November Stashbusting: An All-Purpose Plushie Pattern

Friends, meet the snootiest looking cat plushies ever:

Can't you just feel the disdain dripping from their downturned mouths?

And their friend, the most derp-faced generic dinosaur of no particular species:

"Hallo there, I don't believe you've had the pleasure of making Sewasaurus Rex's acquaintance!"

He's a much friendlier guy.

There's also a Golden Retriever (or a Yellow Lab...I'm not entirely sure which) in the neighborhood.

You can tell they're all friends because their arms are around each other. 

As you know, November's stash busting is about making things to donate to charities. This last weekend, a bunch of ladies from my church came over and I taught them to sew little stuffed animals. Only a couple had ever used sewing machines before, and even then only for home dec type straight line sewing, so it was a bit of an adventure explaining concepts like "right sides together," or keeping the needle down while raising the presser foot in order to pivot while sewing, and how to do a ladder stitch.

Ladder stitching: necessary for doing up dino butts.

Since they were all new to plush-toy-sewing, I decided to draw up a simple pattern that involved easy to sew shapes without tricky joins like the mole pattern I tried last month. And because we all have different personalities (and not all people are cat-obsessed like I am), I decided to design it around a generic body pattern and then include easy modifications for paws and such in order to make it into different animals. With just one pattern, you can make a cat/dog/mouse/penguin/bunny/dinosaur/sheep!

Not pictured: the mouse and the bunny.

Ah, there they are. Not the best shot, but I just snapped this really quickly before they left with their makers that night. The mouse's butt has yet to be sewn up, and the bunny certainly looks disapproving about it. 

Even with all the options, the pieces are basic enough that it can be good practice for someone getting used to sewing curves on a machine (kind of like when you practice cutting wiggly lines with scissors in preschool). Alternately, if you don't have a machine, the pieces are small enough that hand-sewing won't take too long either.


Download the pattern here.

Since my plushies were made in a cat-haired home, even with all my lint-rolling and laundering, I unfortunately won't be able to donate these to children with compromised immune systems. However, they'll still go to (hopefully) good homes, to brighten the day of someone who needs some whimsical cheer, through Operation Christmas Child.

"I say! Are you acquainted with my dear friend, Juglans regia?" Snooty cat is snooty.

Sewasaurus gossips with his pal Walnut. 

So, how are you using your stash to give back to your community? Anyone up for making a snooty cat, disapproving rabbit, or derp-faced dinosaur of their own for adoption to a good home? 

Meet Whaleford Brimley

Almost exactly a year ago, I made a whale shark in celebration of Shark Week. Well, apparently making plushies of sea creatures with the word "whale" in it is turning into an annual first-week-of-August tradition, because I just participated in the making of a blue whale plushie. My sister just moved into a new apartment and wanted to make a floor pillow for it. And being the cool kid she is, it wasn't going to be just any ordinary floor pillow. 

Just look at his adorably stupid face! And his pathetic beached-whale pose.

She came home with two microfiber blankets from Ross and asked me to show her how to use the sewing machine. And after a quick consult as to what a pattern would look like, a two minute rundown and a single practice line of stitches, she whipped out Whaleford Brimley, named after the actor (unfortunately known for his diabeetus ads for an insurance company). For someone who's only just started machine sewing (she's done lots by hand), I'd say this is pretty darn impressive. I did end up helping her close the gap in Whaleford's side after all of his stuffing was inserted -- I seriously love slipstitching by hand! It's just so satisfying to see the gap in a stuffed animal's side close up perfectly.

This is a sketch of our pattern. In order to make Whaleford a more 3D animal (instead of just a really thick blanket), we couldn't just use a blue piece identical to the white belly piece. By gently curving out the center back seam, it allows for a bit of a dorsal hump.

His tiny eye and flipper.

