Weekly Obsession 9/6: HALLOWEEN!

I didn't realize how difficult it would be to maintain a blog, design fabric, work, and handle life. The last few weeks have been busy with work and celebrating my birthday (and seeing the solar eclipse!) with family and friends. I'm currently waiting to receive samples of new Halloween fabrics, and I'M SO EXCITED. I like the prints, plus Halloween is my favorite holiday (Christmas is a very, very close second). My current weekly obsession (more like, several week obsession) is Halloween. And slightly fall in general. It truly feels like fall weather here, and that makes me sooo happy, as I've been used to it still feeling like summer in September. In addition to ordering fabric from Spoonflower, I've also bought some Halloween fabric for various projects.

The spider web fabric glows in the dark! 😍

I'm planning on making a circle skirt with the spider web fabric, a dress from a vintage pattern with the purple twill to the right of the spider web fabric, and using the rest for a EPP (English paper piecing) project. It will be my first time doing EPP, and I might try my hand at foundation piecing as well. I'm equal parts excited and nervous about the project. I also bought glow-in-the-dark thread for possible quilting, and for topstitching for the circle skirt.

In addition, to buying fabric, I've been buying decoration and craft supplies. I also got some spooky things for my birthday! 😊 The Haunted Mansion is my favorite Disney ride, and The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies. I watch it year round, and might be currently wearing a The Nightmare Before Christmas shirt. (Guilty).

Unfortunately, the last time I checked, my local Target only had Halloween stuff in their One Spot section. But, other stores have had stuff out! I found the small cauldron and purple and orange LED lights at Menard's, the battery operated purple lights from Dollar Tree, the glitter felt spiders from Target, and the blind box Pusheen from Hot Topic. I had been a good girl, resisting blind boxes for months. And then I saw the Trick or Treat series of Pusheen blind boxes, and well, couldn't resist. I've come to the conclusion that one cannot be upset or angry looking at Pusheen. Pusheen is instant happiness for me.

I found the light up coffin at Michael's and the flat unfinished wood pieces at Joann. I've painted the spider web key already, and the interior of the coffin. I'm planning on using the flat wood pieces for a new Halloween wreath. I just have to get the rest of the supplies for it, which means more trips to the craft stores, and more time to see (and buy) Halloween stuff.

In addition to Halloween, I'm excited that farms with corn mazes are open now! I haven't been to one in a few years, and am planning on going to one with friends soon. And the place has apple cider doughnuts, which of course I'll have to sample.

Are fall activities or preparing for Halloween current obsessions for you? Comment away!

New Year, New Designs!

Happy New Year! I won't be making any resolutions, since I already fail at seemingly easy tasks (ahem, Twitter, and as of recently, blogging). I do however want to try to blog every week. I think I can make that happen. I've been wanting to do that for a while, but got sidetracked. First with moving, and recently with the holidays and being sick. Instead of blogging, I've been playing games. And I haven't done much of that lately, either. New goal: one blog post equals video game time. No playing until it's published. That way I can update my blog and have fun. Win win.

I did promise some sewing posts, which will still happen. I actually finished a new project yesterday, so will include it in the post, or give it its own. I still need to finish one sewing project up, and photograph them all

I have been designing, though not as much lately. Here is a recent fabric design, perfect for an after holidays sweet tooth:

Sugar Rush Dotted, shown at swatch 8"x8" view. Click image to see repeat in yardage.

I entered Sugar Rush Dotted into the Sweets Contest on Spoonflower. It placed 26th out of 207 entries. This design makes me happy looking at it. I have plans to do some coordinating prints using the candy pieces. I have also done a Halloween version, and will do a Christmas version for next year. Here is the Halloween version:

Halloween Sugar Rush, shown at fat quarter 21"x18" view. Click image to see fabric page.

The current Spoonflower Fabric of the Week Contest called for designs with a snowflake theme. I went a bit stylized and futuristic with my design:

Space Age Snowflakes, shown at fat quarter 21"x18" view. Click image to see fabric page.

