#and seam allowance added to the fold line

[dinosaurcharcuterie]

Derailing project of the moment, Project "Nephew's Birthday Gift" is... Technically done. Added side seams, because he's turning four, and pockets, because cool rocks exist.

I also kept the promise of it not taking up much space. It's about the size of a T-shirt, and I'm so very very tempted to just... Buy a T-shirt and play an innocent prank on the birthday boy.

And then the fiber craft demons struck, in the shape of a very charming man in the open air museum doing a demonstration with five dozen cards and sewing thread on a +5m inkle loom, and I decided nephew needs a knighty belt. Because that's what kindergartners care about: handmade decorative techniques that were available to people in the era. It's definitely not just that he wants a dress-up outfit to boink his brother on the butt with a toy sword in.

[najia-cooks]

うどん / Udon (thick Japanese noodles)

Udon are thick, chewy Japanese noodles. They have a place in 和食 (washoku; "Japanese food" or "harmonious food")—'traditional' Japanese cuisine that predates the increased opening of Japan to foreign trade and influence in the Meiji period. Conventionally, udon are eaten hot or cold in soups and with dipping sauces. Yaki udon and curry udon are udon dishes more associated with 洋食 (yoshoku: "Western food").

In some places, udon may be purchased dried, fresh, or frozen, but in others they may be unavailable. This recipe lets you make delicious fresh udon—with much better, chewier texture than dried or frozen—no matter where you are, with just flour, salt, and water.

Recipe under the cut!

Patreon | Tip jar

Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cup (200g) all-purpose four

1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp (90g) lukewarm water

10g kosher or flake salt (about 2 tsp David’s kosher salt—volume may vary by brand—or 1 tsp table salt)

Potato starch or cornstarch (for dusting)

Instructions:

To make:

1. Add flour to a large mixing bowl. If measuring by volume, measure flour by spooning it gently into a dry cup measure and levelling off the excess.

2. Dissolve salt into water to create a brine.

3. Slowly add brine to flour while mixing to distribute evenly. Mix and press dough until it just comes together into a ball with no dry flour remaining; it’s okay if the ball has cracks in it or seems “shaggy.”

If dry flour remains, wet your fingers and continue pressing. Be careful not to add too much water; the dough should feel too tough to knead by hand. Cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

4. Knead the dough by hand for about 200 turns, until smooth and pliable ("as soft as an earlobe").

Another common Japanese method which will spare your hands is to place the dough in a large resealable plastic bag, leaving a little bit of air. Step on the dough with your heels (starting from the center and working your way out) until it is flat. You can also place it between two pieces of parchment paper and place kitchen towels below and on top of it before stepping on it, if you don’t have a large enough bag.

Remove the dough from the bag and fold the edges in towards the center, like an envelope; then fold the corners into the center to form a ball, and place it seam-side-down back inside the bag. Repeat this (stepping on the dough, folding it and gathering it into a ball, and placing it back in the bag) four more times, or until the dough is smooth and pliable.

5. Allow the dough to rest, covered (or sealed in the bag), for 1 1/2 to 3 hours (closer to 1 1/2 hours if your kitchen is warm; closer to 3 hours if it is cold).

6. On a working surface lightly dusted with starch, flatten the dough into a disc with your hand, then roll it out with a rolling pin into a rectangle about 1/8" (3mm) thick and 12" (32cm) long. You can do this by rolling it out in one direction, then flipping the dough 90 degrees and rolling again. Then, wrap the dough around the rolling pin as you roll diagonally from corner to corner, first in one direction and then the other, to even out the thickness of the dough and shape the corners of the rectangle.

7. Dust the surface of the dough with more starch and fold it in thirds lengthwise (so that the folds are parallel to the 12" long edge).

8. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough widthwise (perpendicular to the fold lines) to create noodles about 1/8" (3mm) in width. Cut straight down, rather than moving the knife back and forth in a sawing motion, which would tear the edges of the noodles.

9. Pick up and "plop" the cut noodles down using your fingers while adding a bit more starch to ensure that the noodles don't stick to each other.

To cook:

1. Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a rolling boil. Shake excess starch off of the noodles and add them to the pot.

2. Cook, stirring occasionally with chopsticks or a pasta spoon, until the noodles no longer taste raw, 10-13 minutes.

3. Drain and rinse with cold water to halt cooking and rinse off excess starch.

To use the noodles in hot soup, dip the noodles into a pot of hot water to bring up their temperature; portion them into individual serving bowls and pour your broth over them.

To store unused noodles, place individual portions into ziplock bags or tupperware containers lined with parchment paper; freeze for up to a month. Boil noodles directly from frozen for 12-15 minutes.

[dollsahoy]

Hi, so I saw your addition to the "things I wish I knew about sewing" post about interfacing, and was wondering how that applies to smaller scale clothes? Not just 1/16th (even though that's the scale most of what I have are), but like, in general.

I generally do skip interfacing doll clothes. Sometimes I will add some fusible webbing to the upper piece of a collar...sometimes.

But I do use facings on 1:6 necklines made from woven fabric all the time, because it is so much easier, to me, to sew on that extra piece, clip the seam allowances, then turn it to the inside out and flatten with my fingers.

I usually make my facing piece large enough to reach the arm holes, which allows me to also finish the arm holes with that facing piece as well if there are no sleeves, or catch the edges of the facing in the sleeve seams to hold it in place.

...and, honestly, if the bodice of a doll dress is short enough, that facing is almost a lining. I think a lot of people line doll clothes to get the same effect as using facings. (Facings are generally made from the same fabric as the outside of the garment, while lining is generally a different fabric)

Sorry if you were specifically asking about interfacing and not facings--this answer is mostly for people who are still learning the difference between facings (pieces of fabric sewn to an edge, right sides together, then turned to the inside) and interfacing (reinforcing layer added to the inner side of fabric, usually on a facing)

I am so confident that facings are the easiest way to finish a neckline in a garment made from woven fabric that I included a facing in this doll shirt pattern I made and shared a few years ago

The kind of facing that extends to the arm holes is in this pattern

(I keep specifying garments made from woven fabric because the easiest way to finish the edge of a knit fabric garment is to sew a folded piece of knit, slightly stretched, to that edge. I suspect some people new to sewing will find it counterintuitive that it really is easier, in some situations, to finish an edge by cutting and sewing on an entire other piece of fabric...)

And if none of this answers your question, let me know that I got carried away on something else!

[tj-crochets]

How do you make stuffed animals? I’ve bought a pattern for less complicated animals, but you made that blorbo and I don’t think there are any templates for that? What should be my next step in developing my animal making skills?