Summary:
Fabric: Two microfiber blankets from Ross, in lieu of expensive faux fur (which was impossible to find in a short enough pile and with the correct shade of blue). They shed like crazy when cut, so watch out! Otherwise, an excellent solution to the question of finding enough cheap yardage for such a large project.
Notions: Two stuffed animal eyes and EIGHT POUNDS OF POLYFILL STUFFING. This thing is, well, of whale-like proportions.
Techniques used: Imagining how a 3D object should translate to a 2D pattern, slipstitching the side closed after inserting the stuffing
Hours: Two-ish? After my prom dress debacle, it was nice to be involved in something so easy and satisfying.
Will you make this again? I don't need a floor pillow, but gosh, Whaleford has such an adorably derpy face, I'm actually tempted to. No. Resist the urge.
Total cost: Two blankets at $10/each, $20 for the stuffing; $40 is really not too shabby for such a large, "custom-made" floor pillow.
Final thoughts: He's awfully unwieldy, what with his central adiposity and tiny flippers, but oh so cute! And the cats were all intrigued by this large invader. And if I started my sewing journey by making plushies in college, maybe this means that Emily will one day be whipping up garments, too! Then maybe we can start a boutique specializing in ridiculous sewn objects and cat-themed fashion.

Gummy tries to eat Uncle Whaleford's eye.

Walnut plays with on Uncle Whaleford.

Please lose some weight, Uncle Whaleford! I don't want to lose you to diabeetus!!

So that's two years in a row of large whale-y plushies...what will next August bring?

Thoughts on Teaching and Sewing Confessions

That is exactly what it looks like: a neon pink
leopard-print nightgown (fabric donated to me, then gladly
re-donated to her, because when would I ever use it?) She
loves it though -- wears it every night, according to mom.

So I've been going over to Small Human Being's home almost every Wednesday since the beginning of the year, and it has definitely been a learning experience for all concerned: SHB, of course, SHB's mom, SHB's younger brother, and me! This is the longest series of sewing lessons I've ever given -- before I left San Diego, I held a biweekly sewing club with some friends of mine, but we only ever made non-apparel items over a couple of months. With SHB, her young age, and her goal of "being a fashion designer," I've had to think more carefully about how to approach sewing with her. We started out with making up our own simple patterns based on her pre-existing clothes, which works pretty well since she's a SHB, and therefore mostly cylindrical without the sticky-outy bits that we grown women must put in darts for.

Anyway, after several sessions involving a pillow (non-fitted), a purse (non-fitted), a muumuu (non-fitted), curtains for her room (non-fitted), a gathered knit skirt with an elastic waist (non-fitted), and a nightgown (non-fitted: are you seeing a trend here?), we have finally moved onto something that is not elastic or slip-on: Butterick 5443, an actual zippered dress. Thankfully, it is also something that I excel at: the sleeveless fitted bodice and full skirt look! This project is actually more of a me + SHB's mom kind of project right now, as she has expressed a desire to learn how to use patterns. I think my sketch-a-rough-pattern-on-wrapping-paper-and-think-apart-how-it-might-go-together approach scares her. As we started going over how to decipher the yardage charts on the back of the envelope, the layout diagrams in the instructions, and the pinning and cutting, I realized that I am not a very disciplined sewist.

See, despite having a science background, when it comes to my sewing, I'm very fly-by-the-seat-of-those-pants-that-I-have-never-made. I'm all about fudging things when I can, considering the measurements to be mere suggestions (much like lane markings in rural Taiwan), and making very, very good friends with my seam ripper. Tim Gunn's "make it work" is my mantra not because I try complicated things, but because I wasn't paying attention to the recommendations in the first place. You know all my Pattern Review reviews? They all say "I didn't use them" as the answer to the question about the clarity of the instructions. I think that's why I'm so hesitant to tackle sleeves and pants: those things require meticulous measuring and marking and cutting and following directions. Anyway, all those issues came to the forefront when I tried to explain things like matching the grainline arrow on the paper pattern to the fabric, or making sure to pin before cutting. I had to remember not to just eyeball it; I want other sewists to learn good habits from me, which they can then discard later if they choose.

So here are my sewing sins, as were brought to light through teaching; please don't judge me too harshly!

