#ideally sew that and part of one of the pieces i need to make for the theater

[youremyonlyhope]

Me at 2am last night: I’m gonna wake up at like 10am, maybe earlier, and then immediately start sewing some projects at 11am! I have iced coffee waiting in my fridge. I will get so much done!

6am: *Still awake, mad at the world.*

7:30am: *Wakes up, gets water, goes back to bed.*

12:30pm *Wakes up and gets confused at the time*

Me: Ok, this isn’t that bad. I’ll drink the coffee and have breakfast, then start sewing only two hours later than planned.

1pm-2pm: *Youtube and Tumblr*

Me at 3pm: ...Hmm... maybe I’ll just sew tomorrow...

[kat-mobile]

Hey love ❤️ hope you’re doing good

Can I request Tommy with a gentle, empathetic and sensitive reader please. It was an arranged marriage and he found out his new wife would cry herself to sleep over a book she read or just a cat. His reaction to someone who is completely opposite of him

Thank you in advance ✨

Tommy with a wife who's his complete opposite

A/N: Hey baby, thanks for the request!! I'm doing good and I hope you are too ❤️ I forgot to put on the requests post to specify if you want it as a fic or headcanons so I've made it sort of a mix of the two, hope that's okay anon. I made this blog to try and improve my writing skills and as this is my first attempt it isn't the best, so sorry about that lol. Hope you like it!! (this is set sometime around series 1-2 cause those are my fave)

It was an arranged marriage and to be honest... you weren't particularly thrilled by the notion of being married to Birmingham's most known and feared gangster. But you would do anything for your family and if your father decided that this is what would be best for securing the future of the family then you'd follow through on your part of the deal, even if it seemed like you and Tommy had absolutely nothing in common.

This was a couple months ago now and you had somewhat settled into your new life in Small Heath and with Tommy by your side, the two of you living in comfortable tandem. You had settled into a routine and life was good, or as good as it could be with the risk of being married to a Shelby.

He would buy you any book that you so much as happened to glance at and in turn you would patch up and sew back together any unfortunate pieces of clothing that got in the way of Tommy and his dangerous life style and work, fighting back tears and worrying at your lower lip as you did so. You may not quite understand why he was constantly putting himself in danger but he was your husband all the same and you had grown to love him as your marriage progressed

you would also force him to go and see an actual trained medical professional whenever he came home with said ruined clothing, as a dead husband is less than ideal and you have grown attached these last couple months

Your empathy and tendancy to cry over him when he got hurt was a shock at first but he quickly got used to it, he even tried to avoid getting hurt just so as to not have to see you cry over him

He may not say it outright but he appreciates everything you do and how much you care for him

He doesn't like to keep secrets from you but he doesn't share all aspects of work life with you as he doesn't want you to worry too much, but if being kept in the dark would worry you even more he'd make an effort to keep you in the loop

Your gentleness and compassion is a welcome contrast to his life from before you were apart of it, Tommy didn't know that he needed it before you

If there's one thing about Tommy Shelby, it's that he protects what's his and as his wife he treats you with the utmost care (especially if you have a tendancy to seek out the good in all people)

One night when Tommy (finally) came to bed he found you curled up in a ball on your side with your back to the door, tears gently running down your smooth cheeks

Unsure of what to do when confronted by your distress but still wanting to help, he'd rush to your side and scoop you up onto his lap, holding you close with your tear-stained cheek pressed against his chest and an arm thrown protectively around your shoulders. He'd cautiously rock back and forwards whilst his hand moves slowly up and down your back in what he hopes is a soothing motion. He's a little awkward and stiff but damn if he isn't fucking trying

He'd use his forefinger and thumb to tilt your chin up and force your eyes to meet his own before softly questioning you on why you were crying

"What you crying for, hmm love? Ruining your pretty face"

He'd say, wiping away your tears with his thumb

Upon hearing that the reason for your tears was a sad ending to one of the books he bought you he'd be a little taken aback and he would honestly have to suppress the urge to laugh

It all seemed rather silly to him that you'd cry over some words on paper

"Tommy it isn't funny, it was really upsetting" you'd hiccup out through your tears

he'd just shake his head and sigh, apologising, before pulling you closer, finally laying down on the bed with your legs intertwined

Tommy had hoped it would be a one of chance but when he caught you crying in bed again over the ending of Of Mice and Men, he very quickly figured that he'd have to adapt

Tommy developed a system for when you had your... shall we say moments, he'd sit down on his side of the bed with his back pressed against the headboard before he lifted you up and placed you in-between his legs

Sitting you so that your back was resting against his chest and you could feel his heartbeat

You would then explain to him the sad moments in your books as he softly hummed and nodded his head along to your words

And when he got tired from your quiet voice lulling him to sleep he'd pull you down with him as he laid on his side, caging you in against his chest with an arm around your waist

Those were the nights that he slept the best

[demonzoro]

none of this is proofread but here's my ideal modern au for the goth fam. wall of text incoming, sky is blue, etc.

mihawk: World's Most Reluctant College Professor. history/archaeology. reluctantly employed because his place of residence (half-wrecked castle) is owned by the university and one of the terms for him to live there for free is to teach classes. initially hired as a publicity stunt that petered out. actual respected swordsman in the modern age but the reality is "swordsman" is... not very lucrative. really important to me that he is forcibly employed while having gigantic unemployed energy.

his ass is not showing up to a lecture hall unless under extreme duress (shanks showing up to his place unannounced again🙄). fully aware his papers are only taken as a credit filler (robin lectures the papers that are more practically applicable). almost exclusively "teaches" by emailing out reading lists and assignments. actively trying to get his students to drop his paper so he can do fuck-all for the rest of the year.

zoro: phys ed major. he's so serious about his main courses as well as mihawk's stupidly niche paper. probably the first person the "Dracule Mihawk Teaches Here!" publicity stunt has worked on in years. has trouble with the heavy focus of book-smarts this paper requires but powers through it best he can until mihawk sets some indecipherable tome as part of a reading list and zoro is like. okay. you leave me no choice.

he fully shows up on mihawk's doorstep at 9:44PM on a tuesday night brandishing this tome. mihawk answers the door because he is two bottles into his wine.

zoro, furious that this piece of shit tome has no audiobook alternative: this. YOU. explain. NOW. mihawk: a student. at my doorstep. did shanks blab to you. zoro: your address is publicly listed as a minor tourist attraction. mihawk (<- didn't know that): hm. come in.

zoro is treated to a full drunk history session and the supermarket gift wine mihawk has been avoiding but accidentally opened. he wakes up the next morning and zoro is still there in one of the guest rooms. he's like what are you doing here and zoro is like. i don't have a whole day to waste getting back to my dorm i need to do your assignment.

mihawk, fully aware the dorms should only be a max twenty minute walk away: interesting. get out.

safe to say, zoro thinks visiting mihawk's home is easier than emailing him. which is true in some ways since mihawk takes small joys in putting unread emails straight into trash.

perona: fashion major OBVIOUSLY. really interested finding vintage/archival sewing patterns/designs and modernising them. LOVES using essays as outlets for her rants. blase on everything else in life but takes her course so seriously. HATES zoro ever since he almost made her fail an assignment because he had checked out a book she needed and held it for fucking aaages.

similarly zoro hates perona bc she almost made him fail an assignment by hogging the only lightbox on this side of the campus that makes it possible to read some of the archival material mihawk puts on his impossible reading lists.

zoro gets lost in mihawk's castle and meets perona in-person for the first time outside of a name on a booking sheet and they have a huge stupid argument. zoro storms off and accidentally finds mihawk again this way and he's doubly mad because he can't believe mihawk has been chasing him away all this time while letting another student just live in the east wing.

mihawk (<- didn't know that): there's a what.

turns out perona just said "umm dorm fees? rent? in this economy? there's a wrecked castle 20mins away from campus it's free real estate". and she's right. she also finds out mihawk has staff access to archival materials not readily open to students and she immediately whips out a wishlist.

anyways i imagine perona graduates and becomes a fashion designer. zoro decides booksmarts is not for him and drops out to focus fully on a professional athlete career or make his way as a stuntman. models for perona on occasion. mihawk fully quits his job after those two leave bc they were the only ones in years that made it interesting. retires but robin recommends him as a consultant to the museum society and he does some work there. ALWAYS calls zoro or perona if he's restoring smthng cool he thinks they would love.

jfc are you still here. i kiss you on the lips

[sheliesshattered]

It's been almost two weeks since my last sewing update, but I have been making progress on a couple different projects, thankfully. I mentioned in my last post that I was hesitant to cut into a king-sized 100% linen bedsheet that I've been hoarding for 10+ years. I knew I wanted to make an apron, but I also knew that it wouldn't take up anywhere near the whole sheet, and I had the thought that I might be able to get two projects out of this one sheet (and the remnants of the matching fitted sheet) if I was careful about how I cut out all my pieces. Possibly a gathered tiered skirt/petticoat, along with the apron.

