New episodes of Doctor Who start Saturday! Of course that’s what I’ve been thinking about all weekend, so I give you a 3D Dalek! Britter25 made this for her Dr. Whoopla swap partner (along with an embroidery of Ten…in 3D glasses of course!) over at Craftster. She based the Dalek off of this card. Britter25 said she may start doing everything in 3D, and I can’t blame her–this looks so cool! I wish I had the old red and blue glasses so I knew if it really works (hint hint)
I should start this review with honesty, I am not crafty. I know you are probably thinking, “But, the website is Geek CRAFTS?” Yes, it is, but I am just so geeky I only had to fulfil half the requirements to be allowed to write here, plus I love looking at all the fun crafts people across the web make. I am making this confession, as part of reviewing a craft book, is of course, making a craft from said book.
Zombie Felties by Nicola Tedman and Sarah Skate is a great book, each and every feltie project in it is a great mix of ghoulish and adorable that makes them very hard to resist. My favourite thing about these creatures, is they are as small and fun as amigurumi, but without the hassle of becoming really, really good at crocheting. Of course, being stubborn and a little stupid, I chose a 3 skull difficulty project from the book (1 skull=easiest, 4 skulls=most difficult).
First, the positive things about the project–they are very small, so if you are a regular crafter with felt, you will likely already have all the felt you need in your scrap pile. As a person who doesn’t sew at all, I managed to get all the felt I needed from a remnants bin in a fabric store near my mother-in-law’s house, I got more than I needed and still only spent about 70pence (not sure what that translates to in American, I am on vacation here and the exchange rate is still a mystery). For the other bits and pieces, I chose to use the supply list as a suggestion and not a rule, and so I managed to find the eye, monocle, and cord in a tin of random bits and pieces, so they were free. My mother in law had a good supply of embroidery thread already, so again, a regular crafter would have most things on hand, someone just starting out would have probably had to spend a few dollars on embroidery thread, but over all, very inexpensive to make.
In addition to being very inexpensive to make each craft, I found the patterns to be fairly simple (no need to resize them) and, a lot of fun. One suggestion would be not to use your regular sewing shears and opt for a sharp pair of smaller scissors, for the smaller patterns. The over stitch used on the outside is a very forgiving stitch for imperfect cuts and mistakes stitching, so I liked that a lot (I only pricked myself four times).
The only real negative I saw, was that while there are instructions in the front of the book for each of the required stitches, if you are a true beginner, you will probably find the instructions within each project to be fairly vague. One favourite was “embroider the nose in satin stitch, making a small heart shape”. When paired with the explanation of a satin stitch in the beginning, it didn’t make a lot of sense, and when compared to the picture of the finished project, it didn’t look possible they had used the stitch they described. A person experienced with embroidery wouldn’t have an issue–my mother in law saw what the issue was right away and we went about it slightly differently than the instructions implied, but got the intended results. The idea is that the book will provide a challenge for a novice or a veteran, but novices be warned, when attempting the more challenging projects, have someone around who knows the ins and outs.
As a non-crafty, non-sewer, I found a lot of frustration in making the vampire feltie, but it was obvious the issue was with my skill level and not the instructions (who knew stitching without inadvertently tying knots in your thread was so difficult?), and although I look forward to trying out a few other patterns from the book, I will probably restart with the one skull difficulty and invest in a thimble. Most of the issues I had with the pattern had to do with how incredibly tiny the finished dolls are, but, of course, that is really what makes them so adorable and inexpensive to make, so it’s a wash.
Here is a final picture of my Vampire feltie, over an Air Mail envelope (business sized) with a one pound coin on his left and a quarter on his right to show you the size:
Over all it was a great book, and even with my limited skill, talent and experience, I think i did okay, so that speaks to the quality of the instructions. I would definitely recommend it to friends interested in sewing fun feltie dolls. Look for it in August!
EDIT: We have one copy of Zombie Felties to give away! Just leave a comment here with your favorite zombie or vampire movie by Saturday at midnight ET and we’ll pick a random winner. Earn an extra entry by commenting on someone else’s post!
