One Tiny Dot

My friend Ingrid told me about this sweet handmade animation from Aardman, made with a cell phone, some fabric, and a tiny character. Click here to check it out.

And if you want to see how it was made, click here.

Wooly Weekend

It was all "kicking off" at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. I came away with some lovely Icelandic farm yarn, a few vintage patterns, and lots of inspiration (and plans for a return next year)!

Shroom Skirt

Fall is the season for mushrooms and fungus and mold. These definitely have their place in my life. This season, it's on fabric. When I see fabric with mushrooms on it, I have to buy it.

I bought a yard of this Alexander Henry print, which is not enough for anything, really. Then I had a birthday and my friend Debs bought me another yard (not knowing I had one, but knowing I would love it). So, I was able to make a skirt!

The skirt was made from McCalls 3830, which I altered by taking in the hips about half an inch on either side. I lined it with a cheap polyester that's now fraying something serious. I've never used Fray Check, but I can hear it calling my name.

Today I'm wearing the skirt with my homemade sweater. Sorry about the blurry picture. Mr. Jones was not up for taking any after he threw his back out sneezing (I'm not kidding. That was on the second sneeze. On the first, he bit his tongue.) And my legs aren't that white (though they're not far from it). These tights are a slightly white-ish flesh color, I swear!

WTF Crafting II: Great Pantyhose Crafts

What happened to pantyhose crafts? If you were a kid in the 80s, like me, you saw them often at church bazaars and old peoples' houses. I remember making so many dolls out of my mom's old hose, trying my hardest to make them look like Cabbage Patch Kids, when they would only turn out to be floppy messes with runs where I sewed the details. This book is written by men (Steven Baldwin, this is what you get up to!) who obviously have a lot of pantyhose they don't know what to do with around the house. It contains TONS of projects, and here are just my favorite few.


Do you like plants, especially succulents, because you don't have to water them often? Try a pantyhose cactus! It's the ultimate in synthetic plant life.


I don't know what to say about this footstool. If you have an old pair of Air Jordans hanging around, I think they would make amazing furniture.


Like in our first edition of WTF Crafting, this craft is focused on weight loss. You're supposed to make this pig, wrap it in a tape measure, and put it on your fridge to keep you from eating. Uhh...huh.


These are life-size dolls. But wait, is "Shady Lady" supposed to be a prostitute? And is she just having a friendly chat with Granny? At least they acknowledge that they might scare away visitors.


This one I would make. I would love to give someone a pantyhose self portrait of themselves, or be terrified to receive one. And I like the hat, absolving you from implanting any hair into those stuffed pantyhose. Christmas calls!

If you would like this beautiful book for your collection, please email and I'll put it in the mail to you, free of charge. All I can say is, WTF??

Summer Woolens

It's not even Fall yet.  I'm aware of this, and yet somehow I was possessed to buy this yummy gray wool and make myself a jacket.  I mean, look at it.  It's 100% Shetland Wool.  Could you resist?

I sewed it from this vintage pattern.  I wish, with my new haircut, that I looked like the girl on the cover.

I didn't really follow the directions.  It was telling me to line it in some crazy way, so I just did what I knew, and lined the whole thing in natural linen.

It's kind of plain, so I dressed it up with this sword pin that I got on a kilt I bought at a London charity shop for £10.  Speaking of charity shops, I picked up a wool pleated skirt at the Goodwill here in Portland for $5 that matches my jacket exactly.  Now I have a suit!  And, like I said, it's not even officially Fall yet.

State Fair Enchantment

Last weekend we headed down to Salem, Oregon, to the Enchanted Forest (which was magic) and the Oregon State Fair. There was so much to see, it almost blew my mind. I was so enthralled by everything that I came down with a cold this week, in my recovery from all the excitement. Here are some highlights:

Enchanted Forest Witch Slide (I will wait my turn and go on with 3 year-olds, no doubt).

Demolition Derby (you just don't get things like this in London).

Craft award winners (next year I will enter). How amazing is this knitted farm?!

Jams, Jellies, Pickles (I want to learn this. Who can teach me?).

Sand sculptures (and the way the light plays in the sandbox, too).

Rides at night (a fair really comes to life at dusk, doesn't it?)

Michael Jackson Memorial Laser Light Show with Vegas Impersonator.

What else do you need? I mean, it's almost too much entertainment for just one day.

A Costume for An Idea

I love a red hoody. I like them knitted for babies, and I like them sewn for myself. It seems I make one every once in a while, even if I don't know the recipient. That's the case with this quilted one, my most recent creation.

It's from this vintage sewing pattern that I bought on Etsy. I'll be making some dark jeans to go with the jacket, too. Isn't it the cutest? I love the hand print pockets, though I didn't make them on my hoody.

See, this isn't a piece of clothing, it's a costume, my friends, for my next film. So even if I don't know its recipient, I know the jacket will be for a special five year-old, in a live-action film I hope to make in the future.

It's a strange concept to costume a film before you even storyboard it, I know. But I can picture the film in my head so clearly, and costumes are such a big part of it, that I thought I'd begin there, and see where it goes...

I can't wait to cast the children that might wear these clothes. I think there will be five of them, dressed in outfits I'm planning out daily, to spur my progress (click on the sidebar images to see more from my films). I hope you'll come along for the ride!

Washington Weekend

A few weekends ago, we were invited to a friend's cabin in Washington, not too far from Mount St. Helens. It was a lovely area, with mountains to ascend, caves to explore, and lakes to stand beside in the cool evening breeze. Beautiful!