#if it isn't about the colors it's about the stitch type

[furrysmp]

decided to go sunbringer designs for once. I have so many words oh my god

so. uh,

I am so normal about sunbringer joel smallishbeans so normal I swear. he's planning to throw the o from his name at scott btw.

... he and scar are related but I'm not explaining further until the actual fic about it comes out because there's so much plot significance in the smallishbeans.

... grian. has a book. that he borrowed from the Library. it's very relevant I swear the concept of the library is a plot point.

Also grians eyes are technically green! With a bit of purple and just. a layer of Dark over them to make them less neon green. its not in his genetics to have neon eyes. unlike scar and I swear their eye colors are relevant but like in a weird queerplatonic scarian dl based bit in the grian chapter of the fic

Mumbo is a long cat and being held by me specifically those hands are how I draw my mc skin. I wanted to draw him as this meme since 2021 but he's very hard for me to draw so I took the one time I'll ever draw him and did this.

Jimmy is. a creature. that has bird features but also cod features bc again half of the plot of sunbringer is based on empires 1. Also the bird he's holding is singing. And joel is stealing the song bc he has music type magic.

Scott! Is the one guy I can talk about! Because he already appeared in the fic. He's part ender dragon and like. a child of stars? I have a lot of times I drew him before I think but idk how much of it I uploaded before so yeah. Please ask me about sunbringer scott smajor he's one of the only ones I can talk about and he has so much lore going for him he's so dear to me

impulse is. technically part ender dragon too? the specifics will be explained in his chapter of yhiwu (alongside. a lot of magic lore. like a lot. I have half that speech written already it's basically looking the empires fic in the eyes and going "fight me uwu")

And because impulse is aligned to shadows skizz gets to be some form of light dragon descendant? Like light isn't directly an element in the magic of this universe but it does have an equivalent in the element of Life, which connects to truth and love, whereas shadows and theatrics (and storytelling in general) is always aligned to whatever element is considered dark; in this magic system, being Void.

Tango is looking up at mumbo. thats all. I don't have a lot of notes because my tango is just a little guy.

(Etho is checking smth on his smartwatch and also doing his best to ignore bdubs rn bc bdubs is in his villain arc/hj)

... ngl the only note I have on the bdubs design is that it's accidentally inspired by my human design for the main character in the show I'm writing. Bracelets and sparkly eyes and a t-shirt and. Crimes.

also not much on the cleo design she was just fun to draw but the implications of her existence are spoilers and also not really visually indicative bc idk what a "zombie hybrid" would look like so she just looks. funky. her background is all stitched together btw I finally had a use for the dashed lines brush :D

martyn and ren are. BIG spoilers. But only to like chapter 5 of the current fic. I will say I highly enjoy their existence tho. Also my ren designs always have hawaiian patterned shirts its a personality trait he seems to possess. Also his glasses are like. a hologram? bc his ears are Dog so he cant have normal glasses w like. the things that go behind ur ears.

lizzie is. also very important. she gets the two animals thing like jimmy bc axolotl and cat were her empires animals. also her buns are heart shaped I saw some fanart of that and its really cute so I also have that. and she's also looking at the long mumbo! very confused.

bigb. scares me. like yeah secret life really be mans villain arc. I tried to reflect that by actually straight up mirroring his eyes and having him be. the only guy looking straight at u. he can see u. u can run but u cant hide. also he gets cookies. also also drawing facial hair is hard he's the only time I ever managed to make facial hair look. normal. ever. wont happen again.

gem is being adorable and also definitely a deer hybrid dont mind the magic or stuff its fine (her chapter is. third in the roster. I literally just need to finish the impulse chapter to convince myself that its ok to upload her immediately after ch2).

and pearl! who we know bc she gets first chapter of the fic and thats already out. her eyes are a bit like moons btw. also she's doing magic back at gem which is cute I think. idk.

also half of them have fancy hair shines. like joel having beans that get progressively smaller. or pearl having moons. :D

#trafficblr #traffic smp #secret life #traffic series #life series #empires smp #empiresblr #mumbo jumbo #hermitcraft #joel smallishbeans #jimmy solidarity #grian #scott smajor #smajor1995 #smallishbeans #gtwscar #gtws #goodtimewithscar #goodtimeswithscar #solidaritygaming #impulsesv #skizzleman #tangotek #tango tek #ethoslab #bdubs #bdoubleo100 #bdouble0 #zombiecleo #martyn itlw

[icancdramahanfu]

Maomao's skirt

Since I have decided to torture myself and do a cosplay in just over a month, I figured I would start with the easier part - the skirt.

