My Queen of Hearts coloring page is finished! I think this might be my favorite one so far!
The gown she’s wearing is DEFINITELY my favorite. It was not the one I intended to draw, though, lol! This is a design that keeps making its way into my “doodling zone” – lol the margins of the pages of my notebook while I’m working on something else!
Those V-shaped bits of fabric at her waist are a detail I WANT to make a pattern for and add to a dress jacket! But it’s precisely the sort of insanely-time-consuming project that I haven’t got the ability to do right now (which is probably precisely why I want to so badly!)
I had the dress I had intended to have her wearing sketched in… And I was pouting about it. It’s a practical design – something I already have the pattern for. It would be pretty and not too horribly time consuming to make. Lol, the exact opposite criteria that’s appreciated by my muse!
Then, in a very stereotypical artistic hissy fit, I erased it, and drew what I wanted to draw! And here it is:
This is the first in a series of Alice in Wonderland coloring pages I intend to draw! I’d say watch for a new one coming next week – but lately I’ve been sucking at being on time with these. Haha for me the time of corona is very different than for most – I hear everyone talking about all the free time on their hands, and I think “if only!”
The next coloring page will be a woodland scene with a female Mad Hatter hosting a tea party! I’ve got it all pictured in my head – and just need to get it onto paper. 🙂
The coloring page I’m sharing today is rather special (to me at least)! It shows something that’s been in my imagination for quite a while. It shows a scene I want to create in my backyard someday (when I have a yard!)
Ok – so the giant mushrooms would be impossible, unless I carved fake ones, lol! But maybe replace them with a ring of plants that are either bioluminescent (glow in the dark) or flowers that bloom at night, and we’d have my dream fairy circle spot. The spiral rocks in the circle-shaped clearing are something I could easily create. Add a standing fire pit and some seating, and we’d have both a very practical outdoor entertaining area, and the ability to remove it all for faerie ball purposes!
Someday. 🙂
This is the fourth of my first four coloring pages – and so far, they’ve all been distinctly fantasy themed! Next, I have several Alice in Wonderland ideas – one for each character – that should be fun to draw.
I’m back (as promised) with that mask making tutorial! This is a plan for a double layer mask that fits extremely well. I’ll have some pics of myself wearing it soon. ^.^
And now… let’s just jump into it!
Materials
To make this mask, you’ll need the following:
A pretty outer fabric, 100% cotton
A soft inner fabric, 100% cotton or silk (I’m using cotton gauze, which is nice and soft against the skin)
1/4” elastic – braided, NOT knit (knit elastic can be scratchy at the back of the ears)
And of course, a sewing machine and thread that matches your fabric.
Recommended Materials and Tools
These items aren’t absolutely necessary, but I recommend having them:
A rotary cutter and a rotary cutting mat
Cardstock (to print the pattern)
A 1/16″ scrapbooking hole punch
Plastic twist ties (the easiest way to do the nose wires!)
Antibacterial wipes (to make a removable/interchangeable filter.)
Cut out both patterns. Take your hole punch, and punch the outer pattern. If you don’t have a hole punch, you can use sharp scissors, and twist to make a hole. For the two spots marked by the nose, poke holes, then cut with scissors so that you have two slits to mark.
Step 2: Cut out
Cut out your inner fabric. Cut out your outer fabric pattern from your pretty fabric, and mark the dots, and the lines at the top. You can use a fabric chalk pen, or even a washable marker will work for this step.
Cut out two strips of elastic, as follows, depending on which size mask you wish to make:
7″ – XS
7.5″ – S
8″ – M
8.5″ – L
9″ – XL
I find that most women wear S or M, and men wear M-XL.
Step 3: Sew nose area
Take your outer fabric, fold in half, and sew the nose seam. You’ll be sewing from marked line to marked dot in this step. This helps get the nose portion at a more exact angle.
Take your inner fabric, and fold along the top at 1/8″, twice. Pin, and sew.
Open up the nose seam, and press it flat.
Step 4: Chin Darts.
Lay your fabric pieces on top of eachother, right sides out, like so:
Fold the inner fabric so that the first chin dart touches itself, and you can just see the dot you made on the outer fabric. Fold the outer fabric along the same line in the opposite direction, and pin.
Repeat this step on the opposite side.