• I usually don't pay attention to grainline. I usually eyeball it and try to get close, but when one uses old sheets as yardage, cutting layouts usually don't apply.
• Okay, let's face it, I never look at the cutting layouts, even when I do have standard-sized yardage. I think today was the first time I did so seriously, and even then I managed to screw up on one piece. 
• I don't pin before I cut. I just arrange things more or less right, and then cut carefully with a couple of books as pattern-weights, and hope things don't shift too much. 
• I'm really bad at marking my changes on patterns I plan on making multiple times: every time I've sewn M5845, I've had to bring in the top of the back bodice when inserting the zipper...I guess I have a narrow upper back? Anyway, I was sewing yet another version of it yesterday night, and I guess it's been awhile and I forgot about that, because I had to rip out my zipper eight times to get it right. Also, my knit tee block invariable ends up too loose at the waist, which is an easy fix, but it's still a little silly to have to redo the side seams every. freaking. time. At least now I've documented these changes, so hopefully I won't have to make these mistakes again?
• I never used to finish my seam allowances, but I've tried to change that since seeing Neeno's and Leimomi's glowing examples. It's still a bit of pick and choose, though, when I use seam binding and when I just pink, but at least I'm thinking about it? My consolation is that I've seen blouses from the 30s that survived just fine with pinking only, so I'll just wash my things carefully...
• I don't trace my patterns. Not even the vintage ones. I cut them out, but I will say that I don't make changes to the pattern tissue. Those changes all happen as I'm sewing on the actual garment, which might explain why I don't have any of them documented for the future. 

 

See? Just pinked! And it's survive

I conclude my sewing confessions by saying (hopefully, knock on wood) that none of my garments have turned out terribly despite the grainline ignorance (well, minus a couple of slightly wonky knit tees that didn't matter), and nothing has fallen apart in the wash yet, but I suppose I should really try harder to be careful, especially now that I'm teaching others the art of dressmaking. It's kind of like the one time that a student walked in on me prepping for lab without my goggles on (my excuse being that it was all in the fume hood and the partition was almost all the way down). I will say that the one area I never skimp in is ironing. I always press my seams flat, to the sides, and then open from both sides. But then, that might just be because pressing is what saves my garment from looking as terrible as the fudged meaurements/cuts/seams would have predicted.

Do you have any sewing confessions? Or are you all just super-duper angelic sewasaurus rexes?

See, that's all of you perfect little sewasaurus rexes over there in your clique, with your pattern instructions and pins and tracing wheel and cutting diagrams, while I'm the awkward one in the corner cutting up vintage patterns and eating Fray Check.

And finally, one of my favorite poems about teaching: 

Did I Miss Anything? by Tom Wayman

Nothing. When we realized you weren’t here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours

Everything. I gave an exam worth
40 percent of the grade for this term
and assigned some reading due today
on which I’m about to hand out a quiz
worth 50 percent

Nothing. None of the content of this course
has value or meaning
Take as many days off as you like:
any activities we undertake as a class
I assure you will not matter either to you or me
and are without purpose

Everything. A few minutes after we began last time
a shaft of light suddenly descended and an angel
or other heavenly being appeared
and revealed to us what each woman or man must do
to attain divine wisdom in this life and
the hereafter
This is the last time the class will meet
before we disperse to bring the good news to all people on earth.

Nothing. When you are not present
how could something significant occur?

Everything. Contained in this classroom
is a microcosm of human experience
assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
This is not the only place such an opportunity has been gathered

but it was one place

And you weren’t here

Sewing with Small Human Being Update

Remember SHB and her little heart pillow? Well, we've been meeting up on Wednesdays after school for the last few weeks, and her enthusiasm for sewing is unabated. Her seams are straighter and her ambition knows no bounds. We've been working on keeping her seam allowances even and it's kind of working. We've done some "pattern-making" from her ideas, like with this purse:

Her initial design sketch with dimensions, which I then helped her visualize into the beginnings of a "pattern." She was pretty quick on the uptake when it came to discussing seam allowance and sewing it right sides together.

The resulting product even looks like the picture (shown here without the strap, which was sewn on later). She sewed the button and buttonhole herself!

(Sorry about the picture quality; these were all taken with my iPhone in non-natural lighting.)
We ironed interfacing to the inside so it would be stiffer, then did the corners so that it can stand up on its own.

Her family is going to Hawaii this summer, so for the last two weeks she worked on (with lots of help) a little muumuu (her own design; I would never foist a muumuu on anyone, no matter how easy they are to make) for herself. When I saw the Hawaiian-print rayon she had chosen, I have to admit I quailed a little inside, since that is some slippery, non-stable stuff. Well, we made a "pattern" from one of her existing dresses, and she cut, pinned, and sewed everything (except the curvier parts of the bias binding) all by herself. We talked about the importance of pressing seams, and marveled at how much better everything looks after pressing. We only pinked the seams inside, since I don't think she was ready for a whole discussion on seam finishes (her mom assured me that this dress probably won't get too much wear, and therefore washing, so hopefully the fabric will last for a season). SHB was so pleased with herself; her enthusiasm is infectious, even for this high school teacher.