I was making homemade Christmas cards when I came up with the idea of creating larger snowflakes out of smaller ones. But then I found my inspiration for this design when looking at images of 1960s space age fashions. One dress had a lace/mesh overlay that looked like stars. I liked the idea, and decided to create simple and stylized snowflakes for the design, changing the colors for the larger snowflake shapes. The design has a sort of shimmer to it, with the colors used.

Voting for the Snowflakes contest is longer than normal, and ends tomorrow, Wednesday. You can vote for your favorite snowflake inspired fabric designs here until then.

I'm going to stay warm, finish up on a sewing project, photograph projects, and play some video games today. I will try to have another post up before Sunday, when I will have a post for a new contest entry.

*Past Contest Entry*
-Nasher/Matisse: Squiggle Stripe 132/303

Pretty Creepy Crawlies?

Halloween is the time for costumes, candy, decorations, spooky movies, and things that go bump in the night. Oh, and those sometimes terrifying things that crawl and slither. Creepy crawlies find their way into spooky decor, food, costumes, attractions, films, and even fabric. The current Fabric of the Week contest at Spoonflower is for Creepy Crawlies themed fabrics, just in time for Halloween. I went a slightly pretty route, and created a pattern inspired by scrollwork designs found in wrought iron. My entry for the Creepy Crawlies contest is Scrollwork Creepy Crawlies Iron:

Scrollwork Creepy Crawlies Iron, shown at fat quarter 21"x18" view. Click image to see pattern in yardage.

I hand drew stylized versions of spiders, scorpions, snakes, beetles, worms, and centipedes in a scrollwork style. Hearts, squiggly lines, and spirals fill in the print. I outlined the design with a black marker, then scanned it into my computer where the repeat was slightly corrected. This black and grey version was done with the contest in mind, and for a slightly creepy feel. I think it would be wonderful as a flocked fabric, or even just a flocked design on paper. I also think it would make a fun print for a frilly dress costume.

Scrollwork Creepy Crawlies is also available in a brown and tan colorway, shown below:

Scrollwork Creepy Crawlies Leather, shown at test swatch 8"x8" view. Click image to see pattern in yardage.

The brown colorway was created as a not so creepy alternative to the black colorway. It also has an aged feel, which would also make this colorway great for costumes. I actually had steampunk fashions in mind for this colorway too, as I had recently looked at mechanical versions of animals (some of which are included in this print).

You can vote for your favorite creepy crawlies fabrics here until Wednesday evening. In addition to designs perfect for Halloween, there are also plenty of cute and pretty non-holiday designs in the contest. There are also a fair number that have candy and creepies in the design. (The most popular candy included is of course, candy corn). You may have to put aside some fears for voting, but some of the designs may win you over. Or, may just scare you even more.

I still need to photograph my cupcake zombie sewn up and its sweets. Photoshoot! (And then I'll have some sweets!) Remember to check out the creepy crawly fabrics at Spoonflower, and check back for the cupcake zombie project post.

*Past Contest Result*
-Zombie Plush Toy: Cupcake Zombie! 17/88

AHHH! Attack of the Cupcake Zombie!

I have been busy lately, and slacked off on blog posts. I do have my jacket sewing project completed, but need to photograph it and then can do a blog post for it. In the meantime, I have a new cut and sew kit in a contest and for sale. The current Fabric of the Week contest at Spoonflower is for a Zombie Plush Toy cut and sew kit. I personally am not a fan of zombies or gore, but like to make cut and sew kits. For this contest, I decided to go to the dark side and create a kawaii style cupcake zombie. (While I love lots of Japanese things, I can only handle so much kawaii stuff before I go crazy). Here is my entry, Cupcake Zombie!:

Cupcake Zombie!, fat quarter 21"x18" view shown. Click image to go to fabric page.