I measured the two long sides of the flat sheet that had identical ~1.25" deep hems, and I found that each side was 112" or just over 3 yards long, not counting the top and bottom hems. That meant if I did side seams, I could get a 6 yard wide bottom tier for the skirt and not have to do a hem at all, just use what was already there. Not the widest hemline on this kind of skirt (I have a purchased skirt with a 25 yard hem, and years ago I made a 26 yard tiered skirt out of muslin), but with this heavy weight linen it felt like 6 yards at the hem would be plenty.

Gathered tiered skirts are really just rectangles and a bit of simple math. Since the sheet's side hem determined the size of the lowest tier at 224", I figured I would do 2-to-1 gathers and make the next tier up 112" wide, and the third tier up 56" wide. A fourth tier at that 2-to-1 gathering ratio would have been only 27" wide, which wouldn't have fit over my hips, so the skirt would have 3 tiers.

I'm a short girl at not quite 5'2" and I like to wear my skirts pretty low on my hips for spoonie comfort issues, so after measuring a purchased skirt whose length I like, I decided that between 30" and 33" inches in total length would be ideal. With three tiers that length could easily be divided into tiers that are each 10"-11" tall. I added a half inch for seam allowance (but no hem allowance on the lowest tier, since I was re-using the existing hem) to get the exact measurements for each of the pieces I needed for the skirt.

I was able to tear most of my pieces, since the linen bedsheet was nicely on the grain and tore relatively cleanly, thus saving my hands from cutting all those long pieces. I had meant to cut the top tier at 14" tall so that I'd have room to turn under a nice thick waistband too -- and then I totally forgot and cut it at 12" just like the middle tier, lol. I was able to get one of the middle tier pieces and both of the top tier pieces out of the remains of the matching fitted sheet, so I only needed one middle and two bottom tiers from the flat sheet. That left me with plenty of flat sheet left over for the apron, but I'll talk more about that in my next sewing post.

With my pieces all cut out, it was time to start the most annoying part of making a gathered tiered skirt: gathering all those tiers. I'm trying to sew with cotton thread more often these days, but for the gathers I switched back to polyester thread just for the strength. For the two bottom tier and two middle tier pieces I ran two lines of gathering stitches along the top edge, placed pins to divide each panel into quarters, and got to gathering and pinning.

With tiered skirts I really prefer to work from the bottom up, so that I'm always attaching a gathered piece to a completely flat piece of fabric, and save side seams for last. So the bottom tier pieces got gathered up and attached to the middle tier pieces, then the middle tier got gathered up sewn to the top tier.

Since I accidentally cut my top tier pieces shorter than I'd meant to, I did play around with adding a separate waistband for the top tier to be gathered onto. But I couldn't do a full 2-to-1 gather if I wanted the waistband to pull on over my hips, and the waistband made the proportions look weird, like the top tier was too long. So I ended up cutting the waistband off after I sewed it and actually shortening the top tier even a little bit more. After turning under the top edge to enclose the raw ripped edge and then turning under 3cm (~1.2") for a waistband casing, that top tier ended up being about 9" tall, and the proportions of that look much better for some reason.

Before I sewed the side seams, I decided that this skirt needs to have pockets, of course. I knew I was planning to do French seams to protect the raw edges against unraveling, so I put the pockets in with a French seam as well.

With the pockets in place, the next step was to do the side seams (including the pocket bags), being careful to match up the height of the hem and each of the tiers so everything was nice and clean and square. Then I was able to turn under that waistband casing and sew it in place -- my original plan had been put in three separate channels for narrow elastic that would result in a bit of a faux-cartridge pleating look, but actually getting the elastic strung through there turned out to be more of a pain than it was worth, so I ended up picking that out and just using a single 1" wide elastic band in the waistband casing instead.

And with that, the skirt was technically wearable, and with some fabrics I might have been happy to leave it there. But the raw ripped edges at the seams between each of the tiers worried me. I've had well-loved sewing projects just shred after many wears and washes because I left the seams unfinished, figuring I would be the only one to see the inside. Ideally I want this skirt to be in my rotation for years and years, so I decided to make the effort to finish those seams too.

My original plan had been to cover the raw edges inside with 3/4" herringbone twill tape. For some reason I was convinced that I had a bunch of it left over from a Wasteland Weekend project from 2018, only to discover that I actually only had ~3 yards left. So rather than ordering more and waiting for it to arrive (and then inevitably having some of that left over too), I decided to just make some 3/4" tape from the linen sheet itself. Since this whole skirt is rectangles on-grain and the tape wouldn't have to go around any curves, I made the tape from on-grain rectangles too, rather than bothering with proper bias tape.

With the hem and the waistband already cleanly finished, I just needed tape to cover the ~3 yard seam between the bottom and middle tier and the ~1.5 yard seam between the middle and top tier. I tore nice straight strips, trimmed off the frayed edges, and ironed the raw edges under to give me that 3/4" width. It's three layers thick in the middle but only 2 layers thick on the sides, since it isn't a proper double-fold tape.

Then it was just an issue of pinning it over the raw edges inside the skirt -- first from the inside in roughly the right place and then from the outside to make sure it lined up with the seam well.

I stitched-in-the-ditch from the outside right where the gathers met the next tier up, and then went back and did another line of stitching just slightly up from that, using the width of my machine foot (~1cm) as a guide. That covered all the raw edges inside and reinforced the seam, and gave it a nice neat appearance from the outside.

It also had the added benefit of behaving almost like cording on a corded petticoat -- the gathered seems have a lot more body and stiffness now than they did before, which gives the finished skirt a really lovely lofty structure.

The whole skirt ended up being about 31" long, right in that 30"-33" length I had originally aimed for, and when I wear it low on my hips where it's most comfortable, it just brushes the tops of my feet.

My plan is to wear this mostly under other long skirts and dresses, more as a petticoat than a skirt on its own (tho it is heavy enough and neat enough to be worn on its own, if I want). That lofty structure from the seam finishes adds a lot of floof to my other long skirts, just barely peeking out the bottom of the purchased green skirt I originally measured to figure out the length for this one, and hiding completely under my purchased 25 yard burgundy skirt but giving it enough extra volume that it doesn't drag on the ground quite so badly.

As the colder weather sets in I'm sure this will get a lot of wear under skirts and dresses (including the several dresses I'm still planning to sew in the next couple months!), but even now in the last heat of summer it's quite comfortable to wear, since it's linen. Jack commented that it seemed like a lot of work for a skirt that won't be seen (and it did manage to remind me how much I dislike gathering long lengths of fabric), but as long as it's functional and gets used often, I feel like all the effort was worth it.

While I was putting this together, I also cut out and started assembling the apron project from the same bedsheet. Even with all those pieces cut out, I still have enough linen left over for at least one more, maybe two more projects. Next up I'm going to get to all the finishings on the apron (which will be getting its own post once it's done) and keep trucking along on the handsewn eyelets for the Lengberg Castle Bra-thing. And once those two are done, I think I just might be ready to finally start on all the dresses I want to make with my new fabric.

[calciferous-kelpie]

Hey btw if your ever in need of ranting about a blorbo/oc, this is an ask that tells your to do so. What is the most interesting thing about them? Do they have any symbolism to them and if so what is it about? Favorite ideal situation to put them in? Any romance ideas?

Anon, I want to start off by apologizing for taking EXACTLY A YEAR to reply to this! Happy One Year Anniversary! 💀😭 Obviously, I’ve been thinking about this a lot, trying to decide who I wanted to talk about and trying to put my thoughts into words. And, of course, it took even longer because I wanted to include drawings of the characters… 🤦‍♂️Anyway…

I’ve decided to talk about multiple characters of mine, since they are important for my upcoming comics: Boxman’s mother, father, and sister! I have some New™, Fresh™ information to share about all of them today! Hope you enjoy my ramblings!