We're supposed to work on an elastic waist skirt next, which will be a sight easier than this dress! I love stable, sturdy, non-shifty cottons. Thankfully, since she is a small human being, I can use up some of my yardage leftovers that are too small for me to use. Which vintage sheet will she choose??

Sewing with a Small Human Being = Success!

That is, I sewed with a sewing machine, and a small human being, who was with me at the time, also sewed with said sewing machine. I did not use the small human being as a sewing implement.

Does anyone remember these segments from Animaniacs?
"Good Idea: playing catch with your grandfather. Bad Idea: playing catch WITH your grandfather."

Once again, thank you to all of you who offered such helpful advice! I really appreciate your taking the time to write out such detailed thoughts on sewing with kids. I also enjoyed reading your memories of learning to sew. I, too, have fond memories of my mom helping my brother and I to make little flannel beanbags (filled with adzuki beans...so azn!) on her old Singer. Unfortunately, I don't remember any of how that happened; I just know I came out at the end with a truly monstrous beanbag that I loved til it pilled beyond recognition (seriously, it started out baby pink, and eventually died a murky gray). But I digress.

Almost exactly what I was afraid of.

Armed with my bag of fabric scraps, extra thread, scissors, pins, and my own sewing machine, I headed over to Small Human Being's home with very few expectations and my patience cap on. It's a good thing I brought my own machine, as her Christmas gift was this sad thing. I have to admit, I was kind of horrified when I first saw it set up on her little table. No adjusting stitch length, no reverse, only two speeds, and incredibly difficult, non-intuitive threading. Maybe I'm a sewing machine snob (except I really don't think so, as I just have this basic Brother), but I pulled mom aside and explained that IMHO, this little machine was just going to be the cause of frustration and not worth the money she was going to save. Besides, if Small Human Being was serious about sewing, it would be better to learn on a real machine (that I could actually show her how to use!). And it certainly seemed like Small Human Being was serious! I'm not sure what I was expecting, but she was more focused and with it than many sixteen year olds I know. Then again, she Wanted To Learn Sewing, whereas many of my students couldn't care less about stoichiometry. Never underestimate the power of motivation!

So while dad fiddled with the tiny machine, I got mine out and after a brief lesson about parts, purposes, and uses, and Not Sewing Through Your Fingers, Small Human Being practiced sewing with it. I had a piece of cloth drawn with chalk lines for her to practice on. Kindergarten was not that long ago for her, so she totally understood the concept of practicing by following lines. And honestly, she did better than some adults I've taught to sew. You guys were spot on about kids being used to learning new things all the time! She remembered the name of the bobbin, the term "back tacking," and almost the whole sequence of steps for threading the machine after only being shown once! She did have a little trouble threading the needle, claiming that she needed glasses to see it, which really made me want to laugh because she was acting eight going on eighty.

Several practice stitches later, we moved on to the more exciting prospect of choosing a project. Given some choices (I brought along a sample pouch, gathered-waist elastic skirt, and a small stuffed cat plushie), she chose to make a pillow for her one year old friend from church. How priceless is that! No Selfish Seamstressing here...at least not yet, anyway. She picked out some rainbow heart material leftover from my IKEA heart dress. When I started explaining right sides together, she understood immediately that it was so we could turn it inside-out with the seams hidden. She chose thread, pinned, sewed, and pivoted at the corners like a pro. I helped her pink the seam allowances since the shears were too big for her hands, then her little brother took great pleasure in helping her stuff the pillow. Right as she was sewing shut the opening, she managed to veer off to one side and almost off the pillow (granted, there was quite a bit of bulk from the stuffing), which made me cringe inside to think that my sewing luck (messing up right at the last second on an otherwise fine project!) had been inherited by my student. Anyway, she didn't care at all and pronounced that she had done really well for her first project. Oh children, so expressive of exactly how they feel, without adult filters of critical perfectionism! Actually, I was pretty proud of her, too.

