Adding Motion: Latrice Royale

I love RuPaul's Drag Race. Unabashedly. Unashamedly. Hence me making a RuPaul ornament. I wanted to memorialize more Drag Queens in felt (because who wouldn't want to do this?), and Latrice Royale was my next choice.

I loved this picture:

But the hand was kind of problematic in felt. It would look strange to just have it there, static. It would have been easy to eliminate that hand (by making it straight down at the side), but then I thought...why not have Latrice blowing kisses?

I have done a lot of motion stuff in my busy books (which I still have not posted...and will get around to eventually), so I had an idea to sew a button to make the arm moveable.

And thus, I added motion to ornaments.

Static pictures:

And video (if it works!):


Now I'm curious about what *else* I can add motion too. Could Julia Child actually tenderize a chicken? SHE COULD. If I can dream it, I can make it.

Techniques: Stitch Lettering

I brought my base patterns (without any instructions) down to a craft weekend with friends. I had intended to supervise and teach a bit, but becoming absorbed in my own projects made me less attentive than I should have been. I ended up saying things (after they had already started) like: "Oh, it's much easier if you do X first...sorry, I should have been paying attention."

One thing that might be particularly tricky if you don't have instructions: Stitched lettering. I have an order of operations that makes it go much more smoothly than it can otherwise go.

First:
I didn't take pictures of the very start of the process. I cut out the paper pattern and tape it to an approximate-sized piece of felt around the edges.
Note: I do not cover any stitch areas with tape. It makes it hard to tear later.
Note 2: I do not cut out the felt ornament at this time.

Tape down! Don't cut!

And here's a cut because more pics....

Techniques: Eyes, Part 2

Tina's eyes are...not ideal. I mean, not her. Her felt representation.

As I mentioned in a previous post, eyes have been difficult for me. The best technique I came up with was to cut out an eye hole, carefully cut out an iris (which is hard, because it's tiny), glue the iris in, and then stuff little fluffy bits of spare white felt in to fill the whites of the eyes.

This technique tended to work better on brown or tan felt "skin" than on cream "skin".

It looks pretty good on Neil deGrasse Tyson, for instance. 

I decided to take a bit of a risk and try something different. Behold, the technique of stitching the top part of the eye and then making a french knot for the eye itself:

Wellstone!

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

What I get is a greater amount of eye precision (though French knots can be tricky if your thread decides to get weirdly bumpy or oddly shaped in your knot) without looking like it's too raised up from the page (causing a pop-eye).

This didn't really work when I stitched the lower part of the eye:

Bob Ross looks...kind of creepy this way.

I'm wondering if I should re-do my patterns with this instruction (or maybe just an alternate method description). It will likely, however, get too confusing. So I should just commit to one method or the other.

Techniques: Lettering

When I did my step-by-step process post using Betty White, I missed an important element that is featured in a lot of my ornament designs and deserves its own walk-through: The Lettering.

To go through my tips and tricks/process for making the lettering with the middle stitch, I’m going to get help from Mr. Joe Biden.

Hey Joe!

 And since this is going to be picture heavy, I’m also putting it behind a jump.

Making Betty White

Hi Betty White!
I got a few requests to make a process post showing how I make my ornaments/felt crafts. So I took pictures while making a new ornament: Betty White!

I'm going to walk through some of my techniques and tips and tricks and you'll also see some of my thought process/adjustments as I go along (this is my first time testing the pattern).

(Forgive the basement lighting--the color will be inconsistent, but you'll be able to see what I'm doing, generally.)

And because there are so many pictures...it's behind a cut!

Techniques: Eyes

Eyes have been a learning process for me. It's hard to get eyes that don't look weird or creepy, but are still representative of a more realistic style.

Not every eye style will work for every project. Here are the different representations of eye techniques:

This is simply a French knot on top of the felt face.

This works fine for projects like this--these Firefly finger puppets don't need accurate eyes, just a suggestion of them.



Here, Leia is meant to be more cartoonish, so I simply cut out very tiny rounds of felt and glued them on the face piece.







Cartoony characters in general are a bit easier. It's easy to layer their eyes with different color felt components. They don't need to look flat or inset, because a pop-eyed effect doesn't take away from the overall look (or, in some cases, is consistent with the character).


This is a simple backstitch over the felt layer using the full strand of embroidery thread. I find it a bit bulky.

Julia also has a face under this face. Because the first eyes just did NOT work out and I had to try again.


These two are examples of the same backstitch technique, but using different strand thicknesses. The Handmaid is has 3 strands of thread from the 6-strand original, and Rosie the Riveter has 2 strands of thread and some very fine eyelash detailing.


Bob Ross and Captain Picard are examples of stitching the eye shape detailing and then doing a French knot pupil. In Bob's case, he doesn't have any additional eye fill, where in Picard's case, the whites of his eyes are stitched in. I do not prefer this technique, and if I re-did these I would use the next technique.



Cut-out eyes are tricky but the effect is worth it. Here, you cut out the eyes in the top layer of felt and then insert a small piece of felt for the pupil. This took some time to learn.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg was my first experiment in this technique. Because she has dark eyes and light skin, overall this works.







With Michelle Obama, I thought I'd try an inset French knot. So I cut out the eye holes, but I filled them in with a French knot instead of felt. This is not a bad technique, but the felt pieces were easier for me.


The first attempt didn't include whites which, in my opinion, is not a great look. I added a tiny bit of white felt filler (without gluing in), and I think it looks much better that way.




Filler also improved RuPaul's eyes. I don't glue in the white filler, I just tuck it in the eye hole. It should stay with normal use.


 Princess Leia and Carrie Fisher, like RBG, didn't seem greatly improved with eye white filler. So I left them as-is--cut-out eyes with felt pieces glued in the center.


Of course, if this is all too complex, you can always take the easy way out...

 And just make weeping angels.

Getting Started: Types of Stitches

There are a few types of basic stitches you'll need when doing felt crafts. These are uncomplicated and effective, but there are plenty of tutorials online if you need to see a stitch being done (I found this super helpful for the French Knot, in particular).

Here are the types you're going to use, and what you'll be using them for. 
(Stitch Diagrams from https://americanfeltandcraft.wordpress.com/stitches/.)
 
Backstitch:

This is what you'll use for most detail work on the felt patterns. It produces a smooth, straight line.

Here is another example of the backstitch:

 

Satin Stitch:

You won't use the satin stitch very often in my patterns. However, this is an alternate technique for filling in eyes (as opposed to doing small felt eyes).

French Knot:

 The french knot is good for details like eyes, small buttons, and pearl detail on necklaces/earrings.

Overcast Stitch:

 This is what I use for stitching pieces together and for edge details.


 Running Stitch:

This is what I use for basic decoration detail (i.e. there is a stitch detail on the inside of circles of ornaments--and you just use a flat running stitch for that).