Hey! This answer is probably going to get pretty long, so it's going below a read more

You're right, I did not use a pre-existing pattern for the blorbo plushie. There's a couple different methods people use to create plushie patterns; if you find you don't like the method I use, that doesn't mean you can't make plushies! Keep trying until you find methods that work for you In my experience, the best way to develop skills in plushie pattern making is to sew a bunch of different plushies. While you use patterns, look at how the pieces look in 2D on the paper and how the end up in 3D in the finished plushie, and start to make a note of what it takes to make simple 3D shapes like a sphere (darts or different segments), a cube (six squares), a cylinder (a rectangle with two circles for the end pieces) If creating a new pattern entirely from scratch seems too much to start with, you can repurpose pieces of other patterns*! I've got a fluffy ostrich-y bird pattern that's just a pattern for a round dumpling for the body, a pattern for a...I think it was a snowball for the head, and then some simple rectangles to make the cylinders of the neck and legs. Another thing! A lot of plushie pattern making for simpler plushies made of knit fabric is just drawing. My manta ray patterns are just a drawing of a manta ray, plus a seam allowance added around the outside. Same with my eel pattern (mostly. it has one dart), my fish pattern, my other manta ray pattern...there's a lot of patterns you can make flat when you're starting out and use stuffing and the stretch of the fabric to make 3D. It's still what I use for simple flat pieces of patterns like wings, arms, ears, etc. That reminds me: seam allowances! I use 1/4" seam allowances, because that's what my sewing machine is set up for and it's the most common seam allowance I've seen used for plushies. You can use whatever seam allowance you want, but I have found it's a loooot easier if you have a tool you can use to add your seam allowance once you've drawn your pattern. I use two mechanical pencils taped together whose points are 1/4" apart. I put one pencil on the line I drew for the pattern, and use the other pencil to draw the line of the seam allowance. A few other tips, in no particular order but numbered so I can keep track of them 1. when matching up pieces of a pattern, make sure they match before the seam allowance is added. It'll make your life easier 2. fold paper to get symmetry in your pattern pieces 3. if you need to match a straight line to a curved line, or two curved lines together, you can use a pipe cleaner to measure the length of the curved line and then straighten the pipe cleaner to know how long to make your straight line (like matching the bottom of legs (rectangular pieces) to feet (circular pieces)) 4. If you are creating a pattern to use with a particular fabric, check how much of the fabric you have BEFORE you draw the pattern just like an inch too long to cut out of the fabric (I learned the hard way lol) 5. if you are worried your pattern won't turn out how you want it to, you can always start with monsters. There's no wrong way to make a monster plushie, you can just accidentally make a different monster than the one you intended to make. It's still a monster plushie, and that's not a bad thing to make! :D 6. if you have multiple pattern pieces coming together at the same point, like the top of a beach ball or the top of my octopus pattern, think about what angle you want that junction to form. For the octopus, I wanted the very top of it to be flat, so I made sure the pieces coming together totaled 360 degrees to be a flat circle. If I'd gone for less than 360 degrees, it would be pointed, if I'd gone for more, it would be kind of ruffled? Almost? Point is: divide the angle you want by the number of pieces you want to form that angle to get what the angle should be at the point each piece comes together *don't sell patterns made from pieces of other peoples' patterns though

[charmsponies]

My Little Pony basic dress sewing tutorial below the cut ^^ I am not the best at sewing or pattern making but all this info is free to use! I noticed a lack of ponywear sewing tutorials so I am going to try to fill that gap!

TERMS: Pattern is free to use or modify for whatever use you’d like (I don’t even mind if you wanna sell some homemade dresses) just please give credit to me for the original pattern! I would love to see whatever you make so feel free to tag me too 💕

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

-Basic knowledge of a basic sewing stitch (I pretty much only used backstitches for this pattern)

-Some fabric (I recommend two colors, one for the body and then one for the skirt, but you can use however many fabric colors you’d like if you’d rather only have one color or if you wanna have more fabrics for sleeves or extra layers or details)

-Velcro or a zipper (you could also maybe use buttons if you prefer but velcro or a zipper will be much easier)

-Sewing thread, needles. I recommend getting fabric glue as it will make attaching lace and velcro easier. Maybe some pins if they would help you!

-Optional: Embellishments such as ribbon, lace, buttons, sew on flowers, bows, ect. This is all up to how you want to decorate the dress!

I am sorry I don’t actually know how to make downloadable patterns but here are the hand drawn patterns I’ve made for the chest piece as a reference (the left side is the baby pattern, the right side is the adult pattern.)

You will likely have to modify these patterns slightly based on the pose of your pony, their size, if they have wings, ect. I am also sure this pattern can be modified to fit other generations, sweetheart sister ponies, ect. (Quick note here about pegasus wings: You may want to make a looser fitting dress as if it is too tight it may look lumpy due to their wings. As you will see in this tutorial I started off using baby surprise as the model, but then I switched to baby glory as she was easier to work with due to her being a unicorn. I feel like you would have better luck making a dress for an adult pegasus rather than a baby one).

Here’s basically what the pattern is showing: there will be one seam near the chest, and the top part will end up being the neck line. The holes are for the front legs, and the sides MUST BE LONGER so that you have enough seam allowance to hem it but also this is where the velcro will go! So you will want enough length on the sides for the pattern to overlap. As you are tracing/making the pattern with paper, be sure to test it with your pony to make sure the size is right! You’ll want to be testing the size of your dress frequently to make sure that everything fits correctly!

Trace out your pattern (make sure to make everything a little bit bigger for seam allowance!) and then cut it out.

Be sure to check the size if it fits or not!

Next, you will want to fold the dress in half (good sides facing each other) and sew a seam along where this blue line is. depending on how curved you make this/how close to the legs/neck area you make this seam, the tighter or looser fitting the front of the dress will be, so you may want to adjust it a bit to your preference.

It will look something like this.

Next, we will hem the neckline.

Then, you will hem the sides (Now is a good time to test on your model pony to make sure that the sides will be long enough to overlap with a piece of velcro!

This is where I added lace to the neckline. You can sew it on or just use fabric glue. You don’t have to use lace if you don’t want to but it is very cute.

I added lace to the sleeves too. If you want long sleeves, you can modify this pattern by sewing another piece of fabric for the sleeves. If you don’t want lacey sleeves, I’d recommend hemming the sleeves or covering the edges with ribbon or something so they don’t fray (I didn’t hem them here just because they are so small it would be hard to hem!)

Now you will cut some pieces of velcro for the dress opening on the back. I recommend putting one piece on the outside of the dress and the other piece on the inside of the dress as shown, that way the fabric can overlap nicely. You can either sew or glue this in. You could also use a zipper, buttons, whatever else you’d like for the dress opening.

