DIY Sushi Roll Pillow Plush

When I said I really loved that zig zag stitch, I wasn't kidding. More plushies, anyone?

Since I still had a bum-load of stretchy, black seaweed-esque fabric from that failed sushi roll costume a couple years back, it was time to put it to better use.

Start with a pattern, this time a simple circle (this particular one was around 8 inches) with a smaller circle inside for "filling".  I cut the smaller circle into pie chart shapes for each filling I wanted to make.  

Using felt (because I don't have that many colors of fleece), I started with my favorite filling - salmon!

Mmmm. Don't you just want to lick it? I have a serious weak spot for salmon sashimi.  I just used my zig zag stitch to put strips of tan colored felt onto pink felt, and trimmed any crazy edges.

Kitty loves fish

Next, cut out all the other ingredients and pin them in your desired place.  Penga-Sis, if you couldn't tell, decided to play with my drawers of toys while I worked on her pillow. Obi-Wan is tanning on my delicious salmon!

Other flavors are carrot, takuan, and avocado! I don't know if I'd eat this combo in real life. Ha.

Zig Zag stitch all of it down with white thread, and repeat for the other end of the sushi roll, remembering to mirror the filling ingredient placement.

Now, cut out some nori! Mine was about 18" wide and 26" long.  And I think this is the first time I've ever had to calculate the circumference of a circle with its radius outside of school.  Ha! (circumference = 2*pi*r, so an 8 inch diameter would need about 25 inches of fabric to cover...)

The hardest part?  Now sew the 26" sides to your white circles (right fabric sides facing).  Sewing stretchy fabric in a curve isn't the easiest.

But, eventually you'll make it through! And then you can sew up the side seam of the black nori, though leave a small gap for stuffing.

Flip the fabric inside out and get ready to stuff!

My rice to filling ratio seems a bit off.  Though more filling is always better, imo.

Sew up the gap with some black thread and the hidden stitch, and you may now call yourself a sushi chef!

Maybe someday I'll learn to take nicer pictures instead of in bad lighting on my couch. Ha.

The only thing I don't like about black stretchy fabric and fluff-filling is that it doesn't hold it's shape well at all.  It's kind of...floppy! Adding more fill just made the sushi expand.  So next time I might use more of a batting or something with structure.  Though Penga-Mom has already given me a standard roll pillow form with an express order for several custom sushi covers.  I suppose that is one way to do it, so we'll see!

Penga-Sis says, "Sweet sushi dreams!"

What do you like in your sushi rolls?

DIY Mushroom Plushies

Let's make a mushroom plush!

First, a pattern.  I free-handed mine, but one could easily just print out a mushroom and cut it out!

Any excuse to buy some yummy soft fleece, eh?

Connecting curved surfaces for sewing is sort of difficult, but as long as the ends meet!

After cutting out some white circles for dots, I used a zigzag stitch on the widest and tightest stitch setting. Then I sewed them onto the right side of the fabric.

I think it's safe to assume that I am in love with this stitch!

*Runs finger over smooth stitches* 

Sew the eyes on in the same manner..though this isn't as pretty since the tight corners were a little hard for me to maneuver! Go slowly!

Repeat the circles on the backside, and then sew both sides together with the right sides facing each other.  Leave a small gap for stuffing.

Flip it inside out and start stuffing! More is always better than less when stuffing is involved!

Close up your mushroom with some handstitching - use a hidden stitch for a nice seam!

Okay, so mine isn't the most even in the world..

And you're done! One mushroom!

I ended up making five mushrooms, actually.

Four for two sets of brothers, and one for Jennifer since she's expecting!  For the brothers, I paired the mushies up with some Osh Kosh overalls and long sleeved red and green shirts.  Instant kiddo cosplay!

Are they not the cutest ever?! My heart melts!

This Mario already had a hat! Legit!

Seriously I had so much fun with this project, and even more fun looking at the cosplay photoshoots at the end! I apologize in advance to any far-off-distant-future-children I may have.  I'm thinking mandatory family cosplay days may be in order. *Squeeee*

Canada Love

So a while ago wedding-blog buddy Tamar emailed me with a request for some art.  Her friends in Toronto were getting married, and were both into comics, so of course I was all over that!