MEREDITH (Boxman's Mother)

Most interesting thing: Hmm, well… the things I find most interesting about Meredith are kind of spoilers for my comics, but an interesting thing about her is her special ability! (“Every proper siren has one, darling.” 💅) It’s called Eye of the Storm, and it allows her to summon and control a raging thunderstorm at will. Obviously, this sort of thing takes a lot of energy to maintain, so this ability actually comes with a secondary feature: Meredith can occasionally choose a victim to steal the energy from, and all she has to do to steal said energy is to make direct eye contact with them. The lady’s got a mean glare as it is, but with this power on top of that? Wowza. Watch out.

Symbolism: Given my answer to the previous question, you won’t be surprised to know that I associate Meredith with storms! She is a passionate character with a wild side, and when she truly gets going, she will step aside for no one.

Favorite situation to put them in: Meredith is a complex character with a lot going on, and I don’t want to reduce her to just an antagonist… but MAN, does she make a good antagonist! 😆 I love to put her into situations in which she terrifies/intimidates other characters, and trust me, she will have a lot of chances to do that in the comics!

Romance ideas: Meredith isn’t much for romance. At least not anymore. Heron was her first love, and after her relationship with him went south, her trust in men was destroyed. (To be fair, it was shaky to begin with.) She has, however, made an attempt at another relationship or two for monetary reasons. If that even counts lol

HERON (Boxman's Father)

Most interesting thing: Heron has had a wide variety of experiences across his lifetime, and during that time, he has developed many, many skills. These skills include (but are not limited to): farming, fishing, sailing, cooking, baking, sewing, crochet, whittling, building, juggling, and playing the banjo! Just… don’t ask him to sing, okay?

Symbolism: Heron’s symbolism is… probably pretty obvious, huh? I mean… he’s got an anchor… tattooed… on his back… *ahem* Anyway. The anchor is connected to a lot of Heron’s positive attributes��loyalty and sturdiness being the main ones. But it is also connected to some of his character flaws and the way he views himself. In a way, Heron himself is an anchor, for all the good and bad that entails. ⚓

Favorite situation to put them in: Despite the immense amount of comic outlining and scriptwriting I’ve been doing for Siren Theory, I can say pretty confidently that any scene in which Heron interacts with Professor Venomous is one of my favorites. It’s partly due to the “meet the parents” trope, but the other part of it is that Heron is just an unusual guy who does unusual things, and having a stranger witness that firsthand is hilarious.

Romance ideas: While Heron has had his share of crushes in his youth, he has never been in a serious relationship with anyone but Meredith… and he would like to keep it that way. He still feels like he’s putting the pieces of himself back together after their messy separation.

REBECCA/SIRENA (Boxman's Sister)

Most interesting thing: I think the thing that I enjoy most about Rebecca is the duality in her personality. She is very charismatic and graceful onstage as Sirena, but offstage, when she’s just Rebecca, she can be pretty socially awkward and kind of a klutz.

Symbolism: Some of you may have made the connection already, but Sirena’s real name, Rebecca, is a nod to Rebecca Sugar, the creator of Steven Universe and the spouse of Ian Jones-Quartey (creator of OK KO). This name was actually a suggestion by my sister (Thanks, girlie!) because she knew Sugar sang the end credit song of OK KO, and that little song was one of my inspirations for creating Sirena in the first place. Since then, the name has really proven itself to be a perfect fit for my little superstar siren! The meaning of the name Rebecca is “to tie/bind,” and Rebecca really is the character that ties her family—and the narrative of a lot of the comics��together!

Favorite situation to put them in: My favorite moments for Rebecca are the ones in which she is emotionally vulnerable. It isn’t always easy for her, but there are some things that will happen in the comics that will force her to wear her heart on her sleeve. I’m excited for that!

Romance ideas: Honestly, I’ve come up with so many ideas for OK KO that I won’t have space for all of them in the narrative, even though I’m planning to create, like, 19 comics! 😂 One of those things that won’t get a lot of time in the spotlight is Rebecca’s developing romance with a certain someone. That being said, it wouldn’t be a big spoiler for me to say… Plazecca! 🎵

Thank you so much for asking, Anon! Truly, you have enriched my enclosure. 💖

[themetaphorgirl]

Between moving and performing in a show I didn’t know if I’d have time to finish this, but I did!!

Recently there was a LockNation meetup, and since I didn’t get to go I applied to be a part of the Pocket Friends challenge!! I had to come up with a case with certain stipulations, so I ended up writing a fic for it since that suits my skills! It’s a very cracky self insert but it was honestly a lot of fun.

My stipulations were:

-I was paired with Lucy

-the Visitor was a Limbless

-the weapon of choice was salt

-I lived in the end

This was so fun and goofy and I hope y’all like it!!

And for fun: here’s a video of me running in heels and firing a gun while performing at Disney World (this comes into play, I swear)

“Well, that settles it, then,” Lockwood said. “Lucy, you’ll have to go with the new girl.”

Lucy leaned back to glance into the kitchen at the aforementioned new girl. “Are you sure about that?” she whispered.

“Yeah, she doesn’t seem like the ‘in the field’ type of agent,” George said.

“Holly wouldn’t have recommended her if she didn’t think she’d be a good fit,” Lockwood said. “Come on, let’s ask her.”

Lucy still had her doubts. The new girl was filling in for Holly while she was on leave taking care of her elderly grandmother in Brighton; so far she had proven very capable when it came to scheduling meetings, tidying up, and cooking when George was busy (although there had been a brief incident when she made something called biscuits and gravy, she had hastily explained it was a popular dish where she came from and it did not involve anything sweet). But there hadn’t been any plans to involve her in active cases.

The three of them trooped into the kitchen. The new girl was sitting at the table mending a torn pocket in Lockwood’s coat with a novel propped open against a teapot shaped like a cottage. Between the sewing, her floral sundress, and the bow in her hair she made an oddly domestic sight in the midst of a coil of newly oiled chains and an unopened box of salt bombs.

“Oh, hi!” she said as she caught sight of them. She took another careful stitch, then paused. “Everything okay? Y’all look a little…stressed.”

“We’ve had an unexpected change of plans,” Lockwood said. He cleared his throat. “Kate, was it?”

“Caitlin, actually, but I’ll answer to Kate,” she said cheerfully.

“Caitlin,” he said. “We, uh…well, Kipps can’t make it tonight but Lucy will need some backup, so…would you mind filling in?”

Her eyes widened behind her glasses. “Oh,” she said. “Oh, boy. Uh…are you sure about that? I’m better suited to things like-“ She gestured at her sewing kit. “This is more my speed. I’ve got big Wendy Darling energy. Are you sure you need me?”

“It’s supposed to be Type Two but not a particularly strong one,” George said.

“I just need backup,” Lucy said. “I’ll handle most of it. What’s your Talent?”

Caitlin stuck the needle into the fabric of the coat. “Mostly Touch and a little Sight, not great with Listening.”

“How are you with a rapier?” Lockwood asked.

“Uh…not great,” she said.

“What grade do you have?”

“I was a theatre major?” she offered. “Did Holly give you my resume? I, uh…I’m not really ideal for combat situations.” She rummaged through her pink backpack and pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of paper. “She said you would mostly need me for cleaning and administrative stuff and a little bit of cooking. Which…I’m very good at organizing and I do like baking, but I’m more the anxious homebody type than the cool athletic agent type.”

Lucy leaned around Lockwood’s arm to scan the CV. “Why does it say you can run in heels while firing a gun?” George asked curiously.

Caitlin adjusted her gold rimmed glasses. “It’s a good conversation starter,” she said. “And also, I, um…can.”

“If you can’t use a rapier, could you use a firearm instead?” Lockwood asked. “That could work, right?”

“It’s unorthodox, but probably,” George shrugged

“I think I could make that work,” she said. “As long as Lucy doesn’t mind being stuck with me.”

“It shouldn’t be that bad of a case,” Lucy said. “I can handle it, and you can be my backup. Yeah?”

Caitlin offered a slightly anxious smile in return. “Yeah.”

A few hours later Lucy found herself in front of an old boarded-up house in Greenwich, with Caitlin trailing behind her with a kit bag slung over one shoulder and a black leather purse on the other, presumably holding her pistol.

