A Little Wookiee Wear

I want to start off saying I thought I'd have some fun Mother's Day ideas for you this week.  As you can see, this is as far from that theme as you can get.  With schooling the kiddies, my sister's b-day this weekend, my business stuff & still having Easter decor all over my house, I'm a bit behind.  Is is just me or does it seem like there's barely any time between the holidays/special occasions anymore?  That doesn't leave much time to get creative.  And unless it's an uber-clever idea, it'll get buried among the bazillion other Mom projects in blogland anyway.  So, since this blog is already a crazy blend of pretty & geeky projects, this mother has something a bit different to share: Wookiee Wear.

I made this little set last week as a custom request for a special mom customer of mine.  Her son is a huge Star Wars fan and she's planning a big themed party for his birthday.  She asked if I could create some Chewbacca style feet & hands for her daughter to wear for the party.  At first it was a challenge to figure out how to make them look fun, but still be comfy.  I had just enough of this fabulous faux fur fabric to create the set.  I made the feet as boots so they would cover her feet, but still be Wookiee-like in shape.  I lined them with fleece so they'd be nice & soft on the side and I left the bottoms open so they'd just slip over her shoes like spats, so she could easily run around and play:

I made the hands as mittens, so they'd be easy to put on & take off:

I lined those with fleece too, so they'd be nice & soft to wear:

After I finished them I was a little sad to let them go.  I totally fell in love with these little guys:

And that totally surprised me, since I wasn't a huge Chewbacca fan.  Maybe it's because they just look so fuzzy & fun.  They could work as bear, monster or yeti feet or as a throwback to those giant furry boots from the '70s.  But I totally want to make them again.

So an extra special Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there that love (or put up with husbands/kids/relatives) who love Star Wars;) And a very happy May the 4th Be With You (aka Star Wars Day)!

Sharing these creations with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too so click HERE to check them out!

Ahoy!! Thar Be A Pint Sized Pirate!

Shiver me timbers!  What have we got 'ere?  A wee pirate off for some high seas adventure!  Well mateys, this creation was a request of the little guy pictured.  We had a plastic eyepatch go missing from the toy bin and he would not settle for "it must be lost" as an answer.  So I set about creating a handmade one.  And while I was in the middle of making it he threw in "and can you make me a pirate hat?".  These kids are so used to me making things, they are starting to put in requests!  Needless to say, the challenge was on & I set to work.

I started on the eyepatch by measuring the height & width that would cover his eye and made a rounded cornered triangle pattern (you could probably roughly trace one side of a pair of glasses).  I cut two pieces of fleece with my pattern.  But plain black just seemed boring, so I used my Cuttlebug to cut some white felt letters to make the "Argh".  I had to trim the letters a bit so they would fit just right and then stitched them to one of the patch sides:

Then with the right sides facing, I stitched the top & around the lower sides with a bit of a slant so there would be a big enough opening to turn it and insert the elastic.  I clipped around the curves and then turned it right side out, folding in the raw open edges:

I measured around his head to the edges of his eye socket and cut a piece of 1/4" elastic slightly smaller than that measurement.  Then I insert each end into the openings and then topstitched all the way around:

It definitely gives the saucy pirate feel, even without vocal effects:

I used my favorite fabric friend, fleece, to create the perfect pirate hat.  I hand drew the skull & crossbones design and cut & stitched that on for the authentic pirate flair:

Now, he wasn't my most patient customer.  When I presented the finished eyepatch, he impatiently asked "Where's my pirate hat?".  Geez, pushy much, buddy?!?  But despite that, he is one of my favorite customers.  He was beside himself when he got to put them on.  And adding the vest I made for his Han Solo Halloween costume completed the look.  He totally pranced & posed whenever he saw his reflection and constantly said "Shibber me timbers!!" to anyone and everyone.

And the novelty has not worn off.  He literally wears them everywhere - grocery store, post office, all day in the house, so it's a great feeling seeing how much he loves them.  Who says you have to wait for Talk Like A Pirate Day to show your swashbuckling style?

And for anyone looking for their own Pint Sized Pirate gear, I've added the hat and the set to my shop so other babies & kids can gear up for their own jolly adventures:)


Sharing these creations with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too so click HERE to check them out!

In LOL Wut News: The Toilet Sink

Lately I haven't been too motivated to work on projects since my holiday sew-a-thon, so although I don't have any fab creations to share, I thought a laugh would be just as good. I have now seen what I personally think is one of the craziest eco-friendly products out there and there are already some real doozies (elephant poop paper anyone?). I try to live pretty green and I commend the concept going on here, but seriously now, a toilet sink? Just looking at this thing makes me laugh at how odd it is. It just looks so....wrong. And somewhat gross. Apparently you fit this "porcelain like" lid on your tank and it reroutes the water that would get flushed from the tank. I know it's using the clean tank water, so the theory is it's saving water, but I had to laugh at the "is attractive for any bathroom" description. How many house guests (or even family members) are going to prefer washing their hands with the toilet sink instead of the normal one? Maybe the kids, just for the toilet related aspect. Now, if I'm alone thinking this, I'd love to hear from someone who has or would actually use this, but I'm sure most reactions to this are like my own combination of "What the heck??" and "Umm....no".