The contest guidelines called for the pattern to fit on a fat quarter of fabric sized 21"x18". My fun kit includes the pieces, instructions, and list of needed supplies to make this slightly crazy looking cupcake zombie. Also included in the kit are three flat zombie cupcakes that can be used as appliques or turned into patches.

The cupcake zombie eats sweets instead of brains. As such, any candy should be hidden from this cute and clumsy zombie. It had a horrible accident with a lollipop stick and lost an eye. Luckily, it found a peppermint. Though it can't see with the peppermint, it appears more normal. Its frosting is a great way to store candy under further use. (The candy gets sewn to the frosting wherever desired).

You can vote for your favorite Zombie Plush Toy kits here until Wednesday. There are a lot of traditionally gory zombies, but there are also cute gore free kits in the contest. There are also a wide variety of zombie types and some humorous entries.

I do have the cupcake base sewn up, but need to find felt pieces for the lollipop sticks. Once I find the felt, the candy pieces will be sewn up and attached to the cupcake's frosting. Then I'll post pictures probably in a new blog post. (Oh, and take pictures of my finished jacket for a future post). Until then, vote for your favorite zombie cut and sew kits and watch some spooky films!

*Past Contest Results*
-Typewriter: Keys & Ribbons Plaid 112/169
-Earth Science: Sun & Storm Stripes 130/160

Root Vegetable Fabric

I have a confession. I like fruit so much more than vegetables. I'm not saying I hate vegetables, it's just I like fruit better. I do like some veggies (raw!), even though I'll admit I don't eat as many as I should. When I saw that the Fabric of the Week contest at Spoonflower was for Root Vegetable themed fabrics, I was a bit puzzled. How would I, someone not crazy about veggies, translate the theme into something graphic and fun? Luckily, some inspiring images popped up on search results and led to this print.



It's titled "Sliced Dots: Earth". You can click on the image above to see it in full repeat or click here. The print is made up of stylized carrot, turnip, golden beet, and red beet slices on an earthy brown background. The dots range in size from 1 to 2.5 inches. Here is a detailed image of the print:

I think this print would be perfect for a fun circle skirt. It would make fun clothing in general, as well as being used for crafting and decor. I also have it on a leafy green background:



I am waiting on my swatches of these fabrics (and more!) to come in. The green background on the one above actually prints a bit brighter, as a yellow green color. This was my first variation of the design, but felt the veggies popped better on the brown background.

You can vote for your favorite root vegetable fabrics here at Spoonflower until Wednesday. There are lots of different interpretations of the theme, and many different styles, so enjoy looking through the great entries!

Past contest results:
 Jack-O-Lantern Plushie/Pillow: "Posh Pumpkin Pillow" 62/65 (Not great at all, but the design was a bit out of the ordinary for me).

Ditsy Prints: "Halloween Doodles: Green" 80/247. This one did way better than I thought it would! I'm waiting on the swatches to come in, before I can make it (and the other swatches) available for sale.

Halloween Doodles Fabric

This week's Fabric of the Week contest at Spoonflower called for ditsy fabric designs, which are small scale scatter prints. Typically, ditsy prints tend to be florals, but any small scale print that isn't in a defined pattern would be considered ditsy. I entered my Halloween Doodles Green fabric in the contest, just in time for Halloween.



Click the image or click here to see the print in repeat. I hand drew all the wording, characters, and shapes on paper, and then traced them in pen. I scanned it in, cleaned up the image (which took forever because of the stray pixels), and added a background color. Bats, cats, witch's hats, monsters, ghosts, Jack-o-Lanterns, witch's brooms, ghost faces, pumpkins, tombstones, candy, bones, shrieking cats, candy corn, skulls, webs, spiders, broken hearts, text, lightning bolts, hearts and stars make up this design.

There is a design for everyone in this week's contest. It's another big contest, but the eye candy is fabulous. You can vote for your favorites here at Spoonflower until Wednesday. Be sure to check out the awesome designs in this week's contest!