Now we make the skirt of the dress! The pattern looks something like this, it is a little hard for me to explain but I will do my best ^^ . You will have to measure and test out the waistline yourself to make sure you have the best fit for your pony, just keep adjusting it until it works. You can also decide the length of your dress. To cut it out, you will fold your fabric in half twice and line up the pattern with the folded corner, before cutting it out.

If you’d like to see a video of someone doing something like this, here is the video tutorial that I originally learned how to make skirts from!

Once you have the skirt fabric piece, you can sew the skirt to the body of the dress. Make sure that you’re doing it “inside out”, and that the good sides of the fabric are touching each other.

It will look something like this once you turn it inside out again! Be sure to test the dress to make sure everything fits! (If you are struggling to understand how exactly to put it on: put all your pony’s legs, their tail and butt through the dress back opening, put her back legs, tail and butt through the skirt opening and her front legs through the arm holes before fastening the back. It was a little weird to figure out at first lol.)

Now you will attach lace to the hem of the skirt! You can sew it or just use glue. If you don’t want lace, just hem the ends so it doesn’t fray.

Test one more time to make sure everything fits!

The final step is to decorate however you want! You could do a lot of creative things depending on what you have, buttons. more lace, ribbon, ect. For these spring yellow dresses I just added some yellow ribbon around the middle and I sewed some flowers to the back (You can find these flowers or little bows or other decorations at places like walmart).

And now you should have a completed pony dress! Thank you so much for reading and I hope that this helps someone out! If you follow this tutorial, reblog or tag me in a post with your dress because I would love to see it!! If you have any questions let me know! Thank you 💜

[onegirlatelier]

July, 2024 | Simple Pink Day Dress

Hey there! It’s been a long time. I have been spending the majority of the spring on academic work, but I did finish a few items and will be making more fibre things over the summer. Today I will be writing about this simple pink dress with just enough details for a clean and high-quality finish.

I should clarify that the design is based on an old Margaret Howell dress—so it is not my own. The original dress was in linen and came in two colours (mid-blue and black), and it looked fabulous on the runway. I wish I could find it, or afford it, or had the body to feel comfortable in it…But I thought it would also be nice to make my own.

The dress has no waist seam, and the waist shaping relies entirely on the belt. It has a simple V neck in the front and a deeper faux wrapped neckline in the back. The maximum waist measurement is fixed. The front and back necklines are stabilised with bindings cut on straight grain. The armscyes have bias binding. There is an opening on the right side seam to allow the belt to draw through. You may add a button to further close the back neckline if the shoulders tend to slip off (it works for some people; for me it doesn’t.)

Pattern

The pattern is easy to draft. We start with a basic bodice block that fits exactly.

Draft the pattern on a folded half of the front:

Rotate all darts towards the waist. Leave the darts ‘open’ i.e. do not add sewing lines here as they will be gathered when you wear a belt.

Add 1cm to the underarm width, i.e. in total 4cm added to the underarm circumference.

Add 5cm to the waist, i.e. in total 20cm added to the waist circumference.

(Adjust Steps 2 and 3 based on your desired positive eases.)

4. Draw the neckline on the front.

5. You might want to adjust the armscye—for many people, fitted bodices with and without sleeves require different armscye shapes. This includes raising/lowering the underarm point and increasing/decreasing the shoulder width.

(By now we have the bodice part of c.)

For the back:

6. Draw the ‘wrapped’ neckline, taking into consideration the width of the belt. Depending on your body shape, you can just ignore the tiny shoulder dart on the basic bodice pattern, or take it into account when you sew the binding.

7. Leave the waist dart ‘open’ and adjust the underarm and waist as in the front. This doesn’t have to be exactly the same as the front, but note that the neckline gap will become harder to control as the width of the bodice increases.

Skirt:

8. Extend the bodice to make the skirt. It is a little tricky for a dress without a waist seam, because the front bodice is often wider than the back to accommodate the chest, whereas the back of the bottom is usually wider than the front for the hips. This can be compensated to some extent by adding waist darts or making the back skirt expand wider than the front (i.e. closer to a quarter circle than a rectangle), but note that neither the back nor the front skirt can be too wide as the waves would not hang in a correct distribution.

9. The lengths of the front and back skirts also depends on your chest and hips.

10. The skirt in the back is divided into two asymmetric panels – see the illustrations.

Belt:

11. The belt is two ribbons of 4*140cm, so cut two rectangles of 10*142cm, with 1cm of allowance.

Fabric

Choose a drapey fabric if making a longer skirt. Soft silk, cotton and viscose would work well. Linen tends to be crisper so I would suggest reducing both the width and length of the skirt if using pure linen. Alternatively, you can reduce the width of the skirt but keep the length by adding a slit.

I cut my patterns along the cross grain, because for some reason this fabric is much stabler on the weft than on the warp. Proof that you don’t always cut along the straight grain!

Making the dress

(All seams unspecified are French seams.)

Finish shoulder seams.

2. Add binding to the front and back necklines. I controlled the neckline gapping by easing the main fabric into a straight-grain ribbon binding. I eased 1cm on each side of the front and 1.5cm on each side of the back.

(Above: the front, seen from the outside.)

（Above: the back, seen from the outside.)

3. Finish the side without the opening. For me, this was the left side.

4. Finish the side with the opening. First, check that the opening is at the correct height. Then just treat it as a skirt side slit from both ends. Add a ‘stopper’ to stabilise the opening.

(Left: the opening seen from the outside. Right: the opening seen from the inside.)

5. Finish the armscyes with narrow bias binding.

6. For the belt, finish the ribbon that goes on the ‘upper’ side. Sandwich it at the waist line between the two back panels and finish the back seam (a French seam). I closed both short ends of this ribbon before attaching it to the body, but, in hindsight, the end that goes in the body doesn’t have to finished.

(Above: where you attach the ribbon, seen from the outside.)

7. Sew the ribbon of the other side, leaving the width of the overlapping part of the bodice open. Finish one short end. Turn it to the right side.

8. Attach the unsewn width of the belt to the bodice piece that goes under. Finish the raw edge of the short edge. If you have left the short end of the other belt open, you will be able to see it here and should encase it as you attach the ‘under’ ribbon.

(Above: ribbon attached to the 'under' half of the bodice and then sewn onto one short end of the other ribbon, seen from the inside.)

9. Check the length and finish the hem. I did a simple twice-folded hem and steam-pressed after each fold, before sewing it down with whip stitches.

There you go😊 This post consists mainly of brief notes; however, if you would like some further explanation, let me know and I’ll try my best!

[cutebiscuitcosplay]

Allura, Part 11

Skirt time! These were actually pretty simple to make.

