Thursday, August 22, 2013

White Crochet Purse


I usually use a black purse that I sewed when I was still in Washington. It's been a nice size and works fairly well, but I've been wanting one about the same size in white. I didn't want to sew it this time. I wanted to make something that had a lot of texture, and I figured that crochet would get the effect that I wanted.

For this purse I used single crochet, double crochet, puff stitch, chain, and slip stitch to make it. I had used this same pattern for a couple of scarves and decided that it would work pretty well. This purse is worked with a long chain base and then in the round. After completing it I realized that it needed a fabric lining and I planned on using some magnetic clasps to keep it closed. I ended up sewing all of the fabric by had because I didn't want to pull the sewing machine out for something small. It seemed silly to me. So I used a running stitch around and then slip stitch to attach the lining. I also used a slip stitch to adhere the fabric holding the magnetic half on the flap. It think it worked pretty well.

The lining and magnetic clasps.
Crafted by Mule (Megan).

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Disney's Newest Ladies (Plus Dragons)

When I'm in my room I've been looking at the 10 Disney Princesses and Merida that I made last spring, and thought to myself that they looked incomplete. Disney has some new leading ladies coming out in November and I knew that I had to make some that would match the ones that I've already made. I know that I should find the time to make some other Disney ladies, but since I'm excited about this movie I figured starting with them would be the best.

Meet Anna and Elsa of Frozen.

Their backs. Yep, I'm THAT obsessive.

I also got around to finishing up the accidental Harry Potter themed dragons. There are the Maroon & GoldGreen & SilverBlue & Bronze, and now the Yellow & Black. I suppose you can guess which house the dragons belong to. I thought it would be fun to have a matching set of dragons. ;)



I also decided to experiment a little. I have a few extra glass pebbles and I wanted to do something fun with it. Putting the pebble in the center helped me come up with an idea: a dragon's eye. I thought it would be interesting and different than anything I've made before. After baking I put a silver-wash on the clay and then glazed it to help the scales have more texture.


By the way, if you would like to commission me to make you something you can. I just don't make anything with licensed characters or is explicit. You can contact me through my deviantART or here on the blog.

Crafted by Mule (Megan).

Friday, July 26, 2013

Lulu the Dark Elf


I recently got a hold of Amigurumi! Super Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth A. Doherty at Half-Priced Books. I have been wanting to make something from that book for years now but this is the only time I could have gotten the book for under $8. I didn't want to follow one of the patterns to the "T," though. I decided that this would be a good time for making a Dark Elf like I have for some time.

This girl took some time to make. My wrists and knuckles have been giving me some grief more than I had anticipated. I had to take more breaks than I liked. The hair took longer than I thought it would, as well. I hadn't done a french braid for an amigurumi before and it took a little more thought. It was also nice to sew some clothes for her. Everything can come off of her but the shirt. I had to sew it shut although I could have added snaps. I really like how she came out. Now it's time for close-up shots.











Crafted by Mule (Megan).

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Another Go at a T-shirt Quilt

Sorry for the poor photo quality. I didn't want to dirty it by taking it outside.
 Finally got around to finishing the next t-shirt quilt adventure. I've made one before, but I had a pile of shirts that kept on growing. I wasn't wearing them anymore due to the shirt's being old or I just didn't want to anymore. I wasn't planning on making this now but I had been making some t-shirt yarn from the leftovers of the shirts from the previous quilt that I went on to these shirts to do the same. The quilt just happened.

As you can see this quilt looks a lot different from the other one. A lot of these shirts has so many different sizes of images that the same layout wouldn't work. So I grouped shirts where I knew the images would make the same sized squares or rectangles. I laid them on the ground and knew immediately that I had to fill in the spaces of the rows. I found some old shorts and leftover materials from previous projects and decided to add them to the quilt. People who read the blog might recognize some of them. ;)

This time I decided that I wanted to interface all of the shirts before I sewed them. Not only did this allow me to cut the squares/rectangles nicely, but it stabilized then rather well. There wasn't nearly as much stretching as the other quilt. There was a tiny bit because I was getting lazy and not holding the iron down long enough for the interfacing to adhere completely. Seriously, though. SIX yards of interfacing. Oi.

And I couldn't help but think of someone while I was making this quilt. She passed away in May and was known for making all kinds of things for her family. Quilts were one of the things that she did the most. A lot of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren have one made by her. They're something special now that she isn't on earthy anymore. So I decided to pay a tribute in the bottom right corner of the quilt with some hand-embroidery. Love you, Granni. <3 p="">


Crafted by Mule (Megan).

Thursday, July 4, 2013

And Yet More Polymer

After doing some sketches to make some different animals, I just kept experimenting. This is what came out of it.

Epilepsy Awareness Dragon






Crafted by Mule (Megan).

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Yet Another Polymer Clay Adventure


This time the polymer madness started because I had an idea for some book charms... and then I kept going. Some of these things I will put on my Etsy shop. I don't think the last two pictures are going to make it on there. One had copyrighted characters and the other picture has some not-so-original ideas.



This dragon matches the Maroon and Gold one from the last polymer adventures. I wanted to use up the glass stones that I have. It just happened that they're going on a Harry Potter color theme. I think I'll have to continue with it. ;)

Hungry like a Zombie?
I had these little bowls from the last time and didn't know what I was going to do with them then. I wanted to make something kind of gross and weird. I think this fits the bill.

Berry Deadly Lollies
These go along with the other Deadly Lollies. This time they look as though they can be berry flavored.

The Bibliophile's Charm
 I'm a self-proclaimed bibliophile and I like it when I find another. I really like to talk about books that I'm reading or interested in. It's fun to talk to other writers, as well. I figured making a charm to declare so would be perfect.

Book Genre Charms
These are the charms that got me going on this latest polymer endeavor. I drew up some little images that I thought would convey certain genres and stories. I'm open to other ideas.



These are the charms that I'm not going to put on Etsy... well, Jack and Sally for sure. I don't like the idea of making a profit on copyrighted characters. It doesn't seem right to me. But I like to make them as gifts for friends/family. The ice cream and candycane bunch just didn't seem all that original to put up. I even debated putting them up here on the blog, but I figured what the heck?

Crafted by Mule (Megan).

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Ewok Amigurumi



It's my nephew's birthday tomorrow and I was trying to come up with something that I could make for him. My first thought was making him R2-D2, but I realized that I didn't have any gray yarn. Then Yoda came to mind but I wasn't sold. Then for some reason the Ewok from Return of the Jedi stuck in my mind. And thanks to my Crochet Link Blanket I had the right colors of yarn for him. I think the ewoks are hilarious and I'm pretty sure he might think so as well. I mean, he's only turning 5. Things that are silly are funny at 5. I think the next time that I make an ewok I will elongate the body by four rounds. The proportions are a tiny bit off to me right now. Either way, my nephew won't care. ;)

Crafted by Mule (Megan).