Small Human Being smiling at her first finished object! Face and school insignia blurred for obvious reasons.

At this point, we'd been sewing for a good hour and half, and while she had been amazingly focused throughout that time (especially for having already been in school that day!), she was definitely itching to join her brother in watching cartoons. After some talking with mom, and discovering that Amazon currently has a sale on my machine, she decided to purchase a real machine for her and her daughter. Seriously, Brother should give me commission; this is the FIFTH machine of theirs that I've sold to someone!

After all my wibbling about small human beings, it turns out that this particular one was quite nice to work with. We've set up another session next Wednesday afternoon; she's already announced that she wants to make a purse. I told her that her homework assignment (come on, I can't get away from being a teacher) is to make a drawing of her purse design, front and back. We'll see how far this sewing lesson thing goes! Like any teacher, I dream of being able to say "I totally taught so-and-so!" when one of my chemistry students discovers the next element, but my overactive imagination now dreams of being able to say I taught the next Coco Chanel or something...rein it in, dear, rein it in.

Help! Teaching a Kid to Sew?

I'm pretty sure it will not turn out this picturesque. From here.

My students, who are high schoolers, all know of my professed abhorrence of children, especially the littlest, tiniest babies. The older they are, the more tolerable. When they can have reasonable conversations with you, oh joy! Although one might argue that high schoolers are hardly reasonable, what with the raging hormones and underdeveloped frontal lobe and all. But in all honesty, it's because I never know what to say to kids (My repertoire is exhausted after "What's your name?" and "How old are you?"). I'm not one of those magical Mary Poppins types who walk into a room and suddenly all the kids flock over because they sense a kindred spirit. Despite the goofiness of my wardrobe, I'm more likely to be found staring awkwardly at a small human being. Telling myself "They're more afraid of you than you are of them!" doesn't really help either.

So it is with some trepidation that I agreed to teach an eight year old how to use her brand new Christmas sewing machine. Her mom, who goes to our church, says that she wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up and is really excited about making her own clothing. She's been waiting to open up the machine for a month, waiting until someone can show her how not to sew through her fingers. Well, my desire to enable others to engage in this awesomely creative pastime trumps my fear of children. That said, here are my areas of concern:

1. She's eight. Despite majoring in psychology, I have no idea what that practically means about her maturity level and attention span.
2. I don't know what kind of machine this Christmas gift is? I'm afraid it will be one of these. To that end, I am going to bring my own, just in case. 
3. Will she be expecting to whip up a dress right away? When I teach people to sew, after practicing stitching on scraps, my standard first project is a drawstring bag. And then maybe a zippered pouch. Maybe then, a gathered elastic waist skirt for a third project. Will she be bored if we start there?
4. How much should I tell her about details, like say, pressing seams or the parts on the sewing machine? Should I just call it the little thingy that holds the bottom thread and how much space you leave at the end, or the bobbin and the seam allowance?

I'm supposed to go over to their home on Wednesday afternoon. So those of you with small human beings in your homes, help! I'm looking at you, Tanit-Isis. How does one teach a kid to sew? 

Antiques, Funktiques, Junktiques (and a Drawstring Bag)

When I was growing up, there was a thrift store down the street from my house called "Antiques, Funktiques, and Junktiques." I always thought it looked fascinating, but my very Chinese parents didn't want to go in because it looked liked a store full of someone else's garbage, and who knows what kind of germs are in there. Well, now that I'm a full-blown vintage/retro/thrifting-addict, that store is long gone. I will never know what was in it...but I imagine it was a lot like the Wertz Brothers' Antique Mart. Elaine came to visit me this weekend, and we got to do all the normal weird things (is that an oxymoron?) that we usually do. No zombie walks or Ren Faires this time; just a giant antique store and possibly the weirdest museum I've ever seen.

A cage of clowns and creepy Bathead.

I took Elaine to the Wertz Brothers', which is my favorite place to take my friends that appreciate weird old things. I love that we can while away several hours just giving each other a running commentary on the things we find, or speculating on who could possibly have owned said objects, and why. Take, for example:

You can buy this taxidermied eland head for only $1964.99!

There were these large scary wooden heads with bugged-out eyes. When I pointed them out to Elaine, she jumped.