In my intro post, I mentioned that her skirt isn't Ming accurate being vaguely mamian-like but not really. For this I played with two main ideas, using one of my other skirt patterns that has pleats and would be mamian-like or go for the circle skirt.

The fabric I selected was around 2 1/3 yards - less than I'd like but it was the entire remaining bolt and the color was perfect - don't trust my indoor lighting here. With the limited amount of fabric I had to do a little tetris to decide what pattern pieces to use. I washed and dried the fabric before ironing it.

My first and preferred pattern was this one:

Simplicity #2710 - 1949

I have already made this skirt, it has thick pleats and falls nicely. I figured it might be a good selection and I'd get that extra Ming style with lazy pleating.

Circle skirt

Less complicated since all I had to do was determine my waist, put it as the circumference and make a 1/4 circle pattern with my pre-marked cutting board. The bolt was 46" from selvage to selvage meaning if I kept one strip I had more than enough for a waistband. I am currently assuming a 4" wide waistband and went with 42" for the skirt length.

Unfortunately for my original plan, the vintage Simplicity pattern was too wide with the pleating. I'd need 3 1/2 yards of fabric and my current pattern pieces were set for a length of around 36" as well to the hem.

Circle it is!

Made my pattern pieces, two so that I could see how to fit them. The fabric has a decent thickness and I didn't want to fold it over and cut, opting to instead chalk out each piece individually on the fabric.

And yes, that is wrapping paper as usual with the square grids on the backside. I love this type of wrapping paper so handy! I cut out my fabric and took it to the sewing machine.

Next, I went ahead and did a zigzag stitch along all the edges except for the selvage. This fabric was showing how it would fray immediately. I washed it in the machine and this is what the edges looked like after drying.

Somehow, I messed up on the waist portion of the skirt panels and I had to take them down by 2". Not sure how I messed that up since I had the radius calculated. I tested this by holding them up to my body and realizing it was off.

Recall, that I have a very limited amount of this fabric, fearing something odd, I went ahead and sewed the front pieces together selvage to selvage and then the back ones. When I held them up to my waist they were still slightly off. I put in the right side seam and made sure all my seams were pressed. Something about my top of the panel pattern is off by a smidge and I need to put in about 3" of a spacer. I decided to put it down for the day and I'll figure out how to put that piece in, since the hips are okay?

It will also allow for me to decide if I want to be lazy and put in a side zipper. I'll go back and put a pocket in the right seam for sure. The next day - I went ahead and made a triangle to wedge into the gap area before putting in the zipper. I held the skirt up to my waist and measured it with my measuring tape. I zigzag stitched it and put it in the spot.

I also pressed the seam well. Then I decided to put in an invisible zipper in the spot for a side zip. I had to unpick the seam a bit to fit the zipper in further and get it up around my hips. Whoops.

Due to adding in the wedge the zipper is at a bit of an angle as shown here. I estimated the zipper coming up higher on the waistband so, I but in a hook and eye on the top to pull it together.

It turned out fine, I'm so limited by the fabric I have to work with. I still have enough to put in pockets on the right side. However, with the skirt cranked out in less than 24 hours, I have it now hanging to even out the hem. It hangs the right way so I'll take it.

Always remember to let your garment hang before hemming. I'm likely going to put some bias tape on the bottom, since this fabric is very prone to fray and then fold that up as opposed to a double folded hem. It is in place and will hang out in the closet for a day or two!

That's all for now! I'll start working on the aoqun this week as a modified pattern from my previous ones.

#hanfu pattern #cosplay #maomao #maomao skirt #diy

[stuffieplaydateinc]

"Biting Habits"

🍬 | had a tie on the vote ,, so my friend voted CG!Marshall to cut the tie. + title change! + flag theme colors belong to the Vampire CG flag from @/zack-agere

🍇 | gender neu pronouns used, petnames from Marshall (bats/baby bat(s)), physical touch like lap sitting, hugging and cheek/chin touch, reader doesn't talk (verbal status up to reader)

Promt/Cws: slight confrontation(?) | Marshall has a stern talking with his little about them biting people and gives them things to bite instead

