#the pattern i'm knitting is free btw

[journeyman-tier-fibercraft]

Knitting repeat 37 out of 40 on the lace shawl for my cousin’s wedding present

[junkworldusa]

HI I love my copy of Junkworld btw!! Thank you!!

Idk I might have asked you this before or someone else may have but I was wondering if you would talk some about your art practice like. Routine and the like? I think I remember you doing Lynda Barry exercises?

Well either way thank you!!!!

Oliver!!! Yes!!! I'm so glad!

I have to preface this by saying that I don't even work on art every day, much less comics. Last October I picked up knitting on a whim and spent all my free time making hats while listening to an audiobook of Moby-Dick. I made a lino print for the first time while sending out JW #1, fell in love with it, and have spent the last month or so carving and printing and experimenting. I go on painting jags, collage jags, writing jags, and I have two (2) guitars that are sitting in the corner patiently waiting for asteroid Kiana to circle back to them. I've been this way my whole life, and I am trying to work with it and not against it. HOWEVER. There is a hardcore Type A perfectionist inside me that wants nothing but consistency. This part of me abhors the flightiness, the mutations, the bouts of melancholy -- if there must be a Quest, it cries, let it be towards a singular Goal!!!!

For recovering perfectionists there really is no better teacher than Lynda Barry. She has a list of materials, she has dozens of exercises, she has you set time limits. According to her books she is quite a strict teacher in-class, demanding a lot of time, effort, care, and attention. All of this is wonderful. She boxes you in and sets you free.

"Making Comics" is the essential text. My favorite exercise is Monster Jam.

Here are a few of mine, all done left-handed to minimize the influence of the Type A chatter who lives in my brain. I have dozens and dozens of pages of these monsters. Barry recommends this specific process a lot: lay down the lines under pressure before your brain can catch up, then add color/patterns/details, under no pressure at all, while watching/listening to something you like.

There are several iterations after this - you draw their parents, an older sibling, a lover. Then you go back to the beginning and draw, in 6 panels, the story of their life. It somehow always presents itself.

As valuable as they are, I don't use these exercises to actually make comics nowadays. I use them to loosen up and activate that aforementioned feeling. Most of my comics come from doodles or notes scribbled down in a tiny notebook I carry everywhere. The process of making a longform comic is something I have bashed my head against for YEARS, and now involves divination, random image generation, a deck of Nancy cards, a lightbox, and a ton of panels chopped up and spread out on the floor so I can move them around. This is why I still only work in grids!

[zoltruke]

Hello there!

I was curious if it would be okay for me to use your dorm cardigan art as a rough pattern of sorts and try my hand at knitting one of them? I'm not super advanced or fast at knitting, so I think I would be sticking to the Cardigan of Thorns since it's mainly colour-blocking.

Just, all of those designs are so GOOD, and it has me feeling inspired to actually make a cardigan. (it would just be for personal use/skill enhancement btw... I suck at rib stitches so the ribbing would most likely be crochet ; w ; )

-Knitting anon (feel free to ignore this)

Hello Anon!

Please feel free to knit the design! 🙌✨

As long as it’s for personal use, I’m fine with it! Looking forward to see your work!!

[ooops-i-arted]

Well here we are. I debated between Jango or Boba, but I LOVE the newer BoBF look (black + green are my faves and also it's so lovely to look at with the pops of color on black).

The base dress would be the Brassia Dress from Mood Fabrics (they have tons of free patterns btw) in all black (for rewearability), a knit of some sort I'm thinking, something with stretch or I'll have to add a zipper in the back. The overskirt would echo the shape of the kama Boba has and I'd fabric paint or cricut designs on it. I'm thinking a mythosaur skull for sure, maybe some other motifs if I can find specific ones to Boba or Jango, or just Mando'a outlining Fett clan heritage (a la what he shows Din in the show) or "Fuck Filoni Boba is a true Mandalorian" lol. (Just kidding. Maybe.) The skirt would be attached to a belt with a faux buckle on it, maybe some rivets or studs or something in gold as well.

For the vest I'm wanting something like this, if I can't find a pattern it should be simple enough to draft. I have this backpack pattern shown below and I should be able to use the applique patterns in it as a base to make the helmet shape on the back. Only downside is that to show it off I'll need a different bag instead of my mini Mando backpack I wear to cons, but that should be simple enough to figure out. If I find a patch or pin of Boba's chest logo I can add that too.