For the underskirt, I took a measurement of the widest point the skirt will cover and how long I wanted it to be. I then made sure my fabric (the dark blue jersey - very stretchy!) was 1-2 inches larger in both dimensions. One seam up the back later, and it was time for the waistline. I hemmed this with a zigzag stitch, leaving a channel about an inch wide, and didn’t quite meet up the stitching - I left about 2” open. I then measured around my waist where the skirt will sit, and cut a piece of 3/4” elastic to exactly this length. I then threaded it through the channel in the waistband, made sure it was flat all around and not twisted, then sewed the ends together with a 1” overlap. I then pulled this back fully into the waistband, and finished the hem stitching. I then put a vertical line of stitching in next to the seam to hold the elastic in place. I evened out the gathering, and put in another five sets of vertical stitches spaced around the waistband to hold the elastic in place. Then, again with mum’s help, I marked the bottom of the hemline. Using this as a guide, I folded it up and stitched the hem using a short and wide zigzag stitch - this gives the stitching the maximum amount of stretch. Underskirt: complete!

For the overskirt, I needed to have a gap in the front. So, I estimated how big I wanted the gap, and removed that from my hip measurement. I then halved that, added seam allowance, and cut two panels of the length I needed. I then sewed the center back seam, and started the waistband the same way I did the underskirt. This time, I completed the channel stitching, as the ends were remaining open. I used a piece of ribbon to temporarily hold the edges together, and pinned in darts to shape the skirt better, as my waistline is smaller than my hips and I don’t want this one to be gathered. Once I had the darts pinned, I went ahead and sewed them before cutting off the excess fabric. I then took a piece of elastic 1” larger than the gap I want, and tucked one inch at each end into the two sides of the waistband. To hold this in place securely, I stitched a square with an X, covering the two vertical lines twice each. This left me with (unstretched) a gap 1” smaller than what I want - this allows the elastic to hold the skirt up. Then it was time for the trim - this time, before I pinned the unfolded side to the skirt, I folded the top down and stitched that to hide the raw edge. I then repeated the same process as before: unfold one side of the bias tape, pin, sew, fold, pin sew. Once I had the bias tape finished, I hemmed the bottom of the skirt, folding the bias taped corners into a triangle first to, again, hide the raw edges. One last line of stitching, and she’s done!

Of course, I still need to style the wig and make the capelet. I’ll try to do them both in the room tonight before I wear her tomorrow, but I’ll prioritize the wig!

Looking forward to Fantasy Forest - anyone else planning to go?

[mybrilliantart]

Cute Gojo Satoru - Easy Drawing Tutorial

Gojo Satoru, the charismatic and powerful sorcerer from the hit manga and anime series "Jujutsu Kaisen," is a fan favorite known for his striking appearance and playful personality. Drawing a cute version of Gojo Satoru can be a fun and rewarding experience, even for beginners. This step-by-step guide will help you capture his charm in an easy and approachable way.

Materials Needed:

Pencil

Eraser

Drawing paper

Fine-tip black pen (optional for inking)

Colored pencils or markers (optional for coloring)

Step 1: Basic Head Shape

Start by drawing a simple circle for Gojo's head. This will be the foundation of his cute, chibi-style appearance. Lightly sketch a vertical and horizontal line across the circle to help place the facial features symmetrically.

Step 2: Facial Features

Begin by drawing large, expressive eyes slightly below the horizontal guideline. Chibi characters often have oversized eyes to enhance their cuteness. Draw a small curved line for the nose just below the eyes, and a simple curved line for the mouth to give Gojo a cheerful expression.

Step 3: Hair Outline

Sketch the outline of Gojo's iconic spiky hair. Start by drawing the hairline, which follows the curve of the top of the head. Then, add large, pointed spikes that extend outward. Keep the spikes slightly exaggerated to maintain the chibi style.

Step 4: Body Shape

Draw a small, simple body below the head. Chibi characters have proportionally larger heads and smaller bodies. Use basic shapes like rectangles and ovals to outline the torso, arms, and legs. Position the arms and legs in a relaxed or playful pose to enhance the cute appearance.

Step 5: Clothing Details

Add details to Gojo's outfit. Draw the collar of his high-necked jacket, and add simple lines to indicate the folds and seams. Keep the details minimal to maintain the chibi style. You can add his blindfold or his sunglasses on top of his head for extra character.

Step 6: Hands and Feet

Sketch small, simple hands and feet. Chibi hands can be drawn with just a few curved lines to suggest fingers, and the feet can be simple ovals or rectangles. Keep the proportions small and cute.

Step 7: Finalize the Outline

Go over your sketch, refining the lines and adding any additional details. Make sure the proportions are accurate and the lines are clean. Erase any unnecessary guidelines and adjust any elements to perfect the overall appearance.

Step 8: Inking (Optional)

For a polished look, use a fine-tip black pen to outline your drawing. Carefully trace over the pencil lines, making sure to follow the contours of Gojo's features and clothing. Allow the ink to dry before erasing any remaining pencil marks.

Step 9: Coloring (Optional)

Add color to your drawing using colored pencils or markers. Choose appropriate colors for Gojo's hair, eyes, and outfit. Use light, pastel shades to enhance the cute, chibi appearance. Add shading and highlights to create depth and dimension.

Step 10: Final Touches

Add any final touches, such as additional shading, highlights, or small details, to enhance the overall look of your drawing. Step back and admire your cute version of Gojo Satoru, appreciating the effort you've put into capturing his charm.

Conclusion:

Drawing a cute version of Gojo Satoru from "Jujutsu Kaisen" can be an enjoyable and accessible project for artists of all levels. By following these simple steps and embracing the chibi style, you can capture the playful and endearing side of this beloved character. Remember to practice regularly and have fun expressing your creativity through your artwork!

► Video Drawing Tutorial

► All Video Cute Drawing

► All Video How to Draw Chibi Characters

[thenerdysewist]

Making My Dog A Denim Jacket

It's been unseasonably cold here recently, and my dog only has one jacket. My dad picked it years ago when she was still a puppy and we haven't gotten her a new one. It works well as a rain coat, but she gets cold inside the house too and the fabric the jacket is made of is neither comfortable nor cute.

I, however, have an endless supply of scraps. So I set out to make her jacket that was warm, cute, and comfortable.

Materials:

Scrap Denim

Scrap Flannel

Process:

The first step was converting the existing coat into a pattern.

Since it was all one flat shape, I was able to fold it in half and plop it down on the paper with the collar portion folded away.

I traced the whole thing and marked off where the side tabs went. Then I added half an inch around the outside to create seam allowance. I cut out the pattern for both the body of the jacket and the closure tabs.

I then pinned the pattern to the fabric. Because the denim I had was not wide enough to fit the body pattern on the fold, I had to cut out two pieces. The lining was cut on the fold, and I used flannel. I cut two tabs out of denim and two tabs out of the flannel lining.