Word count | 712 words

Your hand was held by Marshall's bigger and much colder hand. The kinda cold that'll make you shiver yet not be cold. That was the type of cold that was comforting and harmless I'd think. You two made it down the hallway of his home. the way his silence pierced the silent air gave you an idea that he probably wasn't pleased. Not angry, not disappointed, nothing negative per say. Just an unreadable emotion you knew wasn't negative. You finally arrive to his messy room. Clothes were scattered on the floor, cds and record players hanged on the walls, and his guitar left on his bed. The only thing looking somewhat decent in his room was his made bed. But you didn't complain. You visited this room many times of the week afterall. It was radio silent before Marshall broke the silence with a soft sigh. You felt him let go of your hand before you were picked up. His two hands slipped underneath your armpits as he lifted you up without struggle nor hesitation with his movement. He sat you down on the edge of the bed before he sat next to you. Silence filled the air as if he was expecting you to talk first, but when you didn't he let out another sigh; He lifted his legs up before he sat in a criss cross like position. "(Y/n,).." he began, not meeting your gaze just yet. "I heard what happened at the kingdom today. Gumball said you bit him.. is that true?" He finally met your gaze. His gaze wasn't intimidating but soft and gentle. "..." another wave of silence hit the air. Marshall than began to talk again as his gaze switched to his nails instead. "I left you to be babysat by gumball while I ran errands. I know, you weren't happy about me leaving you without telling you a few days ahead of time, that was my fault. But I had a business to take care of. A job little bats like yourself shouldn't get involved in." he playfully squished your cheek as he said this. In response you let out a squeal mixed with a somewhat giggle from your throat. He chuckled lightly before pulling his hand back. He sighed again before getting a bit serious once more. "But you bit gumball when he tried to put you down for a nap. Baby bats you know better, you can't go around biting people like that.." his face softened, before he continued after a moment pause. "I know, this is coming from me, a vampire who also 'bites people' but remember how I told you, that you can tell me about your feelings?" He tilted his head slightly once you gave a small nod. "Yknow you still can tell me how you're feeling. Gumball is also here to help if you need to talk. He isn't a stranger, bats. He's your babysitter and.. kinda like a second caregiver if you think about it.." he gave it a thought before shrugging. "Still, you shouldn't bite people.." he touched your cheek reasuringly. You knew he was just looking after you. there was no hint of judgement behind those eyes. Marshall turned away before grabbing something from his backpack once he unzipped it. "I knew an incident was going to happen again, so i uh.. got you a few things that I hope might help." He pulled out a few options. A stuffed animal ram with fake stitched on bandaids. It's sol purpose being to help relax your jaw and to chew on it. As well as a chewy, necklace and bracelet and a stress ball. You slowly picked up the stuffie and the necklace. Which Marshall happily helped you get it on, as well as the bracelet. Once you were settled you began to calm down the stressful feelings as you squeezed the stuffie to your chest. Marshall smile as he helped you back into his lap. Giving you a gentle kiss on the head as a sign of comfort before his arms caged around your body in a hug like way.

"Let's see If this ends up working out. If it doesn't, I'll bring you to the store to get one to your liking, yeah?" He smiled.

End!

#agere fic #fandom agere #sfw agere #agere blog #x platonic!reader #dni proship #x platonic #adventure time agere #marshall lee agere #cg Marshall lee #fionna and cake agere #agere reader

[starrclown]

☆ Redesign Time: Nifty, the lovable and SUCH A WASTE OF POTENTIAL ☆

(Sorry that title got aggressive. New series though! I now have, Have Tea With Me and Redesign Time.)

Ahoy Matey's, we are here to talk about my favorite Hazbin Hotel character. Yes, Nifty is my favorite. I've loved her ever since she stepped into the pilot. She's just so fun and silly and God I love her so much. But litteraly no one cares about her and that bothers me SO much. Like no one talks about her unless Alastor and Husk are involved. There is little to no merch of her. It's just so depressing man. But I love this little bug alien and I wanna rewrite her a story and redesign her cause her design is just not it.

(Also I wanna clarify something. With any redesigns and rewrites I do, they can change. Hazbin hasn't come out yet as of time of writing so Nifty may actually get a story. Maybe. I severely doubt it. These designs are for fun and fun only. I do genuinely like Hazbin Hotel and want it to succeed. This also isn't a attack on Vivziepop or SpindleHorse productions. Vivzie has been accused of alot but I'm not touching up on that. These designs are for fun and my own personal spin on things. Please don't harass me. Seriously artists have been harassed for redesigns and it's actually sickening. These are for fun, don't take it personally. ALSO!! DO NOT TRY TO ANIMATE THESE. I don't want no comments about how these are not animation friendly. I know. These are just showing of my level of art and a coherent story. Cool? Cool.)