“Oh lord, where did you find that one, a princess tea party?” Skull said. “Adorable.”

“Don’t be a dick, she’s nice,” Lucy hissed.

“She’s got heels on her boots and she’s still shorter than you. Didn’t think that was achievable.”

“I don’t need any extra distractions right now, thanks so much.”

“Yeah, because you’re going to have to keep an eye on that one in case she sees something with glitter on it and wanders off.”

Lucy flicked the valve on the jar. “All right, do you remember the plan?” she said.

“Uh-huh,” Caitlin said. She’d swapped out the floral sundress for a much more sensible denim pinafore, a gray jumper with bees on it, and black tights and boots. But the moonlight glinted off her glasses and her dirty blonde hair was held back with a dark blue ribbon. “I do the prep work, you do the hard stuff, and I’m here to look for the Source and back you up.”

Lucy nodded. “Flo said that her contact told her there was just a Shining Boy, so it shouldn’t be too bad.”

They did a sweep of the house and set up in the chains at the foot of the broad dusty staircase. “So how do you know Holly?” Lucy asked.

“Community theatre,” Caitlin said. “We did a production of Guys and Dolls together, super fun. Although we haven’t gotten to perform together in a while since y’all have been so busy, she hasn’t had time. Do you ever have time to just do fun things? Hang out, go on dates?”

“Not often,” Lucy said. “And I’m not dating anyone. I mean none of us are dating. George and Flo sort of have a thing, I think? But Lockwood and I aren’t”

Caitlin dropped another length of chain on the floor. “You know he’s got a big ol’ crush on you, right?”

Lucy choked. “I don’t know what-“

“Neither of you are particularly subtle about it either,” Caitlin said, grinning at her. “You should figure that out, though, y’all would be the cutest couple.”

“We’re not…I mean, I don’t think he thinks of me like…” Lucy frowned, desperate to find a change in topic. “You keep saying ‘y’all,’ where are you from exactly?”

“Tennessee,” Caitlin said. “You know…where Dolly Parton’s from? Except I’m not from the same town she’s from, I’m from Nashville, but I’ve been to her theme park, it’s-“ She stopped herself midsentence and blew out a slightly frazzled breath. “Sorry, I talk a lot when I’m nervous.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” Lucy said, not unkindly. “It’ll be all right. Let me handle it, and just back me up.”

“Right, yeah,” Caitlin said. “Amazing. I can do that.”

And they probably could have managed, if Flo’s contact had been a bit more sure of what they were going to be up against. “It’s a Limbless!” Lucy shouted. “A fucking Limbless!”

“Oh, shit!”

Lucy could hold it off, she’d been up against Limbless dozens of times, but it was different when the weight of the job was resting on her. She lashed out with her rapier, trying to keep it at bay.

“Any luck on the Source?” she called.

“Not yet!”

Lucy kept fending off the Limbless, grimacing at the malaise dragging her down. It made her head swim and nausea pull at the pit of her stomach, and she was so off balance that she tripped over a loose floorboard and her rapier slipped from her hand.

“Oh fuck,” she panted, fumbling for the hilt in the dim light. She just needed to grab it before the Limbless got much closer-

Suddenly a violent spray of salt burst through the Limbless, dissolving it away from her. Lucy grabbed her rapier and scrambled up, shocked to find Caitlin standing halfway on the stairs with a small gun in her hand. “Oh thank fuck, it worked,” she said. “I loaded it with salt, it’s going to be a bitch to clean later though.”

“Well, keep doing it!” Lucy said as the Limbless started to reform. “And keep looking for the Source!”

“On it!” Caitlin called.

The salt-loaded pistol ended up being unexpectedly useful. The shots of salt rattled the Limbless enough for Lucy to keep pushing it back with her rapier, and between the two of them they kept it at bay until Lucy found the Source, a tarnished gold necklace with a charm in the shape of a scarab beetle. Caitlin took a final shot at the Limbless with a shower of salt from her gun while Lucy wrapped the necklace in a silver net, and the Visitor blinked out into the darkness.

“Well, we were going to see if you needed any help, but it looks like the two of you managed just fine,” Lockwood said, his voice faintly amused.

Lucy jumped. “Jesus, Lockwood, when did you get here?”

“Not too long ago, we wrapped up early and thought we would help,” he said. “You all right?”

She felt her cheeks turn a little pink at his concern. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she said, hoping she sounded nonchalant.

“I can’t believe that shooting salt actually worked!” George said. “Where did you learn to shoot, anyway?”

Caitlin laughed awkwardly. “Um…Disney World?”

George blinked. “Not the answer I expected, and yet somehow that makes sense.” He cleared his throat. “But the salt-“

“We’ll talk about that once we’re back home,” Lockwood said. “For now let’s get this wrapped up. Oh, and Caitlin-“ He raised his arm up sheepishly and the sleeve of his coat dangled in tatters from the shoulder seam. His white shirt underneath was a bit ripped too, the edges speckled and splattered with blood. “I might need you to fix this.”

“Oh, see, that I can handle,” she said. The corner of her mouth tugged up in an impish smile. “That’ll take me a while to do, though, so you ought to let Lucy patch you up.”

Lucy felt her face heat up. “Oh, I-“

But Lockwood was already turning towards her with that certain kind of smile he seemed to save only for her. “Would you, Luce?” he said. “I’d appreciate it.”

“Yeah, of course,” she said, and Caitlin shot her a surreptitious thumbs up.

[888xiicos]

Tomimi Ideal City Wig Process

As usual, I forgot to document most of this process, but I can at least draw out steps I didn't photograph.

This is probably one of the more complex wigs I've styled, tying for first place with Tsumiki Mikan, solely for the amount of wefts and chopping that wig took. This wig is the first wig I've used pigtail/ponytail clips for and the first time I've done an ahoge! I'm incredibly proud of how it turned out so I can't wait to show how it started and pieces of the progress.

This has been in my drafts for almost a year now, so I may as well post it.

Pics, process, and final photo can all be found under the cut!

The humble beginnings..

I grabbed the basic supplies I figured I'd need and laid them out in easy to reach places.

[Supplies in image: Sewing thread, pin cushion, sewing needles, sewing pins with colorful round heads, wide tooth/wet hair comb, 1 hair claw clip, craft scissors, thread snips, pen, reference images, wig(s), Styrofoam head.]

[Supplies not shown in image: Hair cutting scissors, Got2B hairspray, hair crimper/flat iron, 2 smaller hair claw clips, 3 alligator hair clips, , permanent marker, wire, clear packing tape, glue gun, Elmer's glue (white craft glue), and a make shift wig stand]

_

To start, I ordered one Clair Classic in Silver (CL082) and a single Short Clip Classic in Silver (CL-082) from Arda Wigs. The Silver colorway is a little more gray and subdued than the Pure White (CL-083) color way. I like it because it looks a bit more natural. Stark white and heavily saturated colors wash me out pretty bad, so I try to go for a more natural color option whenever possible.

I chose this specific wig because it had plenty of hair and plenty of layers near the front, which meant I had plenty to work with for Tomimi's bangs.

Arda Wigs, though a little pricey, has really thick wigs that feel like butter in your hands. I've worked with cheap Amazon wigs and other brands before, but Arda is still my favorite wig seller (even if it's by process of elimination since Match Wigs vanished into the void never to be seen again..... Match Wigs I miss you.....).

Because the wigs are so thick and have so many wefts, I knew I'd only need one Short Clip to use for both of Tomimi's pigtails. However, this is my first time using any form of wig clip, so it was a very new and puzzling experience for me! I'll explain more about wig clips further into the process below.

_

When I start styling wigs, the first step is always to give it a good brush through with the wide tooth come to detangle it and get out any loose hair fibers. Once it's soft and tangle free, I strap it onto my foam head and pin it with colorful sewing pens that are impossible to lose in the wig (so I don't stab myself with them later on).

These styrofoam heads are usually smaller than an actual human head, so I don't recommend doing any head circumference reliant styling on them without adding padding to it! I mostly use mine when brushing it out, cutting the long parts of the wig, or fixing the part.

For this wig, I decided to try crimping for the first time. Arda wigs are great for crimping and the technique adds even more volume and makes the fibers more manageable in my opinion. Arda wig fibers are super silky and soft, so it makes holding them or maneuvering them sort of difficult. Crimping gave them more texture and allowed me to move the hair where I wanted it to go.