Tamar was so sweet in giving me free-reign to do basically, uh - whatever the heck I wanted, so it was a really fun project!

Anyway, Tamar was nice enough to send me a box full of Canadian goodies in return! Nothing makes a Penga happy like a box full of edibles. Especially Canada-specialty edibles like ketchup chips and Coffee Crisp and other things I've never had before! So exciting!

But this - this takes the cake:

So ridiculously cute!!! (Thanks again, Tamar!)

Anyway, I think Sak and I will have to visit Canada someday. They have good snacks, so I'm finding out.  I've been to Vancouver once as a child, but all I really remember from that trip is the killer whale that started my killer whale phobia. Not a great memory to have.  So next time I think maybe Toronto or a different, non-killer whale city will be the choice.

Have you been to Canada?

P.S. I am 100% totally bribe-able with food and cute things in case that's not clear. Lol.

Cheaper than IKEA

I'll start by saying that my mother has been a lifelong supporter of thrift stores. She loves them, and doesn't really have limits on what she'll buy there, as long as she thinks it's a good deal.

And like any rebellious daughter, I grew up hating the second hand stores. I'd plead to stay in the car when she'd take me along. In my youth, they were adverse simply because of unpleasant "thrift store smell" of age and must. In my teens, it was more than the odor - it was the embarrassment. "Dude, only poor people shop here!" I'd whine. It's weird. I don't think I did any critical thinking about social class or relative wealth in my teens. I never demanded name brands or anything like that. I just had this hang-up over thrift stores and school lunch. It was engrained in my head that that was a poorness line that shouldn't be crossed.

Once I saw some boys from my school in a thrift store, and I nearly died. I remember crouching behind the racks, praying they wouldn't see me. Funny that it never entered my mind as to why they were in the store in the first place. The teenage mind is a rather silly thing. It's unfortunate the hipster movement didn't make it's way into my highschool. As annoying as it can be, I probably could have benefited from some enlightenment on the coolness of thrift stores.

Luckily, I grew out of the negative prejudices at some point, and now have returned to embrace the thrift store as I try to find cheap furnishings for our new home. My mother is elated, of course. I'm sure she thought the day would never come that her snooty daughter would voluntarily frequent a Goodwill.

But what I hadn't considered was Sak's reaction.

"They smell funny."

Well, true - they do. In the entire history of the thrift shop, I'm sure that's never changed. It's just ironic that I have to strong-arm him to go with me, much like my mother did when I was younger. What goes around comes around!

But unlike her I have a slight advantage. Since Sak doesn't want me buying any expensive furniture - he'll tolerate the stink. And he's even pleased with what we find, provided I clean it up first and promise not to buy any mattresses.

So far we've found:

a side table for $7.99

a lacquer coffee table for $24.99

several picture frames ranging $3-$7 each

a brand new lamp for $7.

a brand new fireplace tool set for $12.

and a brand new Cherubi Pokemon plushie (for Penga-Sis' birthday) for $1.99!

Not bad, but we still have a lot to find!

Do you thrift shop? Is it more passion or chore for you? For your significant other? Anyone want to do a Bay Area thrift-crawl with me?

Vampire Amigurumi

As Napoleon Dynamite made clear, skills are an attractive quality in a person, and very important to have. So for Christmas I bought my sister some hooks, yarn and crochet books in order to add the skill to her repertoire.

I even did good and bought her books that would fit her personal tastes: cute and creepy.

But alas, little sister had no patience for big sister, and gave up shortly. It also didn't help that left-handed me had a hard time teaching right-handed her. Ah well, my grandmother said she'd have better luck teaching her than I would, so Penga-sis will just have to take the book over there to learn.

But as I had plenty of time to kill during the holidays, I picked up the book myself. I've crocheted scarves and cat-eared hats and stuffed animal capes in the past, but I had never tried amigurumi. The little stuffed dolls are terribly cute!

I went with the Nosferatu doll pattern, because a) I loved the movie and b) it was one of the easier patterns.

Not having used a hook in a while, he came out a little lumpy, but still really cute. The eyes are made of glossy black cardboard from some box I found in the recycle bin, because I was too lazy to use clay as was recommended.

Penga-Sis likes him too. Looks like I gave the girl a fish instead of teaching her to fish. Sigh.

Can you crochet, and if so, what do you make?