☆Nifty's Redesign!!

Nifty's cannon design is just not it. Let's play a game. What is Nifty?

Nifty, Wiki confirmed, is supposed to be a reference to bugs and aliens. Where? Besides her arms and legs Nifty has no bug features. Nifty also died in the 50's. Can you tell? No, you can't. Nifty is nothing like what she is described. That's the issue with most of the designs of Vivzie. They are nothing like how they are described. I've seen a couple of times that people didn't know that Alstor was supposed to be a deer, Vaggie is a moth, Charlie is based of dolls and goats, and Angel is a spider from the 40's. Nifty's design needs touching up, so let me show you my design!!

(I'm iffy on this. I think there are things I can improve)

She's a little lady!! Let me explain certain parts of my design.

1. Hair. Curled hair was a big thing in the 50's. Nifty is cannonically Japanese so she would probably curl her hair. I wanted her hair to be this messy curly/wavy mop. Why is Nifty's hair fire colored? I thought it was so cool when Nifty came through the fire. In my rewrite I want fire to be a part of Nifty. (You'll see in a little bit.) I also gave her antennas.

2. Face. I changed Nifty to green to give her a bug/alien type feel. I gave her small little bug choppers and red rosy cheeks. I kept her one eye cause it makes her face stand out.

3. Clothing. I might have to change her clothes but I think I did a decently good job with her clothing. I gave her a apron with stitches to symbolize her obsession with chores. I gave her gloves because she's also the cook. I made her dress blue instead of red to contrast her hair and it makes her dress pop.

4. Bug features. Nifty now has antennas that move along with her emotions. She has her bug choppers, I gave her more bug like legs and arms, and finally, wings. There small so I imagine she can fly for small amounts of time.

I just wanted Nifty to feel more bug like. I also wanted her 50's background to shine through!!

(I cut out a whole section on her human life cause I want to save that until I get the main cast done.)

Feel free to leave criticism in the comments. I actually really like certain parts if the design!! Nifty deserves SO much better than Hazbin has given her and I'm here to deliver it!!

(I don't know what will be next. It could be tea time or another redesign. A fic if mine is almost is finished though so if your interested check it out)

😘🫶

- ⭐️StarClown⭐️

#artwork #digital art #hazbin hotel criticism #hazbin hotel critique #hazbin hotel redesign #Nifty redesign #hazbin hotel art #hazbin hotel rewrite #hazbin hotel critical #i love Nifty so much guys #shes so silly

[adobe-outdesign]

Stealthy color for the Neopets review?

Stealthy was introduced post-customization, and while the idea of dressing your pet up in ninja clothes isn't anything new, the actual execution of the colour proved to be pretty neat. In addition to the clothes, Stealthy pets also have a dark blue base with bright blue pupil-less eyes. This looks great and helps to justify this as a paint brush colour instead of just a bunch of clothing sets.

The big issue that stealthy tends to have, at least in my opinion, is that a lot of Stealthy pets Aren't. Overly busy and detailed accents, amour, overly-bright palettes, and more are some things that tend to bog down the lesser Stealthy pets. The only one I think works despite having this attributes is the Stealthy Xweetok, which is based on Noh theater—otherwise, the colour tends to work best with minimal, subtle accent colours, a dark palette, and fairly practical clothing.

Favorite Species:

Hissi: There's nothing particularly special about this design, but I think it really captures the vibe of Stealthy perfectly. The hooded cloak works perfectly with the Hissi's body type, and the clothes are simple and practical. My only nitpick is that the subtle brown elements probably should've just been black, as the extra color doesn't add much to the design.

Mynci: I talked about the Stealthy Mynci already in my Mynci review so I won't go into too much detail here, but I like this design a lot. It's simple, it's practical, the gold and green palette works well with the blue base, and the gilded areas matching the shape of the Mynci's nose is a really nice touch.

Peophin: The Stealthy Peophin gets away from the ninja aesthetic a lot more than some pets, but I like it and I wanted to include it as an example of different ways the colour can be applied while stil looking good. In this case, the Stealthy Peophin has a lot of metallic gold accents against a black base, with netting across the body in patches and a tie around the muzzle that feels fitting for a horse. The whole design makes a surprising amount of practical sense for something that lives in the water.