I crimped the bottom layers of the whole wig (bangs too!) and left the top layers un-crimped to retain a nice smooth texture on top.

Now, it's time to start trimming. Before I even thought about doing any cutting, I sat down and figured out the different sections of hair that make up the bangs. For anyone not familiar with sectioning off hair, drawing over the sections in different colors like this can really help!

Marking out the sections also helped me figure out where the part would go! Tomimi has one layer of a heavy sweeping bang and then a layer of hair that sort of fold over on top of them. One section of the lower layer actually tucks behind her ear, so I planned to leave that longer so I could easily pin it back under another layer of hair.

I also took this time to section off parts of her hair to pull back under the pigtail clips layer to make it look more natural. I've drawn over it in bright pink below to show what I mean.

Once things were held back with clips and sectioned off, I pulled that bad boy off the stand and put it on so I could start trimming the bangs. I did not realize they were as long as they were, but it was for the best in case I messed up. I gave a rough chop at around the bottom of my chin and slowly trimmed the lower bang layer up above my nose. I curled the hair with my flat iron as I went too avoid cutting off too much.

Sloppy before and after pic featuring the tendons in my bony little hand STRUGGLING to hold up this heavy monster of a wig. I admit, I'm not too skilled with teasing wigs, so I wasn't able to get the upper layer of the bangs to stick up like they do in the art, but I left the fibers loose enough that I could go back later and do it once I learned the Technique™. Silly anime hair vents will one day be possible for me.

As you can see, this wig is all silver, no black anywhere. I used the simplest method out there and flat out just added that black stripe with a permanent marker. Since it was in an area I didn't have to worry about coming in contact with my face or any bodily fluids like sweat, I did not seal it. If you use this method anywhere that may come in regular and frequent contact with your skin, fabric, or liquids, seal it or just use a weft to avoid staining anything.

I sectioned off a thin strip of hair from the upper layer of the bangs and pinned the rest of the hair back so the roots were visible. Then I just moved the marker up and down over thin layers of the hair until it was a solid black. You can also use alcohol markers, diluted acrylic paint, or acrylic ink for this, but a Sharpie easily does the trick for a section as small as this.

_

Now it's ahoge time. Here's how I did it (Step by step diagram is under written instructions):

Step 1 This wig has a thick but soft top to it that allows things to be pinned or pushed through the top, so I used some thin jewelry wire to make the outline of the ahoge. Twist the bottom closed and curve it to the right shape. Don't trim off the excess wire at the bottom just yet, because you'll want it for stabilizing purposes later.

Step 2 Once you've made the outline and have it bent, you'll want to cover it in something clear you can attach hair to. I used clear packing tape, but it was honestly a little too stiff and sort of fussy to work with. You can probably use regular clear tape or even sticky plastic wrap. Whatever you use, be sure to trim the excess so you retain the same shape.

Step 3 Cover one side with hot glue and start adding your base layer of hair. I used the extra hair I trimmed off my bangs. They were closer to the length I needed and let me waste less hair! Once the first side is dry, do the same to the other. The hot glue sticks to plastic-y surfaces well enough to give you a base to build up off of. Be sure to pull/brush off any stray hairs.

Once you've finished your base layer, grab your white craft glue, a cup of water, and a brush you don't cherish too much to put glue on. What you're gonna do now is slowly build up the hair until you can't see the tape or the wire. The best way to do this is to put a thin coat of glue then a thin coat of hair and repeat until you get the result you like. Between layers, I recommend blasting it with a hair dryer to speed up the drying process. I sat mine a safe distance away in front of a small space heater while I worked on the pigtails to save time.

Step 4 Once you've built up as much hair as you want, it's time to stick the extra wire through the top of the wig. I stuck mine right into the middle of the center part. If your wig does not have a thick top or a skin top, you may want to sew in a thin piece of fabric to the inside of your wig before you do this step.

Step 5 Once you've stabbed your wire through the top of the wig, it's time to bend it! I like to make a little three-leaf clover shape since it's easy to tuck the ends of the wire back into the lace/fabric on the inside of the wig so it doesn't stab you while wearing it. I bend it to stat one leaf is pointing toward my forehead and the other two are pointing towards the back of my head.

To add extra stability, add a couple stitches at the very tips of the "leaves" with thread that matches your wig.

Here's the few pictures I remembered to take of this little guy, plus a bonus of him drying in front of the heater, just for fun.

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At this point, all that's left to do is curling the long part of the hair and adding the pigtails.

For anyone unfamiliar with wig clips, they're basically mini wigs wrapped around hair claw clips. The "claws" of the clips go through netting the wig wefts are attached to and then an elastic string sewn into the outer edge of that netting is tightened to hide the clip. I was dumb and did not take a pic of the pigtail before removing the clip b because it was a struggle to get it out. But I have pics of the finished versions below with the clip's inserted, so check further down for what it looks like finished.

For now, here's how I separated the pigtail into two:

First, I counted the wefts to ensure I'd have an even number in both halves (Spoiler alert, I counted right, but still marked and cut the wrong spot lmao). I decided to cut it horizontally (side to side) so the wefts wouldn't fray. From there, I pulled the elastic through so that I could find the middle of it and place it over where I marked the halfway point of the netting. I cut through the elastic strings first and clipped them out of the way before carefully cutting the netting.

I used my thread snips to cut the net since it allows for more precise cuts and helps me not make so many mistakes. The picture below shows the cut elastics and then the two separated halves.

What you can't see here, is that the bottom half of the pigtail's wefts were sewn the same direction as the top half, but I need to flip the bottom half upside down, meaning the hair is going up instead of down. For this reason, I wouldn't suggest this method, but also don't have a better one. Just know I struggled to get it looking close to the other one with lots of time spent flat ironing individual wefts and adding wefts.

I ended up folding over the bottom wefts to add to the tube the elastic was fed through around the edge of the netting so it would hold more tightly to the clip once I put them back in. I had two smaller clips from a long time ago I that fit perfectly into these smaller pigtails!

This is how they looked after I finished them:

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Now for the long part of the wig! All I'm going to do for this part is gently curl the ends inward. For this, I combed through in small sections and curled it with the flat iron. Because the wig fibers are plastic, they only hold their shape if they are in the desired shape when the plastic cools after being heated. Think of it like heating metal until it's flexible and it keeping the shape once it's cool.

To do this, I put the wig back on the head and attached it to my makeshift wig stand (I used a wreath stand you can buy in the floral section of a craft store because it's the best thing I had on hand, I don't recommend this, it's so wobbly...).

_

The last step is to attach the pigtails!

I didn't photograph my progress, so please accept my diagram instead!

I didn't trim the part I pulled back simply out of fear of it coming undone and being unable to clip the pigtails back. Not shown here, but I used a thick weaving needle I've had for years to thread the black ribbon through the pigtails as the final touch.

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Aaaaaaaand here's the finished wig!

I'm super happy with how it turned out and can't wait to wear it. If I don't get good pics of me in this cosplay during the next con I wear it to I will cry.

[marionrav]

Copying a garment

I've copied two garments going straight from the garment to a pattern. I've also used a worn purse to copy the shape of the inside to sew a fresh lining. This didn't make the purse new, but it definitely made it more workable. This is sewing related, but you could apply the rules to knitting with some caveats.

Check the shape your source is in. A worn out and ragged pair of shorts could be ripped into pattern shapes and copied. A worn out sweater is likely larger / smaller than the original copy of the pattern. Anywhere with a lot of wear / holes might show that the pattern is a little small on the spot, and might distort the original pattern shape. If you are not tearing apart the garment, you can copy the shapes on to paper / using pins to mark the pattern shapes. The more fragile the garment, the harder it is to manhandle it into copying the shapes and the less accurate your copy will be.

Try the garment on, if you can. Note anything you don't like. If the shoulders are too long for your shoulder, note the approximate amount. Check if the sleeves are the right length for your arms. An accurate copy will not lose these problems, so knowing that you might want to tweak that is important. An inaccurate copy may make these problems worse.

Find some fabric that is similar to the original fabric. A slight amount of stretch will simply make the test garment "roomier" as it shifts around you. A major difference in drape / stretch will result in a different garment. If you want to demonstrate this, try on a knit garment and a stiff canvas / denim version of the same garment. If the shapes are the same, it will hang differently on you.