For shoes I could buy boots if I find or thrift them for a decent price, or make covers in the right cover. I also want to study Boba's original and new costumes, as well as Jango's, to see if there's any other little details I can reference.

FanExpo Chicago is August 17, so I guess I haven't learned my lesson about managing my timeline haha. I wish they'd announce big guests further in advance! Anyway, thoughts?

[elizabethplaid]

A quick list of (free) yarn patterns

Trying to gather stuff to make for the craft fair, or at least plush patterns to try. I am aiming for knits, as crochet hurts my hands a bit more; seems like most of 'em are crochet, though.

Anything I've already tried, I'll mark in bold. And these are just links to @agalmacoppelia posts, so you gotta click through to get to the patterns themselves.

Of the projects in this image, I'm only willing to make another bikini cat, aka Cat Days of Summer by Gabrielle Ryan

I can't upload the individual pic of that cat, so you get a group shot.

non-plush

c - DIY Pretty Coasters by Maize Hutton

c - Lemon Crochet purse by spookydonuts

k - Baker Street Scarf on knitty

k - Hespera cowl - on knitty

misc plush

k - Grumpasaurus by JustCraftyEnough

c - baby dragon by Rainbow Reverie

c - Amigurumi mouse cat toy by Lion Brand Yarn

c - Teeny Tiny Lobsters pattern by Maggie Menzel

c - DIY Little Snails by Natas Nest

plush cats

c - Cat Days of Summer by Gabrielle Ryan

c - Three Fat Cats by Sara Lyons

k - Cat knitting pattern by Natural Suburbia

c - Sleepy Kitty draft dodger by Lion Brand Yarn

c - Amigurumi cat (rectangle) by Lion Brand Yarn

k - Parlor Cat Pattern by Sara Elizabeth Kellner

plush owls/birds

c - Austin Owl Amigurumi by Allison Hoffman

c - cute amigurumi owl by fukuroucrafts

c - Mr. Murasaki owl by Craft Passion

k - Autumn Wreath, owl - by Lion Brand Yarn

========== There were def more in the archive. Some of the owls looked derpy. Others looked too complex for the task. There were some stitch motifs and patterns that would make for nice (non-hooded) cowls or scarves. Didn't mark those, though.

I've already talked plenty about the scarf and cowl. They're such good patterns, and I really love wearing the cowl.

Regarding the crocheted lemon purse, I want to adapt that motif to make coasters. If I get ~fancy~, I'd make a little coin purse out of 'em, complete with zipper. There's a watermelon slice version, btw. Could probably poke a hole with scissors, rather than using that specialized too.

I have already made (or partially made) multiple cat-toy mice. It's such a great pattern; very small and quick. Bikini cat is another fav, though I haven't made new ones yet. No buttons on those, though. Just embroidered faces.

As for the other bolded patterns, I am only willing to subject myself to the mini lobsters. Solely because I'm in Maine, and lobsters are A Thing (TM). The snails weren't that much fun, but neither were the lobsters. Grumpasaurus is cute, but I still haven't finished sewing mine together, and he's been "done" for years. (Might need to knit the tail still, but the limbs are done.)

I also have this long-legged cat thing I've made. Here's how he looked while still in-progress, in 2014. He needs a face, still.

So yeah, that's all I've got for now.

[rebeccadumaurier]

ok my first pair of pants!! tbh i'm not very happy with them but i did learn a lot. yes the waistband is obscured in the mirror pic on purpose...because it is so uneven....

sewing knits is hard!! i'm not sure what this fabric is (free, did not come with a label) but it's fairly stretchy, much less slippery than jersey i've sewn so in my arrogance, i did not swap out for a ballpoint needle. i didn't have difficulty w/ making stitches that don't jam the sewing machine (as i've often done w/ jersey) but getting pieces to stay aligned was REALLY hard so, as you can tell from the uneven seams, i had to go back and restitch some areas. in the future will be more thorough about pinning it and sewing more slowly

