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Nessie Tie

It hasn't really been this long since I've made anything, but a few of the things I've been working on have been gifts, so I didn't want to post any photos until the items had gone to their new homes.

One such project is the tie at the left, the Nessie tie.

I wanted to customize a cryptid tie for a friend who happens to be an expert on such things (monsters, not ties). I knew it would have to be a simple and immediately-recognizable design to fit the space available, which would be less than 2" wide at max. I first considered the Big Three: Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and el Chupacabra. (I could certainly have gone more obscure – I also had a look at Champ and Ogopogo.)

I decided the most appropriate – and iconic – image would be the 1934 "Surgeon's Photograph."

Starting there, I did a quick trace of the basic shape in Adobe Illustrator. My first thought was to do a wet-brush style in two colors. With a little bit of fidgeting around, I arrived at a design I quite liked.

As lovely as this effect is, it simply wouldn't translate well to machine stitching, not at that small size. I tried. It was a mess. So I reconsidered the style to something lighter. Some of the most successful designs I've stitched out on ties are sketchy/scribbly. That style works well at small sizes, and doesn't torture a tie's surface (which tend to be a bit puffy).

And so, I reconfigured the shape to three basic lines, as though it had been traced out on a slip of paper. The tie I had selected is a nice navy houndstooth, so it seemed keeping in blues was appropriate for a whole host of reasons. With the addition of a little wake to contextualize her, Nessie was ready for stitch-out.

This is the nerve-wracking part. Often, when doing a custom piece of embroidery, I'm starting with a flat piece of fabric, which will later be integrated into the finished project. But when I have to start with the item and stitch directly on to it, it always makes me nervous. Ties are a PITA, because of the amount of engineering that goes into them, but the stiffness/smoothness of their surfaces tends to take stitching beautifully. After a couple of tests of the converted pattern, I hooped up the tie and let Rudy do his thing.

In addition to the positions being altered, the weight and spacing of the lines are varied. This gives the design an even more organic, sketchy impression.

The stitching took very nicely, and the tie was well-received. Hopefully I'll soon get a follow-up photo of the Nessie tie in her natural habitat.

 

iPad Carry Bag

Before CSICon last month, I decided to make a bag sized just for my iPad, iPhone, new camera, and one or two other essentials. Something with an extra-long strap so I could wear it cross-body and low on my hip.

I had a big chunk of this very cool, but very stiff, diamond-plate embossed vinyl. I'd been trying to figure out something to do with it for a couple of years. Originally, I was hoping to make a corset with it -- how cool would that be! -- but it's just too stiff. It's a good weight for a light-duty bag, though.

I also had a couple of yards of this quilted burgundy knit which I'd intended to use for a nice fall skirt, which hasn't yet happened. Well then it's fair game! I figured it would be satisfactorily padded, particularly since the iPad never comes out of its leather case.

I decided the best design would be an envelope style with a bottom gusset to accommodate the iPad thickness. The leather patch on the front is embroidered with a nice juicy D and a heart, for me. :) I left the top of the patch open so I could slip some business cards etc. therein.

I also made a gusseted strip out of 2" elastic, made to measure for my iPhone and camera. (Camera not shown in place, for obvious reason.)

After careful measurements, the strap (plain 1" poly webbing, with diamond stud trim added) was sewn to the rear exterior, then the leather detail was added over top.

The interior and exterior were adhered together and then folded over at the bottom, then back up for the gusset. Then the outer edge was finished all the way around with purchased double-fold bias tape.

That's pretty much it! Simple design with a few added details. I carried it through the week, just right for my electro-accessories, and a couple extras.

CSICon/New Orleans 2011

CSICon/New Orleans 2011, a set on Flickr.

Just got home yesterday from close to a week in New Orleans, which included a big skeptics conference AND Halloween (and a costume party and a swamp tour...). It's like all the parts of my personality were fully engaged -- best vacation ever!

I spent the last few hours culling 600+ photos down to 200+ so y'all can get the highlights. If you're wondering, yes I did make my "costume" and yes I did do the facepaint myself. Even better than wearing a mask!

Wedding Fascinator

A friend of mine got married this weekend, which is always a good time to do some fancifyin'.

Another friend of ours did the design for the invites and overall "theme," so I got an idea. I asked her for the Adobe Illustrator files for the sweet Z design with the little birds (both the bride and groom have Z last names, and no they didn't meet in homeroom) and ran it through the embroidery machine with an eye toward making a hat. See, the idea of doing my hair for a wedding gives me the cold sweats, but making a hat? Fun.

The invites featured a subtle black-on-black leopard design, and leopard was an accent throughout the wedding, so even though I was wearing black/blue tiger print, I wanted that leopard represented. So the first thing I did was stitch the leopard spots in black on a very dark blue felt, to make it more texture than pattern. Then the gold Z (one of the wedding colors) and a satin-stitch heart to finish the shape off. I did this on a good felt, hooped without stabilizer. If I were going to do any more detailed embroidery, I'd have used stabilizer. But for essentially nothing but solid shapes? Naked!

With the stitching done, I could carefully trim the shape just outside of the thread. Felt doesn't ravel, of course, and by keeping the edge thread color very close to the felt color, the edge looks clean.

Then it's time for decorating!

I have a long history of working on various projects on Project Runway night. So I got my little glass head (which usually holds my motorcycle helmet) and cheap red wig (don't pretend you don't have one) and freeformed it. I started with the blue and gold dangles to go right in front of my ear. Then the blue tulle I have a couple of yards of, with no idea why. Folded it on the long edge, ran a basting stitch along the fold, and hand-sewed the ruffle along the edge that would be away from my face. At that point, I knew I wanted feathers, but it was anyone's guess how that would turn out.

I found the bright blue feather set and the long black singles at my local Joann. Even though I already had a selection of feathers -- man, is there anything I don't already have too much of? -- I didn't seem to have quite the ones I wanted. Typical, huh? The blue and black looked perfect though. And I already had the yellow. So I sat with my small scissors and glue gun and trimmed and curled and glued until I had something I liked. Then I attached it to a thin hair band, rather than stitching a comb or something to it.

I wanted the hat to have something to look at from every angle, so I wanted there to be some height in the feathers, plus some length for the back to give the people in the rear pews something to look at. I guess that went well as I was complimented by a late-arriving friend on my "spider legs." Maybe complimented is too strong a word.

The bride herself didn't get to see the piece until late in the reception of course, since she kinda had her mind on other things. When she finally did, though, she loved it. So it was absolutely worth it. Another friend said "I've never seen a themed wedding hat! You should have one for every event. For every day of the week!" How sweet would that be?

When I was getting ready to leave, I joked, "Well I guess I can just go home and throw this away now... Not like I'm gonna wear it again!" A couple of the women at my table were aghast. "No! You should give it to her!" Oh yes of course I'm going to give it to her!