Walk the seams. Using a piece of paper or a measuring tape, go around the curves / edges of a garment. I prefer to do this prior to adding seam allowances, since you're talking about the finished garment shapes. Shoulder seams / side seams will often be different. A difference of 1/2" in a side seam can often get lost in the hem, and a bias seam may lose or gain the length as the fabric settles. A shoulder seam ideally should be a similar size, especially if you need to set a sleeve in it.

You are starting, I assume, with something that fits you. However, the copied pattern shapes aren't guaranteed to fit you. Take measurements of your body. For a top, I would do biceps, sleeve length, widest point of the hand (if not doing a cuff,) neck, shoulder, chest at armpits / bust point, chest at belly, hip if you're going to go down that far, armpit to hip / where you want the shirt to end. Double check the pattern will fit those numbers. It's easy on a shirt, for example, to lose width when you've got a 3D curved shape over the body, and you're trying to copy it flat. If your shirt just fits over a wide part of your body, you may want to add a bit more to your test one, since a fresh fabric will be less stretched in those areas.

Copying a collar stand is unpleasant. You can find people on the internet who talk through how to draft a collar / collar stand. On average, I'd make the collar stand a little long for my estimated curve, since you can trim it to be smaller.

Add seam allowances to the paper pattern and hem allowances if you wish. If you do not, carefully note that you did not add allowances for hems / seam allowances.

Sew the garment with as much care as you have the patience to use. If seam finishing will use more fabric, you should use it in your test. Ideally, try wearing the test copy for a while. Many fabrics change how they sit on you after they're warm and worn for a while (think of a pair of jeans fresh from the dryer or a pair after several wears.) Pay attention to irritation (do you need to bind a seam / serge a seam to have less seam allowance in an area?) or fit issues (do you need to add / remove fabric?) Is a seam under a lot of strain? Does that match the original garment or is it something in the drafting? If the result is so alien to confuse you, can you buy a pattern of a similar garment or watch someone sew a version of it to see the difference between your pattern shapes and the pattern?

Redraw the pattern, noting your changes, and try again. Repeat until you're happy, or you've got enough workable test garments to be done.

[quydanduong]

For the past few weeks I've been working on a customized áo dài with a skeleton pattern inspired by Bá Nguyệt's ghost form. It has one "exposed" sleeve and the rest of the form are layered under thin silk to create a veiled shadow of the full skeleton.

Art accidentally captured in the background is by Kevin Sabo.

Customization process summary under the cut.

A simple graph of steps I went through to customize the áo dài.

This is how the áo dài appeared at the beginning. It is a typical modernized áo dài for men, with tay chẽn (sleeve cuffs fit to wearer's wrists) sleeves, a straight form, and running button line down the right chest. My plan is to adapt it to look more like an áo ngũ thân tay chẽn, which means the left lap of the áo has to reach the right shoulder and armpit, instead of middle of right chest.

I began with tucking the left lap under the right lap and sewing the two sides together, turning the áo dài into a long shirt.

Then I painted the skeleton pattern onto the front, back and two sleeves of the áo dài with bleach. This took about 4 full days: the actual painting time took less, but I let it dry overnight after finishing every part.

By this time, the silk I ordered for a 2nd layer had come in. I cut the piece for the front piece. This would be sewn to the left shoulder, left armpit, and the left half of the neckline. It'd be left open on the right side so it can be closed by buttoning. I actually sewed the silk onto the áo dài, but then realized the color of the two types of fabric do not match up. The silk I ordered is black, but the base áo dài is a near-black dark navy. My first reaction is to get blue acid dye and give the silk layer a blue wash and turn it into a more navy color. Turning the base áo dài black would have been more ideal, but I already bleach-drew on it. Anyway, this doesn't work, considering the silk is already saturated with color (black), so I got black dye to spot dye the base áo dài, avoiding the bleach drawing. When I washed it to bleed out the extra dye, the dye washed over the bleach drawing anyway, but this is something I could live with.

I carried on to make the silk sleeve to go around the left sleeve. This ended up being shorter than the sleeve of the áo dài because I ran out of silk, so I hemmed the base sleeves to better match the silk sleeves. Thankfully, the original sleeves were too long anyway, so it ends up the right length after hemming.

I cut out the back silk piece. The front, sleeve and back pieces are sewn together first before onto the base áo dài. Then I added buttons (mock pearls) to the base áo dài, at the collar, right collarbone, and two more on the right side of the áo. Traditionally, there should be 5 buttons (collar, collarbone, and 3 down the side) but since the side of this modern áo dài is shorter, only 2 are needed.

This isn't pictured in the diagram, but I ended up retouching the bleach drawings where they were too washed out from the dye. DONE!

[dragonflavoredcake]

So about basic tailoring... This might be an easy to answer and dumb question but I feel slightly overwhelmed when I go to google this myself.. where do you start learning? Ideally for as little money as possible. Clothes are difficult to fit to my body type and I have some items I would like to repair so i really need this.

Don't apologize, I'm always happy to get asks! Number 1 piece of advice: don't be afraid to be dumb. I've only been sewing for two years; I had to Google how to thread a needle and it took me three days to learn how to thread a bobbin on a machine.

This got very long so the rest is below the cut

In my experience, a good-sized spool of machine thread usually costs about three dollars. If your local grocery store sells general merchandise, they might have some common colors in a "sewing center" section, which will almost definitely be cheaper than if you go to a dedicated sewing shop. They might even sell sewing kits with basic supplies. Hand sewing thread tends to be cheaper than machine thread. You can use machine thread for hand sewing, but you can’t use hand-sewing thread on a machine. If your hands tremble a lot or you're not confident, some places sell pre-threaded needles.

There are a lot of sewing supplies available, but you really don't need much to get started:

thread that's roughly the same color as your fabric

some pins

sharp needle that's big enough for you to comfortably thread and small enough to not poke way bigger holes in the fabric than the thread warrants

a pair of scissors. They don't even need to be fabric scissors! I used regular craft scissors for a year and a half until I found some fabric scissors on clearance. You're not going to be cutting fabric as a beginner anyway, just thread.

One rule for baby’s first repair/tailoring job: make it reversible. You’re going to make mistakes. You’re not going to start out knowing everything there is to know. You can always cut threads or take off buttons, but you can’t un-cut fabric or magically reverse huge holes.

For tailoring: find a piece of clothing you like. I recommend starting with a no-frills sleeveless shirt with non-adjustable straps. Buy it to fit the biggest/widest part of your body. The looser it fits, the more room you have for adjustments.

Put it on inside-out, figure out where it’s too big, fold the fabric in, and pin it in place. Carefully take the shirt off, lay it out flat, thread your needle, consult a video tutorial on how to prepare the needle and thread for sewing (never forget that double knot), make the first stitch where the knot of thread won’t irritate your skin, and sew the fold in place.

When in doubt, leave more room than expected, because your body is constantly changing to accommodate your organs’ various activities; something that barely fits you when you first wake up is going to be causing actual pain by midday.

Small jobs that are low-risk and can help boost your confidence: shortening tank top straps (fold fabric over and sew in place), reinforcing or re-attaching buttons, and doing simple hems (cuff fabric, fold over twice, and sew in place) on pajama pants. Fuzzy fabrics tend to be very forgiving and naturally hide messy stitches.

If you need fabric, do not automatically head to the fabric store. Yes, they’ll have a huge variety, but it’ll be sold at a premium and you’ll have to machine-wash your fabric before using it to remove the shrinking (an additive that helps the fabric lay flat on the bolt). Look in thrift stores and garage sales. 

You can get a lot of mileage out of a men’s extra-large T-shirt. If you need more fabric than that, look for secondhand sheet sets. They’re the closest thing you can get to straight-off-the-bolt fabric that isn’t sold as an expensive hobby product, plus there’s some elastic in the fitted sheet. I’m currently in the process of making a dress with a circle skirt using fabric from a 4-piece twin sheet set I thrifted for sixteen bucks. Buying that much fabric at a fabric store would’ve cost several times more.

If you’re still worried, take a breath. Whatever you don’t know, you will learn. Google is a powerful tool and YouTube has heaps of tutorials. The worst that can happen is that you make a mistake. Mistakes can be fixed. Mistakes are how you learn. The worst mistakes often make great stories.