Sew both of these seams – lining up at the 3/8” point on your sewing machine. I did smaller selvage than the standard 5/8”, to keep the finished mask from being too bulky. When you’re done, fold the fabric back out again, and topstitch them, like this:
Step 5: Cheek Darts
Repeat Step 4, but with the cheek darts this time, folding first the inner, then the outer fabrics down so that the darts touch, and pinning them, like so:
Sew them, and again topstitch them:
Step 6: Bottom Edge
Fold at 1/4 inch twice, and then pin the bottom edge of the mask. Pin the center first, and then the outer edges. (The resulting seam will be straighter that way.)
I don’t yet have pictures of this step. I found out that my husband had to wear a mask to his job before I was finished with my first batch of masks, so I had to hurry thru this step and forgot to take photos! I will do so next time I make them. 🙂
Step 7: Top Edge
The top edge is done just like the bottom, but it’s a bit trickier. You’ll need to center the twist tie over the nose seam, and pin it in place, starting at the center. Then when you sew, you’ll need to really muscle it into place to prevent it from sliding out from under the foot while you sew. If you have a spring action guide foot for your sewing machine (it’s a foot that’s designed to sew things that are really thick on one side, and really thin on the other side) this will make it easy, but that’s kind of a specialty item! You can do this step with a regular foot by going really slowly and carefully.
(Again, no pictures. I will fix this soon!)
When you have both top and bottom complete, your finished mask will look like this:
There’s a gap between the outer and inner fabric at the nose. This is to create a pocket where you can add a filter. To create your own antibacterial filters – get a pack of skin safe antibacterial wipes. Dry them out, cut them to 4″ x 3.5″ and insert them in the pocket. The wipe will peek out just a tad over your inner fabric, which makes it easier to exchange.
Step 8: Elastic
Next step is to attach the elastic. To do this, pin it 1/4” from the edge like so:
If you have a serger, the next step is super easy! Serge both sides, attaching the elastic, and finishing the edge. Fold your serged seam in, tucking the string ends, and pin like this:
Then sew it down:
Or without a serger, you’ll pin the elastic exactly as shown above, but instead of serging, the next step is to first sew, then zigzag stitch the elastic, as shown in this sketch:
Fold the edges down twice at 1/4”, and pin, and sew.
And your mask is complete!
Aaaand finally, great news for those who aren’t interested in sewing any masks – I’m offering these for sale:
They’re very limited, since I can only make a few of them here and there when time allows. I try to make a few each weekend – so if you click the link but it’s sold out, I’ll be restocking soon.
This is the story of my life: I start a sewing project, plan for how long I believe it will take me, and it takes 3-5 times longer than I expect!
So although I promised via social media to post that mask making tutorial on Sunday, it’s now Monday, and I’m exactly this far on the first batch of masks:
They aren’t quite wearable yet! And since I’m taking pictures while I’m sewing them, that means the tutorial also isn’t quite ready yet.
But I thought I’d get started by posting the pattern and some basic instructions. Real tutorial coming next week!
I made this mask pattern myself. I didn’t intend to – I figured there would be a perfectly acceptable mask pattern online. I even downloaded a couple, and was like – no this isn’t going to fit, no that’s not gonna fit. LOL, who would’ve guessed, I’m too picky to use patterns made by other people. 😛
My pattern is completely unique in that the fit portion is done with darts. There are two darts for the chin, one dark for each cheek, and a dart over the nose. If you do a wire over the nose, there is literally zero gap anywhere with this mask, which is typically the biggest safety problem with homemade masks.
And I feel I should insert the obligatory disclaimer – this is not a medical mask, and it won’t protect from coronavirus like an N95 mask does. However, if you just want something to wear to the store, this style should work absolutely perfect for you.
To troubleshoot my pattern, I made a batch of 10 of them and had my husband hand them out at work and instructed him to have people try them on, then have every member of their family try them on. The pattern I’m sharing below will fit older teenager to adult. To adjust to fit larger or smaller within those ranges, you only need to lengthen/shorten the straps.
I included a box around the actual mask pattern so you can make sure your printer is printing the correct size! The box should be 8 x 10 inches.
If you’re an experienced seamstress, you might be able to make these just from this pattern. For everyone else, there will be a real tutorial coming this weekend!
