


Margrit

I got equally absorbed by Erin's hair and haircut.


Erin

Last night I decided not to go to the group, and instead stayed in to work on a pair of corduroys. They're dark blue with dark green piping on the pockets. This is the fourth time I've sewed using this pants pattern (also below) and yet it's the first time I've actually taken the time to fit them properly.

I've never made a pair with that rectangular side pocket. Evidently I am not one for rectangular side pockets.

Yes, that's why I've been walking funny and wearing unusually long shirts whenever you've noticed me wearing cords. But when I'm done with this current pair, you know I'm going to start rocking the tube tops to show off the super cool piped pockets. So get ready for that.

Sssssss

P and I went to San Francisco the week before last to visit this absurdly adorable family in their equal-in-absurdity-and-adorability new home. That's Marco, Desmond, and Evany of El Cerrito in a pumpkin patch, yo!



Of course, I have already started pelting these poor souls with homemade gifts. For this visit, P came up with the idea of a snake. A snake? Yes. P has fond memories of dragging a handmade snake of his own around when he was a young lad.



As a result, P had a very specific vision for this thing. He is still disgruntled that the striped bottom isn't slimmer, because the green was supposed to go further around the circumference of the snake. It also took him a while to get him to cross over to the corduroy side in terms of fabric choices.



I was happy with the decision to put a cat toy, a mouse with a distinctive rattle, in the tail. So it rattles AND it's like the snake ate a mouse, BOTH! Here's the snake in Desmond's future crib, where he's already become friends with a snake finger puppet.

And here's a closer pic of Desi Baroz. Don't overlook those little socks with sneaker-like laces. One day he is going to be hitting one of his robot toys with his old crib snake and a fuzzy old mouse toy is going to fall out of it and his mind is going to be blown.

Last resort

I'm thinking about making myself a bathing suit. There's some really ugly, how-do-you-expect-me-to-swim-and-get-a-decent-tan-in-this crap out there. All I've seen are crazy get-ups that would fly right off your body if you dove into a pool or wave, or Olympic swimmer-type costumes not meant for regular humans.



But this notion has cornered me into a realm of the sewing world not meant for the faint-hearted. Fabrics with two- and four-way stretch. The inevitable visit to Spandex House. The reality that making this thing myself instead of buying something off a rack probably heightens the possibility of it flying off my body at an inappropriate moment.



But the patterns I've come across give me hope. Older patterns are so much cooler than their modern counterparts.



Well, hello. And I can use the leftover fabric to make a matching jacket, headscarf, and sarong. Won't I look jaunty by the water. I'm just kidding. I'll probably just make a jacket. And a headscarf.



Did you know Brooke Shields and Diana Ross used to shill bathing suit patterns?

Neither did I! And look at Diana, she has a ruffle on her butt!

Mad hatter

***Warning: this post is going to be unbelievably yawn-inspiring for some of you. Read at your own risk!***

I went a little nuts making hats recently. This one was inspired by a bad, stupid sunburn I got from a beach trip a couple weeks ago. I won't be fooled again!





I used a pattern from this book (Thanks, Lotta) and some excellent 80s Marimekko fabric (Thanks, Frank) that's subtly speckled, as if the colors were spray painted on (so subtle I don't think you can even tell what the heck I'm talking about from these pics).

I also made more of Judy Danz's reversible chemo hats. Can you dig it. Here's one made from vintage Liberty fabric with some more of the Kaffe Fasset fabric on the flip side.





Here's a stripey blue one with some cool blue Kaffe Fasset fabric on the flip side.





This one has green flowers and navy blue on the flip. And how about that crazy fabric-and-knitwear designing, Buddha-and-batik loving Kaffe?



This one has some more of his fabric on one side, and some turquoise stuff on the inside. If you ask me, none of these Fasset prints should have gone out of print. I love them. But you know the crazy fabric business. Fabric lines zip by hither and thither and then poof! Gone!



Well, I did say I went a little nuts hat-wise. I started out making just one hat for a friend going through chemo, and then decided to make one for her daughter, too, so they could wear them together if they liked. I'll donate the others somewhere...the Beth Israel Cancer Center in Union Square probably.

And yes, I am a big fan of Pernod. This particular bottle of Pernod turned out to be a big fan of these hats, too, generously offering to model them. Thank you, bottle of Pernod.



I will never be sun burnt again. I will also probably bump into a few lampposts on the way to the beach and plow over some seagulls accidentally when I get there but I will not end up sun burnt.

Some bad-ass hats

I woke up from a nap this weekend to a message on my cell phone: "Hi, Jocelyn? You won! Your hat won the contest. Please call—." I thought I was still dreaming and was all like, "Dreams are so fun sometimes." But then I remembered I did actually make some hats and enter them in a contest. Last week, the ever-creative and industrious Nina invited me, Emily, and Laura over to make some chapeaus for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The combination of a good cause combined with a use for my mountains of scrap fabric inspired me to knock out three of them before I even got to Nina's. O.K., enough talk. On to the images!

This is the one that won. It's a reversible head topper with long ties, made using this ingenious free pattern (thank you, Judy Danz!). It's really easy to make, and it's cozy and cool and inspires people to vote for it and give unsuspecting sewers prize money. Here's one side, with the other side's ties facing up; the other side of the ties match the flowered fabric, of cawse.



The extremely cute Emily finished her hat before everyone else and graciously became the model of the evening. Which was a great thing, because a couple of them hats didn't fit on my big head, don'tcha know.



Here it is in reverse.





I also made a plaid hat with a bow in the back for those who enjoy a more androgynous look.





I can't really explain the purple polka-dotted one. There must be someone out there who would enjoy it. Right? It's soft and won't fly off your head in a windstorm thanks to those burgundy ties.



Emily gives this hat more distinction than it might deserve, I think. Damn, you're good, Emily.



Then, while I was at Nina's, I sewed some ribbon with hearts and silver rick rack, etc., onto a black hat...it turned out O.K.



While Emily, Laura and Nina made their own jaw-dropping head toppers. Here's Emily in her own design.



Now that's more like it. Beeyootiful.



Nina's and Laura's were no less impressive, but I shall stop foisting pictures at you now. Nina, post yours and Laura's on your awesome blog! The organization that hosted the contest is called NYCreates, and the hats all went to the super cool Heavenly Hats foundation. If you sew and have a yen for it, make a hat! It's way faster and more satisfying than many other wacko sewing projects, in my humble opinion.