TL;DR: you only need four things, buy clothing to fit the largest part of your body, get cheap fabric from thrift stores, and don’t be afraid to make stupid mistakes!

[tj-crochets]

hi there tj! i love the things you make and ive been thinking about making a little-ish plushie in a shape of a lizard/gecko...about 12 inches long? i was wondering if you have a pattern for a simple (and not wriggle-shaped) one? and if not, do you have a pattern rec for a plushie making beginner? thanks so much!

ask part two: just remembered after i hit sent: im looking for a sewing pattern and ive seen you mention making a polypellet lizard? i'd be interested in that! sorry for the double asks! you're great! Hi! Thank you so much! I...am not sure if I have a simple lizard/gecko pattern, but I do have some options for you. I've made patterns for a gecko and a crocodile/lizard, but they might count as wriggle-shaped? I mean the gecko probably does, the crocodile might not. The rest got long, so it's behind a read more

As for pattern recs, the only lizard/gecko patterns I know aren't very simple, but they are by CholyKnight so I think a particularly determined beginner could probably make one? Honestly I wouldn't recommend that pattern as a very first plushie pattern, though. She does have a slightly simpler lizard pattern option, but a non-wriggle-shaped basic lizard plushie pattern is extremely easy to make at a small scale, so if you have any interest in pattern making or drawing at all I'd recommend making your own pattern. To make your own basic lizard pattern*, you're going to need three things: a pen or pencil, something to help you measure 1/4 inch, and paper. First, draw your lizard, not including the arms or legs. When you're satisfied with your lizard outline, add a 1/4 seam allowance** and cut it out. Then, design your lizard legs. For your first pattern, I'd recommend something like the leg patterns on my juggling toads, which are basically little roundish legs, and the pattern essentially looks like a large U with a straight line across the top. You can make the legs more complex if you want to, but I think the simple legs will work and they are easier for a new plushie maker. You can also make the front and back legs different patterns, or you can use the same pattern for both. Once you're satisfied with your lizard leg pattern(s), add the seam allowance and cut them out. The downside of making your own lizard pattern is that you won't have any instructions to follow, but I can help with that! Take your pattern to your fabric, and either pin it in place and cut around it, or trace around it, remove it, and cut using the traced lines as a guide. You're going to need two of the body pattern piece, with one mirrored. That means you'll cut one out with the side of the pattern you drew on face up, and one with it face down. You'll also need two pieces for each leg, with one of them being the mirror of the other. Once you have all the fabric pieces cut out, sew the legs first. Sew around the outside edges (the U shape), leaving the flat line across the top unsewn. Once you've done that, flip the leg right side out (through that opening you left unsewn) so the seam is hidden on the inside. Lightly stuff the legs with polyfil, fabric scraps, polypellets, or something like that as you go. Once you have all the legs sewn, put the fabric that will be the top of the lizard right side up in front of you and line up the legs around it until you are happy with the placement, then baste them in place**. Once you have the legs basted in place, take the fabric that will be for the bottom half of the lizard body and put it right side down over the lizard-top-half-and-legs you just made. Pin or clip that lizard sandwich together, making especially sure to pin the layers where the legs are basted so they don't move around. Sew around the outside edge of the lizard, leaving an opening for turning at least an inch and a half long but ideally closer to two inches long. That opening should not be on the lizard's head, and will probably end up either on the side of the belly between the front and back legs on one side or on the tail. Flip the lizard right side out. If you are using safety eyes, add them now. Stuff the lizard with polyfil/polypellets/scraps, then hand sew closed the opening for turning. If you did not use safety eyes, applique on the eyes now. Enjoy your adorable new lizard, and tag me when you post it if you're willing! I'd love to see it! *for use with stretch fabric, this probably won't work with non-stretch fabric **let me know if you want me to go over this step in more detail

[private-bryan]

How I bind my fics - Part 1

So, I said to one of my mutuals (@imstressedx) that I might do a step-by-step on how I bind books, so this is as good as opportunity as any! The first glue up on the spine is drying, so while I'm waiting I'll show you how I assemble the text block ready for trimming and endbands.

The fic I'm using for this is "Making Moves" by @areseebee and @derrygirlstrash, and starts with typesetting:

I've recently switched to using inDesign (previously I used LibreOffice), and for the most part it's pretty good - explaining how to typeset is far beyond my skills, but the basics are pretty easy to get a grip on.

Since we're printing two pages to each side of the sheet, and printing front and back, the number of pages in the document should be divisible by four - we add in extra pages or tweak the layout to get this number. Ideally the number of pages match one of the numbers in this grid, to make the signatures the same size.

For this book there ended up being 96 pages, which gave me the options of six signatures made of four sheets, four signatures of six sheets, to three signatures of eight sheets. I went with four signatures, but in retrospect I'd probably go with six signatures next time.

Next up is to print it, grouped together into the desired signature size and laid out accordingly (e.g. the first sheet would go pg 24, pg1 on one side, then pg2, pg23 on the other) so that when we fold and stack the pages they are in the correct order. We also print/cut/use the endpapers at this point. I've printed this on 100gsm A4 paper (approx 27lb letter paper for you Yanks, although the measurements aren't quite identical)

Next, we fold the pages. It's a simple case of aligning the corners, folding flat, then using a bone folder (actually made of teflon) to make the crease nice and crisp:

(The first two signatures folded and stacked)

Next, we need to pierce holes in the creases to sew through, so we make a template using scrap paper/card (I used a piece I was using as a glue shield on a previous bind - I like to use a bright/contrasting colour to make it easier to see):

The gaps at the top and bottom are quite large on this template, and that's because I'm intending to slice off an entire inch of paper on those sides due to the way the printer scaled the margins.

We then place each signature/endpaper in my janky, homemade punching rest, and use an awl to pierce through according to the template:

Once that's done, we can stack them ready for sewing, and wax our thread. We use thread as wide as the signatures, and use that number of passes to get a decent length. We then wax it, to make it easier to slip through the paper and to untangle any inevitable knots. I use beeswax and cotton thread, although I originally used parrafin wax and polyester - there's not much difference IMO, but if I'm doing this by hand I want materials I'm happy with.

Next, we sew - I like to use French Stitch, as it gives a nice finish. If it were thicker I'd use cotton tapes behind the wider sections, but for this book I just went with the thread. Tip - keep the thread taut, but not tight, otherwise the pages could rip.

(Half way done - fun fact, chapter four takes up two of the four signatures by itself)

Finally, for this part, we just need to put it in my (also) homemade press, and apply two layers of glue to the edge.

Once this is dry it'll be onto the next part!

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

ideally, here's the craft projects I want to do in the next year:

Make a leather cover for On Sundays, which would have a cut-out on the front that would be filled with some embroidery. The cons of this are that I would need to get some tools/supplies which would be pricy for a one off project. Perhaps I could idk, make more covers for things or make smth I could sell with the supplies too.

Rework my Mollymauk coat. I like it but it was my first attempt at sewing clothing, so the measurements weren't great (it doesn't fit well) and a lot of the edges or parts are ugly bcuz I messed up. I think it would be pretty easy to rip the lining/seams and get it back to it's original pieces and then add in more panels. The original look I was going for was patchwork-y so adding more panels in new fabric would actually fit pretty well, and I could also scatter in some patches and a bit of embroidery. The biggest cost would just be fabric, since the coat is made of various brocades and I'd like to keep with that look. I could probably look for fabric vendors that sell like, small sample swatches that might be a better way than buying yards of multiple fabrics.

Embroider my graduation cap. I actually originally got back into embroidery this year so I could embroider my graduation cap, but I haven't figured out what I wanted to embroider and I wanted to practice first so I've put it off. Ideally I want it to somewhat match with the serape graduation stole I have because ideally when I actually live in my own place, I'd like to display my cap, stole, and cords.

Make some more hand-embroidered patches and actually put them on my leather jacket. I have the supplies to do it, I just need to get around to it and figure out which box my leather jacket is in.

Honorable mention:

Come up with and figure out some decor for my badge holder. I have one of those retractable badge holders for my work ID and I'd like to decorate it some way so I can have a little personality yk? I bought the badge holder myself so I can do whatever I want.

Not a craft but I want to sketch out ideas for more tattoos. Ideally I want to add some more to my left arm because in the future someday I want to get a large tattoo on my right arm. I know a good tattoo parlor that mainly does walk-ins for small tattoos.