Least Favorite Species:

Acara: This is what I was talking about when I said Stealthy pets tend to get too busy for their own good. The Stealthy Acara is really a mess, with a confusing mix of gold, green, and red accents all tossed together haphazardly, a snakeskin-like texture on parts of the outfit for no discernible reason, almost random placement of the gold accents, and a mask that leaves giant gaps around the eyes and reveals the mouth, which looks out of place. On the plus side... uh, at least the base colour looks fine?

Chomby: Yes I'm cheating and including two species instead of one, only because there are so many Stealthy designs that are a mess. In this case, the Chomby just has everything going on. Metal accents, random charms (complete with clipping error on the back spines), stitches, an incoherent colour palette with purple, green, orange, and pink accents all at once, and an overall look that could be spotted a mile away. All of the random doodads are part of the shirt and hat too, so you can't remove them in customization. Like the Acara, the base colour is nice, but that's it.

#neopets #neotag #hissi #mynci #peophin #neopet reviews

[im-sew-curious]

Isn't it glorious?

It’s here! I finally tackled my analysis of Key’s gold Gasoline era costume, worn in his music video for the song, photoshoots, a stage performance at the Inkigayo show, and a live performance at SM Town 2022. I’ll discuss everything from the fabrics used, the gloves, the shoes, complain about the zipper, talk about whatever the heck jumps are, break down all of the tiny little types of ornamentation (including the things I don’t actually know the name for) and more.

It’s scary in the best way. Buckle up. Grab some coffee or tea or vodka and a blanket.

I want to preface this by saying that this is going to be VERY long. I’ve polled my followers and nearly everyone said they want me to get as granular as I want. So I’m doing that. If that’s not your thing, here’s your exit ramp now. I get it. This is absurd.

You can also read it on my Twitter here. It actually has a LOT of bonus photos because they only allow me to have 30 on here, if you’re interested in seeing more. It may help clarify some things, as well.

Now then. Welcome to those who are left. Let’s begin!

Costumes by Dénicheur by Seo Seung Yeon

For his Gasoline era, Key has had four costumes designed and made by Dénicheur by Seo Seung Yeon, a Haute Couture Designer House that, among other things, makes elaborate costumes for Kpop performers. They’ve got an amazing Instagram portfolio to check out. They made him a gold and black costume for his G.O.A.T in the Keyland concert, the blue and white one for the Gasoline MV, this gold one, and a cream and gold beaded jacket for the 2023 SM Town Concert.

This fashion house’s trademark is intricately beaded, appliquéd…encrusted…costumes. I was able to get some high quality photos from some of you (thanks so much!) And the more I looked, the more I discovered.

If this were a piece of art (well, it is, but not in the same way) “Mixed Media” is what I’d call it. There are literally over twenty different types of beading techniques, appliqués, various types of sequins, trims, braids, rhinestones, chains, and more.

First, I’ll do an overview of the garments themselves, and then I’ll move on to the ornamentation.

The top (it’s not a jacket, it’s not really a shirt, it’s not a tunic. So I’m going with “top”) has a very boxy torso with exaggerated wide, padded shoulders. They’re completely squared. There are straight sleeves—not too slim, not too bulky. There’s a heavily ornamented oversleeve that reaches down to about his elbows and a “nude” colored full length under sleeve. It also has heavily ornamented cuffs at the bottom the sleeve. It has an exposed zipper up the center back that goes up into a short turtleneck collar. The collar and a portion of the lower neck back region are sheer with some beading and appliqués. There are sheer spirals around his arms and in chevrons on his front and scooping around to his back.

Just LOOK AT that masterpiece

The trousers are closely cut through the waist, hips, and thighs but become a bit wider at the knee. It looks like they were made full length but are always worn bunched up over knee high boots. They close at the center front with a very beautifully set fly zipper and flat trouser hook and bar. It’s so low profile that it wasn’t until I got some 4K images that I was even sure of where they closed. It was like he had been sewn in. I wrote a whole thread about it on Twitter that reads like a mystery novel, though I already spoiled the ending for you. Sorry.

The top is made of what is probably a “nude” (aka specially dyed to his skin tone) base fabric to hold the structure, with the ornamentation stitched over top. The external stabilizing fabric is what appears to be some sort of jacquard, possibly silk.