the pattern i used was the mood sewciety ixia leggings (free), but there's nothing particularly special about the instructions—it's just a standard pair of pants with a waistband, not even an elastic or anything—so i think i should have been less shy about altering the pattern to fit me better. it's supposed to be a size 4 but the size 4 in there has a much wider set of hips than i do (there is no way that waistband is the 25" the chart says the waist is! it's so much longer!) and there was a lot of initial gaping around the crotch area which i have only partially fixed. in the future may just try to base pants pieces more off my own measurements now that i have a better understanding of how pants patterns work

overall it's pretty comfy and feels nice so i decided to let it be but probably won't wear it outside much lol

btw i will post pictures of my completed sewing projects to #ange.sewing.final if you would like to track :-) ( @tchaikovskyed @monstrousgourmandizingcats etc)

up next: working on a cardigan :-) this one's woven fabric, so it's been much easier sewing so far

[mor-and-more]

Also I'm not even done with the cotton jumper

But I'm already plotting the colourwork sweater I want to start soon

I lovingly call it Toxic Waste Puddle. Because I'm gonna use the Stone Circles (free pattern btw!!) from Rav, with MC being a green gradient from dark green to Cartoon Toxic Sludge Neon Green (and then white), and with CC being. Variegated rainbow yarn that's also mouline

I will need to knit a swatch of the colourwork though... And I don't think I want to do it in circle. Even the "label gauge" means I would need Way Too Many Stitches For Comfort

[lilyhargrave]

Update: Looks like we might've made it on try 5! Yay!

Summary: Try 1: Didn't gauge swatch. (Because I'm usually at gauge, but I haven't worked with this yarn before.) Thought that looked like it was coming in a little loose? Did a (half-assed) gauge swatch, which did come in a bit big, so went down a needle size. I.e. frogged what I had and went again.

Try 2: Oh, let's try thumb cast on! It's nice! It's quick! It's stretchy! It's really pretty if you get the tension right! I did not get the tension right. There was a weird loose loop at the end? I hoped for that blocking out and continued, and then made a mistake in the pattern a few rows in, forgetting yarn overs on several rows... Soooo, since I'm not sure how to put in yarn overs one forgot and couldn't be bothered to look it up and also the cast on was weird... Frogging time.

Try 3: Back to German twist cast on. ...Realized that was *not* going to be a long enough tail about half way through. Why?? I measured when I pulled out the first one! Anyway, back we go...

Try 4: Cast on: Perfect! Joining... not perfect. But there's the tail end, stick beginning of round marker there. 3 rounds later: Something's weird. Something's strange with that join. I don't think my marker's in the right space? Let's fix it! I can go down and knit/purl the stitches into the right order, right? Yeah, I can, but... am I at the actual start? Is the yarn supposed to go that way? I don't know?? ...Okay, fine. Frogging again! Saved the cast on this time. Not sure that was any faster, carefully pulling out the yarn and picking up all the stitches, than ripping it all back would've been, but... at least the yarn was spared having to go through cast on again??

Try 5: Stitch count: Triple checked. Join: Cast on an extra one and knit together with first stitch, put in marker right at the start. Join: Neat. Marker: Correct. Four starting rows done, on to the pattern!

We're doing this one, btw:

Is it really a sweater project if you don't frog it and start again three times...?

[pancakeke]

How were you able to get into so many different crafts? Do you have a dedicated craft room? (Ur entire setup is aspirational to me as a college student!)

I have an office that has become my craft room!! My computer is in there and I work from home so I work in there too, but most of the space is dedicated to different tools/workspaces.

MESSY but here's the majority of my office. I have 3 desks in a big C shape. The left desk has all my sewing stuff, middle has my cricut and computer, then right has all my resin casting stuff and little SLA 3D printer. There's a paper drying station above it that I made from vinyl record racks mounted sideways lol

Off to the far left you can see part of an enormous shelf where I store other tools abd materials (keyboard building stuff, rug making stuff, knitting machine, spray paints, bulky sewing materials, dremel kit, serger, regular printer, sewing patterns, unfinished sewing projects, my old sewing machine, packaging for my store, god what else...)

If you want to get into a lot of hobbies it will seem really daunting with how many tools you need to buy, but realistically you shouldn't expect to get everything you want/need all at once. (DON'T get into leathercraft unless you can buy a lot of stuff immediately btw)

I started just with sewing years ago. The sewing machine I had was a tiny little Kenmore my mom got me for Christmas when I was in 5th or 6th grade. I stuck with that for a long time while slowly picking up more stuff.