[deep-space-lines]

ok fuck it. earthmover instructions

WHAT YOU NEED

Sewing machine

3/4 yard dark grey fabric (I personally used a woven fabric so I'm not sure how well it'd work with a more stretchy material but it'd probably be fine?)

Dark grey thread

Upholstery foam for the head and body; once piece will be 8cm x 20cm x 18cm, the other will be 8cm x 8cm x 6cm. (Getting thick enough foam can be a little pricier than ideal so I just stacked 2 smaller foam chunks on top of each other and it works just fine! You can try using stuffing but it's gonna be tough if not impossible to get the body to hold a blocky/geometric shape so I definitely recommend the foam)

Box cutter (for foam)

Stuffing

6 small white buttons

Wire

Possibly gold sequins or beads or paint if you want to add city lights/additional details? I didn't end up doing it myself but it might look cool!

INSTRUCTIONS/PATTERN

Pattern does not include seam allowance! The images are printer paper sized and should come out the exact same size as mine if you print them without margins, but if you want an itty bitty Earthmover then who am I to stop you

Use a box cutter to cut your foam into the proper size pieces (8cm x 18cm x 20cm for the body; 8cm x 8cm x 6cm for the head). (Like I mentioned before, you might need to stack pieces.) (Scissors also work for this but they kind of suck)

Sew the legs together. This part's easy. cone time

Sew the head top and sides together into most of a rectangular prism. Head Bottom is not only a new nickname for one of my friends, but also the piece you want to ignore for the time being.

Sew the neck pieces together as shown. The four Neck 1 pieces and Neck 2 piece are easy enough, but the base is a bit hard to explain? Basically you want the short ends of the trapezoids sewn to the bottom of Neck 2 without leaving any gaps; just ignore the overlap of the wider parts. After you have that, you'll want to sew the sides of the trapezoids together as shown. This part can be a bit janky, but if you don't have any gaps it should be fine.

Next you'll want to fold it in half and sew the sides together all the way down, leaving you with a long tube that flares out into a square base.

Ok... this is the part where we get to the illegal sewing technique that may get me drawn and quartered by the people who actually know how to sew. If you have a better method to attach a cylinder to a plane at a perfect 90 degree angle please let me know so I can ignore you. Also- I recommend reading ahead to the next few bullet points/image so you know what the plan is before you start.

Stuff the neck enough that it can hold its shape.

Cut a hole of a smaller diameter than the neck in the Head Bottom piece. Start off small and gradually make the hole larger until it fits snugly around the top of the neck. Don't use the dotted circle I put on the pattern! Use the neck of your own beast to measure it. The placement on the pattern isn't entirely accurate either bc I was rushing- you're going to want to have it slightly off-center (whatever side it's closest to will be the back of the head, opposite side is the front) but you still want to leave some fabric on the side.

Now, push the neck about 2cm or so through the hole, then cut and fold the top of the neck out onto the Head Bottom piece. Tape it in place (I found it easier than pins/clips in this instance since you're working in a rather small area) and kinda... sew around the hole. Look I KNOW this is terrible. I am not proud of this. But it works, it's hidden under the head, and as long as your fabric is fairly dark and your thread matches it, it shouldn't look too bad.

Repeat the same exact process to attach the legs to the Body Bottom piece. (Since the legs are cones, this is significantly easier! Just make sure the holes are smaller than the widest part of the cone, push the leg through almost all the way, and you should be fine. This is what the marks on the leg pieces were for; they should help with how far down to cut, and guide you while sewing.)

Sew the rest of the head onto the front only of the Head Bottom / Neck piece. Just let it flop for the time being.

Sew the top of the body together as shown.

Now sew the sides, front, top, and bottom of the body together into a rectangle. You should get a floppy beast like this, with the head and butt open.

Firmly stuff the legs; it's up to you if you want him to be soft or want him to stand. I didn't do it with mine, but you can also put wires in there if you'd like.

Then insert the body foam piece into his giant butthole. It should fit very snugly, but don't hesitate to trim it down a bit if you think it's pushing on the seams too much / will make it difficult to sew up by hand.

Stuff the neck, then insert the foam into the top of the head.

Hand stitch the butt and head closed. (It's a lot of hand sewing. I know. I'm sorry. There is no better way with the damn foam.)

The spear is pretty easy; just fold the spear piece in half and sew just like with the legs, fold and twist a piece of wire until you have something strong enough, wrap in some spare foam or stuffing or fabric, and shove it in there. You'll want to have a good amount of wire sticking out the end (~5cm) to help attach it to the head.

(The reason I'd use a thinner piece of wire folded/twisted to make a thicker one, rather than just using a thick wire in the first place, is because it provides more friction once it's in the foam. )

Make a small hole in the fabric on the side of his head, and stick the remaining wire into the foam to anchor it in there. If you're having trouble sliding the wire into the foam (which is good! means it will hold better once it's in) you might be able to use a lighter or something to heat it up a bit, which should make it easier to push in. I cannot stress this enough: A BIT!! Be careful! Setting the entire earthmover on fire by stabbing it with a glowing hot piece of wire may sound like a totally great idea that would certainly improve the game and Hakita should definitely 100% add, but please do not attempt it in your home. Hand-stitch the top of the spear to the head to hold it in place.

Add button eyes, and sequins if you should so desire.

Congrations you have made Benjamin

please please please if anyone uses it to make their own benjamin I want to see.

I MADE MYSELF AN EARTHMOVER

The idea that earthmover plushie was something i could realistically maybe make was beamed into my brain on friday may 10th at exactly 11:23 PM and then proceeded to consume my entire weekend. i did not know if this would work but i did it. i made him. my weird lopsided dog Benjamin

(I'd be happy to write up the pattern/instructions if people are interested- I think it'd be pretty simple to recreate since he's like 90% rectangles- but be warned that I have never tried to draft a plushie pattern from scratch before and it's kinda janky as hell the way the legs are attached feels like one of those illegal lego techniques so you have to promise not to make fun of me ok)

[rottingmanifesto]

Would love to know some of your hcs about Perla🩷 I really wish we got to know more of her

LITERALLY. Like they give hints but not much, it makes me so mad at times. Anyway, prepare for rambling!

- Canonically she was born in 1922, I have her down as an August birthday (idk when exactly). Not sure where she’s from yet, might be from elsewhere in Louisiana or from Georgia (like FJ)

- to me she looks vaguely like Eartha Kitt! Not the same, but some overlap

- this song is just… so her to me. She’s a performer who can fake being charismatic (in reality, she’s more reserved) but even in her performances, she can’t hide the idealism inside her

- generally the more down-to-earth one compared to Sammy’s false “fatherhood” tactic— she can’t stop Sammy nor the boys he brings, but she tries to show kindness where she can

- genuinely tries to help Delray Hollow as much as possible by funding the arts and community outreach (this is also canon, fun fact!)

- I associate her with purple compared to the lighter green seen in the mural. Idk why, I just think purple suits my vision of her better

- Her and Virginia make a lot of jokes about their husbands. It’s more like Virginia bitches about things and Perla listens (and laughs when Virginia makes a good joke) but hey, it works for them

- tried to get Ellis (and later Lincoln) into theatre; Ellis liked it fine, Lincoln…. well he’s better as a part of the crew if anything

- there are hints that she might’ve been a hoodoo practitioner in canon, and she very likely hid it from Sammy (as hoodoo is commonly associated with Haiti)— Ellis never cared about it but Lincoln learned at least a few fragments

- her romance with Sammy was very whirlwind. They met in 1944, married in 1945, and had Ellis January 17, 1946. She went from “I’ll find love when I find it” to, well, this

- quite business-savvy and good with keeping records (and got on Sammy’s case whenever he missed something)

- avoids confrontation not out of fear but out of need to conserve her own energy for more “important” matters (very much unlike the rest of her family lol)

- dabbled in every form of art she could get her hands on— sewing, painting, theatre, dance, etc.— and Sammy encouraged it, keeping the pieces she was most proud of framed and in a safe upstairs. Not much survived the fire.

I have a long thing on Virginia as well (that I sent to my beloved mutual— ily Beth 🤍🤍) but I’ll save that for later!

Thank you for asking. Hopefully I’ll have more soon! Also see the comparison of Perla and Eartha Kitt below the cut