I stitched the two pieces of denim down the center back to form a seam and that completed the top of the jacket.

I then draped the denim over my dog to check for the fit.

It fit well enough that I could move onto the actual assembly. I stitched the flannel lining for the tabs to the denim portion of the tabs, right sides together. I trimmed the seam allowance, and turned the whole thing right side out and pressed it flat. I then pinned the lining for the jacket body to the denim for the jacket body with the tabs sandwiched in between.

I stitched all around the edge of the two pieces, leaving an opening at the bottom so I could turn it right side out. I turned it right side out and ironed everything flat. Then I top-stitched everything to keep the lining and denim from rolling. I added Velcro to the tabs in the same places as the existing coat, and with that, the jacket was finished!

The Reveal:

Final Thoughts:

This project was super easy. Starting from when I first put the coat down to trace it, to putting the finished product on my dog, it took maybe an hour and half. I suspect that it would go even faster now that I won't have to draft the pattern again, and won't have the extra step of making a back seam.

I think this is a very beginner friendly project, and pretty cheap even if you don't have scraps. If you have a dog with a coat, you can follow more or less the same process I did here, and you can probably use an old blanket or a shirt you don't wear anymore. You could even hit up a thrift store for materials easily depending on the size of your dog.

Your dog can be fashionable and warm!

[sockeye-run]

Looks pretty crazy for a pizza... But trust me on this: Apricot jam, cream cheese, pizza cheese blend, red onions, red bell peppers, blackened chicken, cajun spices, and topped with fresh grated carrot, green onions, and cilantro! 🤯😍

When I lived in Alaska, I worked at a restaurant called the Bear Tooth Theater Pub. It is a shoot off of the Moose's Tooth Pizza, and their brewery is called Broken Tooth. They are an award-winning, internationally acclaimed pizzeria; everything they make is crazy good. I worked at their theater/venue location, so I would man the line for viewings and live events. One of our more interesting but nonetheless popular pizzas was the Amazing Apricot pizza. That is my husband's favorite on the menu.

So of course I make it from scratch at home from time to time for him. He also really likes thick, pillowy pizza crust, so I use Matty Matheson's Three Day Fermented Dough. It's a mad easy recipe; the hardest part is waiting lol. And I can't talk about a super delicious recipe without sharing it, so here's the dough:

Matty Matheson's Three Day Fermented Dough Recipe

(Makes one full sheet pan pizza, or two half pan pizzas)

Ingredients:

- 4 cups bread (or all purpose) flour

- 2 teaspoons salt

- 1/3 cup olive oil (or preferred cooking oil)

- 1 3/4 cups warm water, about 100°F

- 8 grams dry active yeast (one packet)

In a standing mixer bowl, combine water and yeast. Allow yeast to rise and get foamy, 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime, combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Add the oil to the mixer bowl once the yeast is ready. Using the dough hook, mix the liquids on low, slowly adding the dry ingredients until completely incorporated. Turn the mixer to medium and knead the dough for 5-8 minutes, until a soft and smooth ball forms.

Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, and cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until double in size, about an hour.

Once risen, punch the dough down and fold it over itself a few times. Place the dough seam side down in the oiled bowl, and cover securely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, punch the dough down again. Gently pull the dough out to a large rectangular shape, and place the dough on a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Cover the dough again with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for another 24 hours.

When you're ready to bake, remove the dough from the fridge. Gently press the dough to the edges and corners of the pan, and allow to rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.

Top with your preferred pizza toppings, and bake at 500°F for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Let rest for a few minutes at room temperature before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

[anamoli]

I've gone down a rabbit hole...

Currently, I've been trying to figure out how to work with the sample swatch of turquoise faux leather. It is a thin layer of vinyl that is backed with some white foam. Definitely not something I'd want to be visible.

It also has zero ability to keep a shape. I've been experimenting with inserting a piece of 20-gauge copper wire I have laying around from when I dabbled in wire wrapping. It's been really finicky, and I'd need a really thin seam allowance so that the seam doesn't show past the gold embroidery (I mean, don't even get me started on how that would go!)

I've tried different ways of folding the faux leather to hide that backing AND cover the wire, but I haven't found a way that doesn't make this little puckered corner:

Honestly, kind of a nightmare and not quite the finish I want to have, especially for those sharp corners on all the armor pieces. I thought to myself, "Okay, what if I just sew it down really tightly? That should work right?"

But my sewing machine is a very basic one I got from a sale at Costco for $200. It was not happy with sewing this stuff together. Fine. Hand sewing it is. I want clean, even stitches, so I did some light research on leatherworking and the general process for stitching with it. I learned about overstitcher wheels (first image) and awls (second image). The overstitcher (or spacing) wheels make even marks where the stitching should go and the stitching awl punches holes through the leather.

Fun Fact: apparently leather awls are different than conventional ones. Awls for leather work have a diamond point that'll cut through the leather instead of pushing through. That way there isn't a puckered back!

A company called Tandy Leather was mentioned often in leatherworking forums, so of course I visited their website.

$199 purchase required for free shipping though. 😠 Thankfully, there is a local shop not too far from where I work! So, I paid them a visit and this is where the rabbit hole begins...

First off, I was completely overwhelmed. I didn't realize that they had a really decent selection of dyed leather! Pretty pricey for my needs though, and I definitely do not need an entire hide of cow for this project. But one of the employees was really helpful and even directed me to some more affordable options that is the right size that I needed! He also told me about how to dye leather and all the different options available to get the finish I want.

And he got me. Hook, line, and sinker.

But let's do a cost and time analysis to show that this might actually be the best option for this cosplay.

Cost Analysis

Faux Leather: total of $95

$33: 1yd turquoise faux leather

$29: 1yd burgundy faux leather

$29: goddamn shipping

$ 4: 8yds copper 20-gauge wire

Real Leather: total of $57

$40: 2 veg-tan belly cuts (approximately 3-5 sqft each)

$ 7: 4oz bottle of burgundy leather dye

$ 10: leather finishing (this is to keep the dye locked in)

According to my spreadsheet, I really only need ~5 sqft of leather for ALL the armor pieces, and I could get away with only purchasing one belly cut that's on the larger side for some extra savings.

I didn't include a bottle of turquoise leather dye since I already have a bottle of turquoise Rit Dye ($5) for the rubber I'll be using in the crack climbing gloves. If the Rit Dye doesn't work out, I wouldn't cry over getting another bottle. I also didn't include sponges (used to apply the dye) or a buffing towel (to polish the leather) because I can just steal my sister's makeup sponges and I have plenty of microfiber towels.

The tools did cost a bit, BUT that's because I did get the medium-range quality tools that had interchangeable parts since I'm planning on adding leatherworking to my list of hobbies anyway.