There were creepy dolls everywhere.

We also dropped by the Museum of Jurassic Technology, where I spent what was possibly the oddest hour of my life. Seriously, if you're quirky or weird and ever in Culver City, you need to go to this museum. It's impossible to accurately convey the experience, but it's a lot like a fever dream; it probably didn't help that we went in when it was still light out, but when we came out it was dark and had rained. This museum's curators deserve an award for being able to write paragraphs and paragraphs that are grammatically correct, but semantically inexplicable. There were exhibits on metaphysical inventions accompanied by weird projections, creepy videos showing people making cats' cradles, directions on how to build theaters and portray running rivers and tempestuous waves, and a whole section on medieval superstitions, but presented as fact. Click on the pictures for a larger image to read the text.

The whole place was extremely dimly lit and featured glass cases like this.

Mice on toast as a cure for bedwetting?!

Apparently, the hare is the animal equivalent of Voldemort, or He Who Shall Not Be Named. See description below.

Call it Wilfred instead.

To top off the whole visit, I finally got to go out to the LA Fashion District and go crazy with fabric shopping! Unfortunately, I also got my first parking ticket ever in life. Boo. So I guess the fabric wasn't that cheap after all. But the fabric I got deserves its own post, so I'll end with this:

I taught Elaine to use my sewing machine and she made herself a little hippo drawstring bag! She's never sewn before, and she finished her first lesson and made this bag all under an hour!

Team Fortress 2 Sniper Vest

Besides Comic-Con, I've also been busy the last week with my in-laws in town. My husband's parents and younger sister live in the outskirts of Philly, so we don't get to see them too often. Since Pennsylvania isn't exactly known for lots of Asian things, we've spent the last several days going to every Asian thing possible -- Japanese markets, Ranch 99, and Vietnamese markets, as well as eating pho, ramen, Thai food, dim sum, wonton mein, and 粥. I think the only thing we missed out on was Korean food, and that's only because KBBQ is too 熱氣. Anyway, while my husband was at work and my parents-in-law were going nuts over Walnut (he's so cute; how could they not?), Ashley and I worked on a sewing project! Having seen my Bellatrix costume, she had asked me before they arrived if I could help her with a Team Fortress 2 Sniper cosplay. She wanted the vest, and, being a teacher, I would much rather teach someone how to do something than just do it for them. (This is my concession to The Selfish Seamstress' tips for selfish seamstressing.)

We went to Yardage Town and bought dark brown and tan cotton broadcloth, as well as two packages of light gray extra-wide bias tape and a package of heavy duty snaps. We began by drawing a pattern based off of a button-up shirt that she had -- easy, since there were no sleeves involved. I love how fast it is to make patterns for relatively shapeless, loose-fitting costumes. No darts and the construction is so simple! The pocket she sketched based on the character drawing, and then the collar was a simple rectangle the length of the neckline.

Notice the use of the back of wrapping paper and a can of garbanzo beans. This is nothing if not a professional operation.

Measuring out bias tape strips.

The other beautiful thing about making somebody else's clothing is that you can tell them to do the tedious parts themselves. I didn't have to do any of the pattern tracing or fabric cutting, and all those endless seams on bias tape...here! it's your vest! Although, I can see how tricky it must be for parents, trying to make sure that children learn how to do something themselves while resisting the urge to step in and just do it since it will be faster and better managed. Anyway, for having only used a sewing machine a couple times before a long time ago, Ashley did an excellent job with all the topstitching in a straight line on a relatively narrow piece of bias tape. She also put in the pocket snaps herself and attached the collar (straight edge to a curved edge? what a pro!). All I had to do was give directions about what order to sew/iron pieces and then sew the bias tape around the armholes. After three days of sporadic work, we have a vest! And I must say, I think it looks pretty good! She even wore it right away to church; it looks that much like a real vest.

And to think she'd never really sewed before! Amazing!

As a teacher, one of my favorite things is seeing a student learn and succeed and then feel proud of a finished product. As a seamstress (dare I call myself that?), one of my favorite things is thinking through a project and successfully planning how to put a piece of clothing together from scratch. All in all, even though it wasn't sewing for me (me! me! me! See, I'm practicing my Selfish Seamstress mantras), it was a fun and fulfilling project and I'm happy to enable others to sew.