Second hand is the best way to go for getting new tools when you join a hobby. Ebay is ok but people will try to rip you off sometimes. Shopgoodwill randomly has amazing deals on equipment. I you can get lucky with them for sergers and sewing machines if you're ok waiting around for specific models or buying older models that are available.

Joann Fabrics has great sales every so often on various sewing machines, but I've become partial to Ken's Sewing Center because they carry refurbished items with pretty decent discounts. Costco also has sewing machine deals but I haven't explored that option super well. Heads up though sewing machine and the like prices have gone up a lot the past 2 years :/

My knitting machine I got for an AMAZING deal on eBay because it was from an estate sale (like $100 shipped, which is nuts), and the serger I'm "borrowing" from my sister. Also I got a TON of knitting needles and crochet hooks from goodwill once for next to nothing.

Being buddies with boomers can get you cheap or free tools too. My stepdad gave me a dremel he never used and also a hot knife that I have somewhere. Also keep your ideal purchases in mind and watch out for sales rather than impulse buying. My 3D printer was on sale for $100 from $150 so that guy wasn't too costly.

Um I kind of went off here lol but just keep a list of what interests you and have patience and you can build up a mighty collection of tools. Just be careful because space becomes a premium after a while :')

As for actually getting into different crafts, I like to see what other artists are making and watch tutorial videos for random stuff to see if the craft seems fun. and like 99% of the time whatever the thing is does seem super fun to me. it's especially interesting when a new craft is something I can incorporate with a craft I already know to expand upon a skill I already have.

This is why I love when my friends show off their art and why I set up a discord for sharing your art. It's so inspiring just to be around other artists and bounce ideas around with them!!

I think the only craft that's ever turned me off though was macrame because you have to be ORGANIZED to do that and omg I am not.

[scarletteflamerald]

Oh and in the meantime I highly recommend learning to make your own clothes!!! It's pretty time consuming and sometimes it can be frustrating but in the end it's sooo worth it for a number of reasons. It's a fun way to spend your free time, you end up with clothing you like that actually fits you (after a little practice, anyway), and most of all, the utter satisfaction and power I feel walking around in a garment that I made myself simply cannot be expressed in words. Like, look at this sweater I just finished making!!!

Well, technically it's not quite finished; there's still a few loose ends on the inside that I need to weave in. But just look at it!!! I love the style and the color so much, and for someone who usually doesn't get excited about my clothing, the sheer excitement I feel every time I so much as look at this thing is incredible. (here's the pattern I used, btw, though I fiddled with it some)

I've been knitting since I was like 9, and I picked up crocheting a few years later, but I never really made clothing for myself until pretty recently. I'd made a few hats, scarves, and headbands, as well as one shawl, but most of those were for other people. Sewing I learned pretty much entirely in the last year, and the vast majority of my education comes from youtube videos (thank you especially to Bernadette Banner--she's amazing), but I'm already feeling somewhat confident in my sewing skills, and I'm really proud of what I've been able to create.

In the past nine months or so, I've made three and a half sweaters, a halter top, two blouses, and one skirt. The first sweater and the skirt turned out a little rough (the sweater was a bit too small and I used a cheap fabric for the skirt so it doesn't drape properly), but I'm super happy with the others and have, in fact, worn some of them in public on multiple occasions. Currently I'm working on a white "pirate shirt" that I'm very excited about, and I can't wait to add it to my wardrobe.

Also, I feel like I should add that it's totally possible to improvise and make do with what you have even if you're not equipped with all the "proper" tools! Since I've been knitting for so long, I already had all the stuff for that, but sewing's a whole other story. When I started, I didn't have most of the tools people say you should buy, really just pins, needles, and thread, and I still don't have a sewing machine or an iron, two things that it seems like basically everyone uses. My point is, you can do a lot with very few tools, so don't let that stop you from trying. You can probably get a basic sewing kit from Walmart or something for, like, two bucks, and beyond that you really just need the fabric and thread for individual projects.

Tl;dr: I cannot recommend making your own clothes enough. It's fun, satisfying, and productive, so you should definitely give it a try.

when all of this is over I am gOING TO A THRIFT STORE and unleashing all of the accumulated knowledge and desires for fashion that I have acrued over quarantine

and when that happens it is over for everyone who has ever perceived me