For example, the overstitcher came as set with the handle and 4 different wheels for $20 and the awl also came as a set with the handle, 2 awl blades, a scratch blade, and a lacing blade for $30. There are definitely beginner-grade options that are $10 and $7 respectively. I also purchased a stitching groover for $17, but there are cheaper options around $10.

If we put together the materials and cheaper tools for working with leather, that comes out to be the same price as just the materials for the faux leather (~$85-95). However, it results in a higher quality cosplay and some tools that can be used for other projects.

Time and Effort Analysis

Overall, working with the leather is going to take a lot of time (which I have a lot of, for now...), but it'll look SO good and it's cheaper! Who would have thought?

I'm definitely eating my words that I said last month...

"No, I'm not going to purchase real leather..."

-- Me, an ignorant idiot, Jan 29th

[somediyprojects]

DIY Decorative and Utilitarian Shelf Edging

Project by Haylie Waring:

Simple shelf-edging can be a great disguise for unattractive shelving units or it can transform your kitchen and library shelves by creating a more uniform look. Here I have alternated a decorative traditional fabric-edging with a  utilitarian cork edge in the kitchen- a great spot for tacking up grocery lists and recipes… I have also included a quick tip on making cute tiny tacks for your cork edging! –haylie

Materials & Tools:

To Make Patterns/ Templates You Will Need:

-paper -pencil -t-square -ruler -small round object (e.g. lid to baby food jar or spice container- depends on size of scallops) -paper scissors

To Make Fabric Edging:

-fabric of your choice (approx. 1/2 YD per 4- 44″ shelves) -thread -iron -sewing machine -scissors (use sharp fabric scissors for precise cutting) -fray-check -straight pins -chalk -measuring tape straight edge ruler

To Make Cork Edging: -cork roll (depending on shelf size, this ikea shelving required a 5″ x 44″ piece per shelf- can be found in 48″ rolls at office supply stores) -t-square -chalk or marker -scissors -double sided adhesive tape- extra strong bond

To Make Tiny Tacks: -acrylic paint -basic applique pins -tweezers

Instructions:

To Make Template:

1. Measure the height of your shelf edge. The Ikea shelving pictured here measured 1 3/4″, and I added 1″ for the scallop/ pennant overhang. The pattern should measure 2 3/4″ high (overhang may very according to the height of your shelving edge, and personal preference). 2. From a sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper, i cut two 2 3/4″ strips from the length of the paper, then accordion folded one strip in 2 1/2″ increments and the other in 1 1/4″ increments. 3. While still folded mark your templates 1 3/4″ down from the top, below this line you will form the scallop or pennant point. For a scallop, use a small container lid to trace a semi-circular shape, centering the shape below the line you have marked previously. For a pennant shape, find the center at the bottom edge of the folded piece. Now, using a straight edge draw a line from the center point to the two outer points marked previously. 4. Cut using paper scissors along the semi-circular edge and the pennant shape. Unfold your template and you should have a repeating scalloped/ pennant image. 5. Use these templates to hang on shelving to help you visualize your final product so that you can make changes if necessary.

To Make Fabric Decorative Edge:

1. Measure and cut two strips of fabric, for this particular shelving edge I cut one piece 4″ x 44″ (depending on shelf size) and one piece 3″ x 44″ (2 3/4″ plus 1/4″ for seam allowance). Place the larger piece to the side, the smaller piece will require ironing.

2. Using the iron, make an accordion pleat in the fabric strip, again at 2 1/2″ increments. After pleating all 44″ you should have a small rectangular piece, neatly pressed. 3. Use scalloped template, folded, and trace the rounded end, remember to place template at bottom edge before tracing (leaving 1/4″ at top)

4. Using good fabric scissors and holding pleated fabric firmly in hand, cut along traced edge. 5. Unfold your fabric scallops, and apply a small amount of fray-check to the rounded edges

6. Now iron this strip flat again, smoothing out all pleat creases 7. Taking both 4″ strip and scalloped strip, piece together two pieces with straight edges together and right sides facing. Secure with straight pins. 8. Using a straight stitch, sew pieces together with a 1/4″ inseam. The two pieces sewn together will form a crisp right angle on the edge of the shelf.

9. Iron seam flat, then fold scallops over and iron flat again, creating a crisp sewn edge. 10. Using a double sided adhesive, apply to shelves under shelf end of edging. Slowly attach fabric, smoothing out wrinkles as you go. Extra Tip: Because in the kitchen I don’t want the shelves lined with fabric, I only used a 4″ top strip- in a library or bedroom you could extend this piece to fit the entire shelf. In a kitchen setting, I would use a shelf liner to overlap this top strip- I have used the rolled cork, cut to size to fit my shelving.

To Make the Cork Utilitarian Edge:

1. Measure and cut two strips from a roll of cork using a t-square. One- 1 3/4″ x 44″ and one- 2 3/4 x 44″. The smaller piece can be applied directly to shelf edge using double sided adhesive tape (preferably extra strength) this first strip is for extra thickness for a tack to penetrate.

2. Trace template onto the  larger strip, moving template along the 44″ as you go.

3. Cut out pennant edge carefully using scissors.

4. Again, using double sided tape, attach second strip on top of smaller strip, lining up top edges to be flush.

Tiny Tacks:

Using acrylic paint and plain appliqué pins, simply dip the head of each pin into paint, and then leave to dry- may require tweezers for easy handling!

[goldenoyster]

I lost my medicine today and my husband had to find it, so to prevent it from happening again, I have made Bright Red Bag!

This is quite possibly the easiest bag I’ve ever made. It uses an old heavy button up, in this case flannel.

Here’s the instructions on how to make a similar bag:

1. Lay your shirt flat and unbuttoned.

2. Determine how many buttons wide you want your bag to be, but make sure you start and end with a button about 1/2” from the edge.

3. On the button side, cut the width and length of your bag horizontally from the shirt, like so:

Make sure to stay squared, and make sure to add 1/4” to each of the raw sides for seam allowance. Don’t worry if you need a longer piece than the width of the front of the shirt. I did too, and just kept going onto the back side of the shirt, so my bag has a seam on the back from the shirt.

The buttons become the top of the bag, so the length on the shirt becomes width on the bag and vice versa.

4. On the buttonhole side, cut a mirrored piece, adding the width of the buttons thing to the length. (I don’t know what that part’s called but the strip of fabric that all the buttonholes are on.) This becomes the flap at the top. If you want a bigger flap, add more to the length.

5. Lastly, cut the collar off the shirt for the handle. If you cut it just past the stitching where it attaches to the shirt (on the shirt side), you don’t even have to finish it or do any additional sewing.

6. Taking the button fabric and the buttonhole fabric, pin right sides together with the raw sides lined up (aka, don’t line up the buttons and the button holes edge).

