Iron Craft Cotton challenge 2013

For my very first Iron Craft Challenge, the theme is cotton. Since I remake, restyle and re-purpose tee shirts more then anything else I was thrilled when I read this. Especially since I found out about Iron Craft 2013 the day before I was going for minor surgery. I'd really wanted to do a weekly or a bi-monthly craft challenge this year so get back on top of blogging and crafting.
Since it was something that I truly felt I could do in my sleep,  I wasn't too concerned about the possibility of "biting off more then I could chew."

*I have never written a tute before & this may not make a lot of sense*

I knew exactly the shirt to do a little Hack and Slash to, I saw this a few months ago on Ript before I had to go cold turkey from tee shirt sites for the holidays.
 This was an "instabuy",not only am I all about Star Wars, but I love WWII nose cone art. I forget that men's shirts are just to boxy and for every kick-ass one I get, I have to alter. I tend to have a pile around cause "Instabuys" happen a lot.

I wanted to make the neckline from a crew to a boat neck, take in the sides to fix the fit, and have it look more flattering.
I measured out 5.5 inches from dead center, and about an inch below the existing neckline and connected the marks with a gentle curve and then cut it out and double checked on the soon to be infamous duct tape dress form.


I then laid out the sleeves and using the shoulder seam for a guide, cut out about 1/2 inch. I do this on a lot of my shirts to insert a contrasting fabric, lace, or too add a drawstring to gather up the sleeves.

I used a great leftover orange jersey and cut it into 2 inch strips. Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance and a jersey needle and put a panel in each arm.
I had to stuff the sleeves to get a decent shot of this, as the infamous duct tape dress form has kinda jacked-up shoulders. 
 At this stage I was really thinking that I was just going to use a twin needle and turn over the neckline.
However, the more I looked at the great contrast between the orange and the grey, the more I needed just a bit more.

 On the fly (hence no pictures), I took 3 of my 2 inch strips of orange and starting that the center of my new neckline I stitched them on, right side to right side,
 folded them to a v in the front and then in half and stitched it down.  I have to say that I love this look so much. I really love when a happy accident works out well.

I then flipped it inside out, took a shirt that fits me exactly the way I like, and used that as a guide to take in the sides.

My finished result is actually better then I had hoped going into the Cotton Challenge.

Teaser for Iron Craft 2013

 I'm going to be 40 in less then a month and still (and will continue too) buy geek tee's with a vengeance. This is my current favorite and what I picked to possibly destroy for my first Iron Craft challenge.
The challenge is cotton and since I just about hack about every cotton tee I own, I figured I should go with my strengths.
I found out about Iron Craft 2013 the day the first challenge was announced and the day before I had minor surgery. I wanted to do it, but really didn't want to stress myself out. I ended up doing another shirt to make sure that I could do what I wanted with my Star Wars one and therefore ended up doing 2 entirely different shirts.
Only I can double my workload for creativeness sake.

Tomorrow is the big reveal and I'm really excited about it.
Check back and see how it came out.

Bare Bones of a house

The Christmas decorations came down this weekend, and as always it made me sad.

It goes from looking like Disney's Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.
All happy and cheerful, full of light and color, something that just makes you smile when you see it.

After everything is taken down, wrapped up and safely put away until next year it looks empty and deserted. A bare bones of a house.
Normally I'd be posting the pictures that I took. The lovely pictures of the 3 wreaths I made, the 3 trees we decorated this year, and the multitude of lights that my husband strung up.

However the pictures are still on my memory card.
 I haven't used my card reader in so long I've flat out forgotten how to. It's sad and horrid and just awful that I'm sitting at home waiting for my husband to get home so he can fix it. However it's better then the alternative that happens every time I try to fix something on my own.
That usually involves a weekends worth of work for the husband and seeing as it's only Tuesday, that's about 5 days sans computer for me.

Since 5 days sans computer is just something that I can't live with, this will have to be a fitting placeholder.

It's time to get back into the swing of things. I have had a rough 18 months filled with a crappy illness, a knee surgery and a few things I didn't care to share with the world at large. Hence the blog had to go dark.


Now I'm back and with a massive goal this year, I am joining up with Just Crafty Enough for Iron Craft 2013
One challenge every two weeks for the entire year.

http://justcraftyenough.com

 

As well as filling in everyone with the things that have kept me semi-sane for the last 18 months. I've gone to a few great places and created some stuff that I can't believe I actually made.

CBLDF is live

I'm just thrilled that this has happened! The link for the auction is http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170637733014

I have to admit that I'm fighting a slight bit of panic. What if no one bids? I'm sure it won't be the case, he's just to cute to just sit there. Of course it means that I'll be checking the eBay page just often enough to drive myself crazy.

Weasel news

Today's news isn't groundbreaking or sensational, however, the above picture, well it's just to damn cute not to post .
The news part is that hopefully sometime Monday the CBLDF will have it up for auction on eBay. Pass it along to everyone you know and raise some money for a great cause.

How can you resist this face

In case you don't know about the CBLDF, it's a fantastic organization, well here straight from the site.
"Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers. The CBLDF provides legal referrals, representation, advice, assistance, and education in furtherance of these goals."

it's an arty shot but hey we all need to be creative

 I've liked the idea of the CBLDF since I became involved in comics way back when I was 16. They support people who are told that their art isn't art, they are anti-censorship and fight the good fight.

A weasel & author walk into a bar

Well no, not really but this needed a title. Some of you may know that I am an avid Neil Gaiman fan. Yesterday, Matt Dean, the Republican leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives lowered himself to schoolyard name calling trying to make a point.
Mr. Dean actually said "pencil-necked little weasel who stole $45,000 from the state of Minnesota." as seen in the link here and for the rest of the story check here and here and my personal favorite here.

So reading all this nonsense and checking out twitter I see a friend of mine put out a call for "Artists (game or otherwise) in need of some silly portfolio exercise, create a #PencilneckedLittleWeasel.  Also, I'd love to see 'em!" The second that I read it I saw my latest creation completed and started stitching. So I give you the 100% upcycled Neil "pencil necked weasel" Gaiman.

He's got about 6 hours of work and I actually used the 2 pictures at the top of this post for reference. He's made from 100% t-shirts. The brown is scraps from a Batman shirts I altered, the black is from my Thingie shirt and the white is,....the white is,.....a t-shirt scrap of unknown origin. The button eyes are a slight Coraline reference. He's a mix of being hand sewn and machine, stands 9 inches tall and has an 8 inch tail.

 

Update 

Since it's basically a Neil weasel, I sent an email and asked him what we should do with it. With his input/blessing it will be up for auction on eBay to benefit the CBLDF. 

Stay tuned for updates!