Because the Snape Potter Puppet Pal just wasn’t enough to satisfy my craving for magical fleece, I found another project for you: “Wizard” Plushie Pals by SaintAngel on Etsy.
They remind me of soft Weeble Wobbles!
Apparently SaintAngel is concerned about a call from the Ministry of Magic, Office of Copywriting Enchantments, because her plushies are named Henry, Ryan, Henrietta and the Great Bumblefloor. But perhaps you can use a diving spell to figure out who they really are.
Looks like have featured SaintAngel’s work before – check out this post on Spike the Dinosaur!
LINKS OF INTEREST:
I am not the hippest kid at the LOLCat convention by any stretch, so it is fair to say there are “internet memes” I miss completely, and plenty I just do not understand. Nyan Cat is some odd mix of both. I stumbled on Nyan Cat a few days ago, only to discover that Nyan Cat was in the process of actually taking over the world, using a rainbow shooting out of it’s bum, and wearing what appears to be a pop tart.
The upside to Nyan Cat, I suppose, is that it is kind of cute. Craftasaurus Rex (but seriously, how cool is that name?) sent me this picture of her cat, in the Nyan Cat Costume she made for her. Apparently, this is only a prototype, I look forward to seeing the 2.0!
*Warning to viewer: nothing changes. It’s the same for the whole 3+ minutes.
This is such a cool idea! I wish I had thought of this. TroubleT made these for her husband as part of his Father’s Day present (apparently she spoiled him big time–she also stitched him a Binary Man). This is so simple yet SO brilliant…I’m still kicking myself about not thinking to paint hoops as portals!
Is Yo Gabba Gabba geeky? I’m not sure, but it is on a lot in our house, and I am geeky, so I say yes. Plus there is a magic robot on the show, and who can complain about a show that takes a couple minutes here and there to teach kids how to beat box? Not me. So I scoured the web for five of the most fun Yo Gabba Gabba crafts (one for each character, excluding DJ Lance Rock).
1. Felt Muno
Muno (he’s tall and friendly!) is perhaps the most recognized Yo Gabba Gabba character, which is why Catango, on Craftster, remembered him when left with two hours before a birthday party, and no gift! Yes, that’s right, in two hours, she went through her fabric, googled Muno, and stitched this awesome Felt Muno doll together for a friend’s child (who, of course, picked it up and danced around with joy)!
Big kudos to Catango for whipping this guy together under pressure! Procrastinators bow to you!
2. Foofa Tee Shirt
Foofa (she’s pink and happy!) is an odd little monster with a head shaped like a tear drop, and a big
flower on her head, a big hit for little girl Gabba fans.
You can find this adorable Foofa Tee Shirt in the CarouselCraftsWI Etsy shop, along with all the other Yo Gabba Gabba monsters. The face is felt applique, with a machine zig zagged border–and the finished product is awesome (the model is pretty cute, too).
3. Brobee Fleece Soaker
Brobee (the little green one!) is a fuzzy, long armed monster that is best known for having a party in his tummy.
BugOnARug makes these awesome fleece soakers featuring Brobee and all your other favorite monsters and you can get them from the BugOnARug etsy shop! For those not “in the know” a fleece soaker is a type of cover for cloth diapers, and fleece shorties are a popular choice for parents using “fitted” cloth diapers.
4. Toodee Amigurumi
Toodee (she likes to have fun!) is what seems to be a cross between a cat and a dinosaur. She seems to get into lots of trouble, but manages to get along well in Gabbaland and, of course, have lots of fun!
AlieCat30, a poster on Craftster, crocheted this super cute Toodee Amigurumi as the fourth in her series of Yo Gabba Gabba amigurumis. I personally love the attention to detail on Toodee‘s eyes and whiskers.
5. Plex Cookies
Plex (a magic robot!) is the robot responsible for getting special guest stars, DJ Lance Rock, and even snacks in and out of Gabbaland.
Edeliu826 bakes and decorates these Plex Cookies that you can purchase by the 2 dozen on Etsy. You don’t have to read Geek Crafts very often to know if there are two things we love, they are robots and things we can eat. Plex Cookies fit both of these requirements!
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