7. Sew the 3 raw edges together with 1/4” seam allowance. Turn right side out.

8. Fold over the remaining edge on the buttonhole fabric and stitch in place. This bit:

You obviously generally want to use matching thread to stitch it for best aesthetics but I was going for speed and ease instead of prettiness. This is a practical bag for me, not necessarily a use in public bag.

9. Finally, on the outside back of the bag, just under the strip of fabric with the buttonholes, attach the collar by its ends to the bag to function as a handle.

I stitched over it three times for maximum reinforcement bc my medicine is heavy.

And there you go. One easy peasy upcycled bag for storing whatever it is you want.

[eufiemoon]

Making Of: Caitlyn Kiramman (Arcane) Hat

Hi there!! I'm finally trying to use Tumblr properly after people said on my IG story vote that I should post my cosplay tutorials here!! I'm starting off with the hat I made for my Caitlyn Kiramman cosplay from the League of Legends series, Arcane. mainly because it was the first part of the cosplay I made!

Materials:

I used MellowmindCosplay's Officer Hat template, which has sadly been taken down from their Etsy but this pattern from them could likely be altered for the hat! I may also try to repattern the hat myself if people would be interested.

5mm 45* Eva Foam from https://www.tyges.co.uk

2mm 45* EVA Foam from https://www.tyges.co.uk

Drill Poly Cotton Fabric in Navy from https://fabricland.co.uk

100% Cotton Drill Fabric in White from https://fabricland.co.uk

IMPACT Contact cement adhesive from Amazon

Woodglue from Amazon

Gold Acrylic paint from Amazon

Hat Base Construction

I decided to make Caitlyn's hat with a base structure of EVA Foam. A lot of cosplay companies tend to just use fabric and interfacing but I knew going into the build that I wanted to have the hat fully structured with the ability to keep its shape whilst still being lightweight, considering it would be on my head for hours.

For those familiar with EVA foam patterns, they're fairly self-explanatory, and usually, the pattern creators include instructions on how to construct them. The pattern I used mainly just required me to attach numbered sides to each other and then reflect that for the other side. I ended up needing to alter the pattern slightly to fit my head with a wig on and I also slightly changed the height to be more proportionate to the original.

just remember when using contact cement to use it in a well-ventilated area!! and to always wait for the glue to be nearly dry on both sides you're trying to connect before putting them together!

Patterning the Fabric

now, full transparency, the way I drafted my pattern for the first part (the white top) was absolutely not the most efficient or cleanest method, it actually didn't occur to me that I should use the EVA pattern as the fabric pattern until I got to the main body of the hat, so please feel free to ignore how I did the white part, it was primarily pattern drafting, similar to how you would do it on a mannequin for clothes... if the mannequin was a foam hat.

It was incredibly fiddly and needed lots of careful pleating to get the fabric to fit the weird shapes but once I had it fitted, I tacked the pleats down with some small hand stitches and ran around the white edges with some very messy hand sewing, it ended up being covered by the blue fabric and then the gold decal.

After Struggling with that part I switched over to using the EVA patterns as fabric patterns, I just made sure to add seam/hem allowance to it all. the final Navy Drill parts were all sewn together on my sewing machine and then slipped around the hat and handsewn down to the foam.

the same technique was used for the hat brim, though I sewed the top edge of the brim and bottom edge of the main hat body fabrics together on my machine and sewed them on as one piece. the edges were just folded under and glued down. If I were to go in and improve any pieces of the cosplay it would definitely be adding a lining even if just to the brim to make everything a little cleaner looking under the hat.

after this I eyeballed the general shape for the gold decal, reflecting it to make the symmetrical pattern, and then extended the 'legs' to wrap around the hat. I then popped the pattern onto my 2mm foam, primed with wood glue, painted with gold acrylic paint, and then contact cemented onto the hat!

Special Touches¬

By this point I had a fully made hat that looked fairly similar to the hat Caitlyn has in Arcane, with a few exceptions, but I wanted to add some pizazz and had some very lovely gold braided trim that I was gifted last year by a very lovely lady at Fantasy Forest, sadly meaning I can't actually say where to get this specific trim from, though I'm sure places like ebay or etsy have similar types!

With that...the hat was entirely finished! this was a super fun project to start off this cosplay build with and the results definitely helped with my motivation to finish the rest of the costume before the con I was wearing it for!

I do hope this tutorial is helpful or at least interesting for someone! I really enjoyed writing this all out and seeing my process written down so please prepare for more! I'm going to write the guides for the other parts of this cosplay and then hopefully I'll have started my Kindred build and can start updating people on that!

[tj-crochets]

Pattern design tips, part one! Part two will have the photos because those are easier to add from my phone and it’s easier to type on my computer, but tumblr hates when I try to do both on the same post lol. I’m going to make it a numbered list so I can more easily connect photos with typed descriptions, but they are numbered only in the order I think of them, not in order of importance or anything. A note: I have only ever designed for minky or fleece. I have zero experience making patterns for non-stretch fabrics. A lot of these tips will probably apply to both, but use your best judgment. 