For this weeks coloring page, I again sat down with sketchpad, pencil, and pens and let my imagination take me where it wanted. I wound up with this Elven Lady and unicorn!
Unicorns are my sisters favorite. I told her that was what the coloring page is going to be this week and her response was “OK, where is it? Hurry up and finish it already!”
When I went to draw this, I realized – wow, it’s been at least 15 years since I’ve drawn a horse. And I was picky about the exact direction and pose of my unicorn. So I had look up about 14 horses on Google images, and use them all to figure out how to draw the horse in this exact position! I’m quite happy with how Franken-unicorn turned out. 😉
I sat down with my sketch pad with the goal of drawing an adult coloring page featuring a Steampunk fairy… but then this happened!
Lol, I’m not sure if I had Game of Thrones on the brain, or if I just wanted to do something straight from my imagination, and a little less practical.
As I was penning in this drawing, an idea of the fantasy world in the picture was forming in my head. The lady is training the baby dragon in the photo. Eventually it will grow up (the size of the ones flying in the distance) and she’ll be able to ride it. At least in my head, it’s a land where castles are built right up into the sky, and the people all ride dragons. I’d very much like to run away to this place, given what’s going on in the real world right now!
I could make the dress my Dragon Lady is wearing in the picture. (I can make almost anything, lol!) But if I did, it wouldn’t go very well with the rest of my designs – since I specialize in corset dresses. So my “Dragon Queen” gown idea will probably remain in my imagination.
Although I have to say – I would LOVE to make that belt and that shoulder piece. While I was drawing it, I was thinking about how I’d combine scale mail, and really big/amazing filigree pieces, and chandelier drops to make it – and I want to create it and watch it take shape!
Since there’s lots of people stuck at home right now, I thought it might be neat for me to draw some coloring pages. I had a ton of ideas – so I posted on Facebook to get votes on which I should do first! The three choices were: Alice in Wonderland Tea Party, Elven Queen in her castle garden, and Lady Pirate in a tall ship. As you can see, the Elven Queen idea won!
I’ve never drawn a coloring page before – and I have to say, I think this was the most enjoyable thing I’ve ever drawn. Although for a while, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to finish it in time! Virtual school started this week, and it’s been absolutely insane trying to keep up. Hopefully next week goes better.
The good thing is – when I do pencil sketches, and when I fill things in with pen and ink, it’s a major stress relief activity for me. And this week, I’ve needed the stress relief, lol!
The dress the elven queen is wearing in my coloring page is a re-imagined version of this gown:
I plan to make the dress from the coloring page at some point. Only the fabric will be different. I took some artistic license with the coloring page to make it more fun to fill in! Were I to replicate those designs around the edges of the gown, I’d need to either paint or embroider them on – and it would take too long, and thus make the dress cost a very impractical price. But the burnout floral velvet I plan to use to make the dress will be perfectly fancy. ^.^
If you decide to color this in, I’d absolutely LOVE to see how you finish it! And I’d love feedback on how I did – I looked up a bunch of pics online to get an idea of what adult coloring pages look like. LOL, I haven’t actually done adult coloring before (between-the-lines isn’t exactly my style in life!)
But I knew they were black and white, and I know that I love drawing with pen and ink, so I thought it was worth a go! I’ll probably draw another of these next week. If you’d like to get in on the vote for which idea I make this time, watch my Facebook page!
The world is a crazy, crazy place right now. I want to help – but not really sure what I can do.
I read somewhere that with kids everywhere having virtual school, classes like art were going to fall by the wayside.
And I thought, hmmm, I can easily be my kids art teacher for a few weeks – so no worries there.
And then, I had an idea! Starting now, and every Friday, I’m going to make something fun that you can print/color/create at home.
Lol, I had this idea at exactly 6:28 this morning – so no time to make a brand new one today! But – I happen to have made these awesome printable/papercraft steampunk goggles back in 2016. So they’ll work great for today’s share!
To make these, you’ll need the following:
Card stock
Black and metallic markers (if you wish to decorate your goggles)
Black elastic – one piece 2″ long, and the other piece 14″ (adult), or 13″ (older child), or 12″ (young child)
Instructions on how to make the goggles will be right on the page when you print them.
