WIP…Thursday?

Yeah, I totally forgot to get my WIP Wednesday post ready yesterday. I generally don’t write WW posts ahead of time as I am usually working on said projects and I like to have the most recent pics. So usually I’ll snap pics in the morning and then write/publish the post during naptime. Well….that just didn’t happen yesterday! I remembered while cooking dinner and said, well, I guess it’ll be tomorrow’s post! On to the art and projects!

The Princess Celestia plush is finished!! This was a serious labor of love. But I did learn a lot along the way, and my stitching is getting so much more even, and faster too! In terms of stuffing, nothing got too warped which I was a bit worried about. There’s a slightly awkward part up by her wing, but that’s about it. The only thing I did learn is stuff the legs before you sew them completely shut! Normally to stuff a felt plushie I’ll sew all around the edges leaving myself a hole at the top to jam in some stuffing using a combo of my fingers and a wooden dowel. However, the tiny pony legs just weren’t having it, even trying to smash it in with a dowel. So for Princess Luna, I’ll add stuffing to the legs as I go, and then sew them shut.

Just a quick side view to see how thick the plushie is. It’s about 1.5″-2″ total.

Princess Luna is coming right along! I’m really excited about her – but that’s also because I love Luna! Anywho, as you can see by the pins I’m in the process of sewing the body and tail to the main hair piece. Then I have to put the back hair pieces to the back body piece, and finally sew and stuff the whole thing together.

This is my first 2D felt project!  A (not so) little Flareon ornament for my best friend! She’s about 5″ from ear to tail, which is a little big for an ornament, but too bad. Pokemon has always held a special place in m heart – I met my best friend of sixteen years because of Pokemon! I had just gotten into it (both the video game and card game) and she was the go-to girl for Pokemon card trades. We met about a trade, and have been BFF’s ever since.

Another gift for my BFF – a Superfruit pillow! Superfruit is the YouTube channel of Scott and Mitch from Pentatonix. Every Tuesday they release a vid, which is generally hilarious. We love them, and since my best bud just moved into her first apartment in September, I felt a Superfruit throw pillow was a necessity. 😀 I sewed the pillowcase (I already had the small pillow kicking around) and as you can see, I haven’t finished the top of it yet. Originally I was going to sew on the 2D guys, but I think I’m just going to stick with hot glue. I used hot glue a lot for these guys as it suited the original illustration more than stitching, and I think it will work great to attach it to a pillow. Also a quick rant about Scott (blondie on the left)’s eyes: in the original image they are all blue, which I did and it looked creepy. So I made them black and now they look creepier! So I’ll be painting them back to blue. Le sigh.

Lastly, I have finally started this oil painting for my hubs! It’s of Aurelia, a Magic the Gathering character. All I’ve done so far is lay in the background colors, but I feel better knowing it’s started at least. Being a pretty darn slow painter I am quite nervous about the fact that I have TWO oil paintings to finish in time for Christmas (plus they need about 9 days drying time, if not more). It’s going to be a scramble, but I actually work really well under pressure so I can do it!

WIP Wednesday

GAH, I am so behind on blog stuffs! I can never manage to keep up with life when I am sick! But luckily, I feel pretty much tip top again, so it’s time to get back on track with posts, starting with WIP Wednesdays again. Nothing new this week, just more progress on things I’ve already shared. Now that I am in epic Christmas present scramble mode, I won’t have a ton of new stuff to share in the next two months, but I’ll post all I can!

I’ve had this portrait of Mr. Cumberbatch finished for a couple weeks, and I’m quite happy with it! However I absolutely need to work on rendering certain clothing texture.

A penguin daddy and baby! This is a Christmas present for a friend of mine, who adores/collects penguins.

I’ve made a rather abysmal amount of progress on my Neil Gaiman portrait. I haven’t even finished laying the darks in the hair yet! But, this project does wind up at the bottom of the priority list since it’s just for fun, not a Christmas present. I work on it when I can, or when I just HAVE to use my pencils after spending days leaving them untouched while I work on my two big sewing projects (see below).

Princess Luna is coming along nicely. All her pieces have been cut out and I’m in the process of stitching each side together.

But this is where the majority of my effort has been going. Princess Celestia. This plush has taken SO MUCH work. I entirely hand stitch these plushes, and since I’m kinda slow at it, these are a huge time sync. But I’m loving how she’s turning out!! This is the front side, obviously, and it’s 100% finished.

The back side has MUCH less detail than the front and will therefore take much less time to put together. Then, I can sew the whole thing together and stuff it. I’m a little worried about the stuffing part, as I’m hoping nothing will look warped or misshapen, but I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

That’s all I’ve got for you this week! I feel like I’ve been working a TON, but it’s only because sewing takes me ages haha. I’ve got a couple more plush patterns to draw, then cut out and stitch, and TWO oil paintings to do, one of which I haven’t even started. It’s gonna be a busy two months of art. Just the way I like it!

WIP Wednesday

Lately art has been a balance between finishing the just-for-fun projects I’ve started, working on Christmas presents, and still wanting to start more just-for-fun projects! I’ve made the decision to focus on Christmas though. I know it’s still two months away, but I also know me and if I don’t bust out at least half my list, I’ll never get them done in time. I’m making so much this year! Which is awesome, but also stressful. I’ve actually closed commissions for the season just so I can focus on it, and it’s been a great choice. One less things to stress about!

Last week, I was lamenting about my little raccoon and his poor nose. I made the decision to seam rip the nose off, then cut and hot glue a new one one and I am SO HAPPY I did! I just love him now! So I will definitely have to remember that when making a new one…I’ve got some raccoon plans up my sleeve.

Finished my Bravely Default piece! Tiz’s (far left) eyes are a bit dark, and Ringabel (pirate) looks a bit evil haha, but overally I like it a lot! I also learned I’m not a huge fan of using watercolors in this manner. I like them for more tightly controlled things, and this was very loose. I think a piece in this style is one I’d like to try once I get a set of Copics and see what I think!

I got the Neil Gaiman piece all sketched out and have just barely started laying in the darks in the hair. However, after staring at it while working I think I’m going to erase the left eye (our left, that is) and redraw it in. It’s too low, and it’s driving me banana sandwich.

This piece however, I am 100% happy with! It was just one of those times where everything is working out exactly the way I want it to! I’d say I have about an hour left to finish up that side of his coat, and then it’s all done! At this point, I feel like I’m subconsciously putting off finishing it up because it’s been so much fun to draw.

The last thing I wanted to share today is a bit of my pattern/plush making process. I started a new plush for my daughter for Christmas, and figured I’d give you a taste of how I do it!

I start with a sketch. I find a reference pic that I like, then sketch it out to the size I want the plush to be. In this case, it’s about 8″ x 8″ including the hair and wingtips. I know how messy it looks, but I have to sketch in all the sides of everything (hair, wings, etc) for the next step: tracing.

Using a light box, I take my sketch and trace out each individual piece I will need. Then I cut them out, pin them to felt, and cut the felt out.

And voila! Princess Celestia is coming right along. I need to snag a couple other felt colors to cut out the rest of the hair, and then I’ll be ready to start sewing it together (which is a whole other ball game). This is definitely the most complicated plush I’ve tried. I want it to be ‘viewable’ from both sides, not just the front, which added the extra step of making sure it all works from the back too. So far so good though! We’ll see how it all comes together once I start layering everything to sew.

I have some plans for upcoming Christmas posts and I was thinking about making a full step by step tutorial for (how I do) pattern & plush making. What do you guys think? Something you’d like to see?