Gettin' the Old Hairy Eyeball

In retrospect it has been a great and productive week during which I hardly noticed. My mind has been spinning lately with overwhelm. I'm traveling back to NY state this Tuesday for a week to visit my family. This is always an anxious event for me. I have to drive to Portland in my questionable vehicle. I have to fit all my stuff into a carry on and all my liquids into less than 3 oz. I have to be nice. I must forgo my comfy home, boy, and kitties. I'm a privileged white woman with not nearly enough to fret about, obviously. It's only a week and I haven't been back to see the fam in nearly 3 years. It's barely enough time to say hello to everyone. Guilt, worry, tension, chardonnay. Last night I came up with a way to describe the ridiculous amount of guilt I conjure: It's a back lit cross, boulder to the stomach kind of guilt that sticks like cheap perfume. I know better. I know it helps nothing to worry or feel guilt. It doesn't change past events or feelings. The only thing it does is frazzle the air around me. I know all this and I wasn't even raised catholic yet somehow this Love's Baby Soft never goes away for very long.

But let's get back to business. My wonderful friends, Kris and Scot, commissioned me to make a Star Bellied Sneetch for their son's Birthday.

I loved the design process. The beak is a little oversized but I think it adds to the comic cuteness. I hope Kris and Scot agree.


I've been wanting to design something inexpensive so I came up with the Hairy Eyeballs. They do not have pockets. This is a first for me. I may add pockets later. I considered making the pocket right in the middle so one could use it to make a finger puppet. That's them at the top of the page. I'll make some pairs on a string to use like fuzzy dice too. Nothing like gettin' the old hairy eyeball from your own rear view mirror.

Yesterday I indulged a bit. I made my first ever doll. I'm not sure why I have been dying to do this. I've been putting it off because I'm not sure I can make them at a reasonable cost. I did a lot of hand stitching which takes time. I could do less by hand. I could simplify. I've got ideas.

It isn't quite finished but you get the gist. It isn't my intention to make only white females. I can't wait to make all varieties of race and sex. Interplanetary baby dolls even. Cyclops dollies perhaps.

Roger the Crocodile

I finished Roger the Pocketdile today. I hand stitched the pocket on.

I increased the size of the toes to stay with the authentic 5 toes in front, 4 in back while maintaining structural integrity.

I can see that I run the risk of becoming the kind of geek with stuffed animals that some people become over video games or sports. I'll catch myself some night, a little tipsy at a party, going into tedious detail about the process of constructing the perfect crocodile toe. I'll see that glazed look in my friend's eye and quickly try to make a save by talking about some hot new album I've discovered or maybe by telling a joke.

Crocodiles and Elephants

Today I will finish the lovely and soft green Pocketdile I've been working on since Monday. I found five great sweaters at the Salvation Army thrift store for under $15! One of them is a nice cotton blend I'm using for the new croc. Two of the others are wool! They will all become creatures. I can't wait to felt the wool. I'm usually lazy about this. Second hand wool sweaters are generally partially felted anyhow so I just go ahead and make the creatures with no more than a simple cold, delicate wash. But this time I am committed to experiment with washing machine felting. It's simple and felted wool is softer and lovelier to the eye.


Last week I finished the classy burgundy stripe taffeta crocodile. It turned out nice although I used a stretchy velvet for the belly which pulled the body into a C shape. It isn't what I intended but it still looks alright. They never turn out exactly as intended anyway. Sometimes this is a boon. Other times not so much.







I also finished a new furry Pocketderm with a trumpet trunk. Her name is Valerie.

Valerie's gorgeous shag faux fur is so crazy it was difficult to get a photo of her that makes sense to the eye. I did my best.

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom's birthday was Thursday. As usual I was late with the card and can't afford a gift. Instead I thought it would be fun to dedicate a blog post to her. She is, after all, the person who taught me to sew. Perhaps more significantly I spent my upbringing watching her constantly making things. In my case it was contagious and I'm grateful for that. This is my mom, Marcia.


When I was a kid my mom made me all kinds of stuff. We didn't have that much money so she would just make the things we couldn't afford.


She copied images from a coloring book to make her own embroidery patterns for this little doll blanket she made for me.









She would cut up her old clothes to make my dolls clothes.







She crocheted the sweater this barbie is wearing. She made the jeans from an old pair of her jeans.









And this barbie wedding gown complete with train and pearly buttons is also hand crocheted out of thin string by my mom. It's stunning. You see it here on a scrap book page.



Mom made each of us four kids a full scrap book of our lives a few years ago for Christmas gifts. Every year she gives us something homemade for Christmas. That's how my mom rolls and that's how I ended up the way I am.





I'd like to thank my mom for being such a great inspiration for creativity. I love you to the max, Mom. Happy Birthday!

Crocodile Rock

I'm finally progressing my goal to get my product into more local shops. Yesterday I started a 'call list' of potential places. I made calls, talked to people, gauged interest, made appointments. It felt so liberating and it took about half an hour. Now I have sporadic meetings in my day planner for the next couple of months starting today. Today I go to the Redoux Parlour in the plaza on 8th and Blair. This will be another consignment which is fine. We're all in the same boat here. I can wait for payment until the creatures find their homes. The Redoux Parlour is a great resale shop with a very eccentric range of style. My kind of shop.

So I've been slowly making this red and black faux snakeskin pocketdile. The fabric is from a shirt David gave me. I know this kind of fabric has it's weaknesses but it makes such a rockin' croc that I just had to take the chance on it. Yesterday when I turned the claws the fabric split in several places...

The crocodile claws are always touchy, even with the toughest fabrics. I have to seal the seams with fabric glue and gingerly turn them being careful the chopstick doesn't poke a hole through the end of the toe.
I tried sealing these croc cracks with the fabric glue. It worked on the small cracks but the big openings like this one are a problem I'm not sure how to solve. You may already know that crocodiles have 5 toes in front, 4 in back. I want to stay true to this but the back feet never have the same kind problems as the front. I suppose I just have to expand the front foot.

I will solve the issue because this croc simply must be

Days off

This past Sunday was my 37th birthday. I like to extend my birthday to a couple of days at least. This year I took a 4 day weekend, sort of. I couldn't help but do some work. When it comes to my business I can't help but noodle around with projects even in my down time. I think I am the laziest workaholic of all time because when it is time to get down to business I dawdle and am easily distracted.

During my time off I managed to finish the set of 8 Cat-O-Pii I've been working on. I brought them to 3 shops yesterday. I was denied by one. The other two are nice safe consignments. They always say yes. I sold a couple of previous consignments so I got a little money. I took the money straight to the credit union and started my new business checking account! It's with moves like this that I feel like a real honest to goodness grown up. I started it with just the minimum $25.00 balance, but that is business money separate from personal money and this is a big step. Previously I would just take the small amount of cash from any of those sales and decide it was time for J and I to go get a beer. My official business plan up to this point has been 1. make the cute stuff 2. offer it for sale somewhere 3. get a little money 4. celebrate with the money. Business Managed! I understand this isn't how the professionals do it. hrmph. ok. Let's try this again.