I decorated the goggles in my pictures, by adding dots around the edges, swirls, and steampunk gears. Gears are rather easy to draw! Here’s basic instructions. To draw a small gear, first draw a circle:
Then draw dots all the way around on the outside, like this:
To draw a large gear, draw a small circle, then a large circle around the outside, like so:
Draw spokes – lines around the outside. You can draw 3 lines, or 4 lines, or 5 lines, or 6 lines.
And draw dots around the outside:
You can leave them just like the above photo, or go one extra step, and color in a curved shape on the inside, like this:
I hope you enjoyed this little project, and I’ll be back next week with something new!
I’m cosplaying the Cheshire Cat at a ball this weekend. So I’m making myself a pair of cat ears! I won’t call this a tutorial – I’ve tried to do tutorials over the years, and I think I might not be organized enough to force my brain to think of things in steps! Lol so we’ll call this a “the making of” type post. With a bit of artistic skill, you probably can glean how to make yourself some fairly amazing animal ears for cosplay. But it won’t exactly be a step by step how-to, either!
Materials:
To make your own cat ears, you’ll need the following:
Backing fabric. I used leftovers from my cheshire cat gown. Silver tiger print fabric!
Inner ear fabric. Something fuzzy for the best look!
Sticky-back craft foam. I bought this stuff for crafts for my kids originally, then had to buy them more because I had commandered most of the package! It’s awesome for crafts.
Elastic. I used 1/8 inch sewing elastic.
Something to cut fabric with. A rotary cutter and mat is easiest for these kinds of projects.
Regular paper scissors.
And a glue gun and plenty of hot glue.
First, I google image searched “cat ears” to come up with an idea of what I wanted them to look like. I wanted something a bit large, but also lifelike in shape.
While looking at google images, I sketched this as a basic plan for myself:
I cut out the shape, then traced it onto the craft foam, lining up the bottom of the ear with the edge of the craft foam. I flipped the pattern over to trace it the second time, so I would have mirror-image shaped ears. Then I drew the outer lines in the picture, about a half inch from around the sides of the ears.
I cut them out:
Then with the glue gun, beaded glue along the inside of the inner line (where the edges of the ears will be) like this:
The next step was to let the glue dry – all the way – and so I didn’t get impatient and touch it too soon, I cut the fabric pieces next. I cut the fabric for the outside big – so I can wrap it around the ears and have nice edges. I gave it an extra inch around the top and sides, and an extra 1/4 inch at the bottom.
For the inner ear fabric, I reduced the size of the pattern, by 1/4 inch around the top and sides, like so:
And cut the two inner ear pieces (OMG softy soft):
Remember to flip the pattern so you cut mirror-image pieces!
Here is a pic showing all of the pieces laid on top of eachother – all different sizes, so they go together right!
The glue on the craft foam had hardened sufficiently by this point. I added more glue on top of the old glue, and rolled the foam around my glue line, to make a nice rounded edge for my ears.
It seemed to work best to start in the center of each ear’s side, then work toward the edges and the ear tip – and give it plenty of time to dry before letting go. Here is one of the ears all rolled up and glued down:
Next, I peeled off the adhesive backing:
And plopped it onto my backing fabric:
The back and sides of the ear are sticky, but the inner part needs glue to hold the fabric down. I glued the top and bottom sides first:
Then the edges. Here they are all glued down, and starting to come together correctly!
Next I cut 3 pieces of elastic, 2 at 10 inches, and 1 at 5 inches.
I totally forgot to get a photo of this – but the next step was to glue the elastic to the foam. I glued the short piece to connect the two ears – about an inch from the inner ear edge, and an inch of elastic glued, then I glued the longer pieces to the outside corners of both ears just inside the rolled portion.
Next, I glued in the fluffy inner ear fabric. I started at the top, gluing a little triangle and sticking on the ear, then working my way down like so:
I only did a little at a time, and I used plenty of glue, and while each row of glue would dry, I curved the ear and held onto it – so it would be shaped like that when dry.
And there they are, all done! Here’s what they look like worn:
I am wearing a hat with them – specially shaped with an upturned back so it will fit in front of the ears. Here’s the look all put together:
There is also a brand new design – a tuxedo inspired jacket – as part of this set! I’ll get pictures this weekend!
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