Wow! A Month!

It has been an entire month since I posted here. Yikes! Sorry about that. Summer seems to be a down time - must be the kids being home. Or me working a new job. That last one is the more likely culprit.

I have been creating though, just in spurts.

Let me introduce you to My Fair Zombie...

She is fabulous...just don't get too close, zombies are contagious. But at least her hair is still rockin'!! I was lucky to find some rhinestone crystals for the retro eyeglasses...love it!


Before my last set up in June at The Rust Belt, I made some new embroidery pieces...this time using my machine. I love the sketchy look that be achieved making them this way. I have lots of them to show off in the next week or so also :) So be sure to stop back in. Hopefully it won't be much longer until they work their way into the shop as well.

This 12 inch hoop is a nice & simple skyline of Detroit.

And I just had to make one of the Detroit D as well...this one sits in a 7 inch hoop.

Zombie Hand

I am trying to decide if I am done with this piece or not. It is another Urban Threads design...a zombie hand. I like the puce green cotton background - it sets the old and decaying stage rather well I think. The only glitch was the lighter colored stitching. The yellow nails and off white bone bits did not show up well initially. Solution - fabric paint to fill in those areas. Perfect.

So why am I not sure if I am done or not? Well the blank spaces above and below the hand call out "caption" to me. But what? My first thought was ultra cheesy: "Zombies, always willing to lend a hand". Hubby's idea: "Let your fingers do the walking". Since our oldest did not know what that was referring to, I think that idea is out.

So, any ideas?

Iron, Sew and Go Go Go

Four hours. FOUR hours!!! That is how long it took me to fuse all the interfacing onto the bags I cut last week. Last week? I think it was last week. I steamed my brains, so not sure anymore :P I wonder if a newer, better iron would help...or if all that interfacing would just take that long anyway. I think it was like 15 bags worth or something. But it is done. And I am only a week'ish behind. Not bad for me.

I did sew another messenger bag and some other odds 'n end finishing touches on stuff. The Sunnydale embroidery piece is also complete.



Now I just have to decide how much, if any, I want to try & complete before the show on Sunday. Or do I just want to make sure I have all the final touches done & all my stuff together & up to date....plus figure how to price the messenger bags. Those alone take me hours...usually the day/night before. Guess it depends on the little guy.

I also fixed the fix for my Zombie Worker. The bag is a tad shorter top to bottom than I originally planned, but I still like it. At least the flap is no longer too long. It's a great size for sketchbooks or other craft stuff since it is more like a wide rectangle than tall or a square. I may just keep it for myself if nobody likes it :)


Now I just need to step away from the computer & go go go....

Done and To Do

My progress from last week's to do list...eh, not so much.

• Bike ride was a go, twice
• Library - check
• Clean upstairs - check
• Embroider - check
• Playground - check & check
• Sew bags - half checked
• Iron interfacing - nope

Not too bad I guess. I plan to do the ironing tonight while (re)watching Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

So...the bags: The first one had lots of problems & still needs some reworking. Thankfully my "problems" led to a neat idea. Since the bag's image is a zombie - I did the bag purposefully patchy so the ends looked frayed...although it's on the back side, so you can't see it here. But in the process, the sizing got out of whack. So I need to "trim it down". You can see it in the front view picture...the flap is too long. Should be an easy fix.



I went back to the messenger bags I had already cut and fixed the gusset lengths...turned out it was an easy fix. I still don't know how I cut them the wrong length. Oh well, the measurements are now correctly noted. This is the Firefly bag:



Both bags still need to be ironed - they will look less puffy then. I plan to do that when I am ironing the interfacing I did not get to last week.

So... embroidery: It's turning out pretty good. It took a while to find the right quote. The first few were too long. I liked

• "This being Sunnydale and all, I guess we can rule out something good" ...not too long, but not quite right either
• "...you gotta stand up and salute their death rate"...needed something more, although looking at it now, it would have worked. Maybe I'll use it on something else later.
• "…he's some kind of demon looking for an all-powerful thingamabob and I've got to stop him before unholy havoc's unleashed and it's another Tuesday night in Sunnydale." ...much too long

This is what I ended up with:


So, my to do for this week....


I think it's doable.

Wordless Wednesday

latest embroidery project...design by Urban Threads