1. I was wrong, this one is number one for a reason (the rest are in no particular order). It will make pattern designing much much easier if you have something to make drawing the seam allowance easier. I’ve done it a few different ways, but in order from best to worst here’s the methods I’ve used: - two mechanical pencils whose tips happened to measure 1/4″ apart, taped together. Absolutely my favorite (you could use a pencil and a stick, a pen and a marker, whatever, as long as one of them can draw and the other comes to a point so you can have the point trace along the pattern lines while the other side draws the seam allowance line) - adjustable circle drawing compass, set to 1/4″ distance (this works pretty well, but the non-drawing side sometimes catches along the paper and the drawing side is more difficult to replace than adding lead to mechanical pencils) - a 1/4″ square dowel. I lined it up with the outer part of the pattern piece, drew a short mark, moved it, and kept doing it until I had dots spaced around the entire pattern piece and could connect them. Overall, less precise, more difficult to use, but will work in a pinch (aka when you have just moved and can’t find the other methods, if you are me lol) - a ruler. You can use it the same way you use the dowel, to make dots and then connect them, but it’s just the worst. Use one of the first two if you can, it will make your life so much easier 2. fold the paper for symmetry. I know that sounds obvious, but it can help a lot. Sometimes, like with the elephant body, I’ll fold the paper in half, in half again, and then draw the pattern. Most of the time I fold the paper in half whenever I am making a pattern piece that is basically a hemisphere of the plushie; the front half of the head, half the body, really anything at all where I want it to be even sort of symmetrical I will fold the paper in half and only draw half the pattern (tip: leave it folded, add the seam allowance, then cut it out before you unfold. You only have to draw half the seam allowance that way) 3. to match irregular shapes (like a rectangular leg piece with a round bottom of foot piece), measure the edge you want to match of whichever piece you drew first with a pipe cleaner (fold to make the right length) or a piece of yarn (cut to make the right length), and then use that pipe cleaner/yarn to make sure you’re using the right measurements for the other pattern piece. Remember that if you are making a leg that’s two rectangles with a circle at the end, you will need to double the measurement (or, if you fold the paper, remember that you don’t double it). In general, pipe cleaners are easier, but if you want to use yarn you can kind of draw, measure the yarn against what you drew, and adjust from there until it matches. 4. Think about angles, and what shape you want. For the tip of the mantle of the octopus, I knew I wanted it to be essentially flat at the start, with four pieces coming together. That meant I needed each piece to start with approximately a 90 degree angle there, if I wanted them equal. Smaller angles (where the sum of all the angles coming together is less than 360 degrees) will make more of a pointed shape, and larger angles (where the sum is more than 360 degrees) will kind of ruffle? They won’t lie flat. None of those are right or wrong, it just depends on what you are trying to make. Also, since  5. Everywhere says not to pull on the minky while you are sewing, but if you are making something twisty like octopus tentacles and are comfortable realigning pattern pieces as you sew, put tension on one layer of fabric but not the other and it’ll make them twist. That’s less pattern design and more plushie sewing tip, but I’m adding it anyway 6. okay this is also kind of a big one. WHERE TO START WHEN PATTERN DESIGNING: a. have a clear idea what you want to make. Either a sketch you drew, a reference image, or just a very clear mental picture will help a lot b. next, pick the size. The way I usually do this is by determining my limits, which are usually either the amount of a particular fabric I have available (ie the maximum size something can be) or how big the smallest detail I want to make has to be for me to be able to sew it. I usually go by the smaller end of the scale, because I usually make my plushies pretty small. Notably, this is how I decided the size to make my giant frogs; I wanted them to have those treefrog kind of toes, and that was the absolute smallest I could make that shape and not struggle to turn it right side out.  c. draw the pattern for the thing that determines the size of the plushie first. If that means your plushie is limited because you only have a quarter yard of the body fabric, draw the biggest body pattern piece first (and remember seam allowance when drawing it! if it only fits without a seam allowance, it does not fit). From there, use that piece to size the rest of the pieces 7. You do not have to make every pattern piece machine sewable. Some things can be hand sewn on. Gathering stitches to close small round pieces, like the bases of horns, tails, ears, or sometimes limbs, are your friends, and sew is the ladder stitch (for sewing plushie pieces together once they’ve already been turned right side out and stuffed) 8. For small plushies, you might not need darts if you are using stretchy fabric. For larger plushies, you’ll need darts. If you are uncomfortable drawing your own darts (and are not intending to sell the pattern), you can find a pattern that makes a curve similar to the one you are trying to make with the dart, trace it, and make the rest of the shape you are trying to make. Darts can be tricky to figure out, but the best way to do it is to practice making a bunch of things with a bunch of different shapes of darts and seeing how they look when finished 9. for that matter, if you have made plushies using other people’s patterns and are looking to make your own, you have an excellent resource at your fingers! Look at your plushies and see if there are any bits similar to the shapes you want to make, then look at the pattern pieces for those parts. See how other pattern designers chose to make those shapes and you’ll have a better idea where to start if you are stuck on how to make a particular shape. 10. Topstitching can make certain parts of pattern design significantly easier. For the round elephant’s trunk, with the two lines across is, I could have made each half of the trunk three separate pieces, or I could do what I did. I made the trunk two identical pieces, sewed them together across the top half, then topstitched two lines across the top of them to make the lines on the trunk without having to add seams there. 11. Take advantage of the seam lines you’ll be including in the plushie anyway when you can. Mostly for me that means accidentally making frogs and bunnies look super grumpy because the seam lines look like frowns, but I’ve also made an eel pattern where I needed a dart so I added it to the face where it would look like a smile. You don’t have to use seam lines, but you can!

[waterlilyunit3]

Garment Construction

• Front pattern piece - pattern contains 14 pleats (3cm (1.5 cm width × 2) x 14 pleats = 42cm). Length of garment + 42 cm allowance for correct number of pleats. Pleats are marked at pressed lightly with iron so stitches are straight when sewing. Once all pleats are added, the pattern piece is cut out to the fold (pleated fabric us folded in half and pleats are folded upwards). 

• Side front pattern piece - pattern piece is lined up with front pattern piece, and the pleats are marked on another piece of fabric, big enough for the correct number of pleats. Once all the pleats are sewn on (using the same method as before), the pattern piece is lined up with the front and sewn together, making sure the pleats also line up.   

• Front and side front piece is sewn together with 1cm seam allowance, and then pressed to define style line. No seams are overlooked as a lining will be added to the bodice. 

• Side front is then sewn to back pattern piece with 1cm seam allowance, and pressed. No pleats are on the back pattern pieces.  

• Lining - Pattern pieces are then cut out again, but with no allowance for pleats. 

• Frills - dye two strips of 100cm by 10cm strip of fabric ombre red and yellow. Once dry and satisfied with the colour, sew together and over lock on the short side. Then use shearing elastic to ruffle up the whole length of the fabric strip. Then go over the fabric strip again with shearing elastic to add more fulness, but don't stretch the fabric out as it needs to shrink more. 

• Pin the frill to the top of the garment 1cm from edge (seam allowance) and leave a gap for arm holes (use mannequin to position the frill correctly). The frill sits behind the bodice, with one half sewn inside and the other half sticking out at the top. Where the arm hole meets the bodice, cut a little slit on one side of the shearing elastic to make the ruffle not look twisted and uncomfortable. 

• Sew the frill onto the garment (along the shearing elastic), remember to leave the gap for the arm holes, and not to stretch the ruffle out. 

• Once the frill is sewn on, pin the lining to the outer layer, and tuck in the frill so it doesn't get caught. Sew all the way around the edge of the garment, with 1cm seam allowance. Take a seam from the inside of the garment and unpick it to create a gap to turn the garment the right way. Then sew the seam closed. 

• Tear two 10cm x 1 metre length of fabric and sew together on the short seam and overlock. Use shearing elastic to ruffle up the fabric strip 2cm from one edge (making the ruffle longer on one side) then go over it again without stretching the fabric to give it more fullness. My fabric was printed on using DTG Printing. 

• Eyelets – Mark three points on each side of the back. Top and point points are 1cm from side and edge, and the third point is marked in between the other two points. Eyelets are then added. 

• Pin and top stitch the printed ruffle onto the garment 1cm from the edge. 

•The last step is to add ribbon the back of the garment to lace it up.