Jacquard is a type of weave, where the fabric is made of long and short “up and down” stitches of sorts, to make a pattern. Because some of the time it uses longer “stitches” on top, it becomes more vulnerable to the fiber breaking and makes it become kind of “fuzzy” looking. This can be especially true if it’s a natural fiber that usually has less structural integrity than a synthetic one. I initially thought this had started to happen on Key’s rear, but after a very close zoom in, I think that’s just a bit of appliqué edge pulling up. I think maybe one of his mic packs is down there too, but I’m really not an expert in that. I did the research so you don’t have to, folks.

Left: A type of jacquard fabric. The shine comes from the longer top threads, contrasting with details of shorter threads. Right: Is it an applique or is it some snagged fibers? Ultimately, I think it's an applique edge.

Perhaps the most interestingly nerdy thing about jacquard is that it was originally made on a loom that led to the creation of computer programming by utilizing a sort of “binary code.” There were punchcards that showed the strands of fibers when to go up and down. Like “holes and not holes” in which to weave.

A Jacquard Machine Loom with punchcards that create the desired design on the fabric

It’s important to note that this fabric needs to have some stretch because it is also used to make his very tight fitting trousers. If it were not a stretch fabric, he wouldn’t be able to do this like THIS or…most things, really.

Even though the jacquard is stretchy, it has some structure to it. It’s used as a stabilizer in between the “flesh mesh” on the outer layer. (aka power net, stretch mesh... There are many names!) It forms the base on which the majority of the ornamentation is stitched.

Flesh mesh is a stretchy mesh fabric dyed to the performer’s skin color and is used to give the illusion that you’re seeing their skin, but it gives much more strength than just a cutout. I wrote a thread about flesh mesh and the importance of taking into consideration the performer’s actual skin tone when building them a costume here

In this case, flesh mesh allows for adornment of these areas, as well. It’s important to note that, even though it’s a separate layer over the base, it is “tacked” through all layers in a regular fashion so it doesn’t droop with the weight of all of the ornamentation.

There are also some parts that have metallic gold applied pieces. This was probably made of a beefy metallic spandex applied on top of the base rather than some solid pleather, due to way it behaves on the body. The latter would have been way too rigid in comparison to the rest of the fabrics.

Heavy gold stretch spandex, forming a chevron on which to affix beads and other trims

Okay. Range of movement time. You know how I love discussing this. That’s because it’s the single most important aspect of costumes for dancers.

Let’s talk armpit gussets. They’re an American football shaped piece of fabric that is stitched in the armpit partially to the sleeve underarm, and partially to the torso underarm. It’s often made of a stretch fabric, but sometimes it’s out of the original “fashion fabric,” which is what we call the main garment fabric.

Gussets out of different fabrics under each underarm. You can see the gold bunch under his arm when it's at his side

It allows the performer to more easily move their arms above their chest and head to help keep the top from riding up. You can see in this photo, though, that it does bunch up a little when his arm is down, because of the extra fabric. It has to go somewhere when it’s not taut.

With this particular top, it’s interesting to note that, due to the asymmetrical decoration of his arms, one gusset is the gold stretch fabric and the other is the jacquard. That means that, either both fabrics have the exact same stretch, or his arms may be SLIGHTLY more limited on one side than the other. That’s fun! I really geeked out about this observation.

Often with jackets for dancers, they’ll have what are called “commodity pleats” around the center back shoulder area. They’re a sort of sneaky hidden accordion-like bit of fabric that stretches out during movement that may otherwise split the back open. Taemin uses them a LOT. But, since this top is so boxy, Key doesn’t need them in this instance. He already had the room he needed without any other accommodations.

They put commodity pleats in the back of most of Taemin's closer fitting jackets. I wish they'd make them the same color as his jackets, though!

With Key’s trousers, we’ve already established that they’re made of a fabric with a decent amount of stretch. But since I can’t find many good photos of his bottom half, I’m unsure about if he also has “crotch gussets.”

By this point, I’m kind of notorious as being the “crotch gusset person.”

The following posts explain them in much more detail, but basically, they’re long triangular wedges that start in the trouser crotch and taper down to nothing in the inseam. These are often put in trousers of dancers when people need a better range of movement.

I wrote about this in detail regarding Taemin’s pleather pants he wore in his Metamorph concert, as well as all of SHINee in the Your Number dance video. You can find my posts on the subject here:(Metamorph) (Your Number)

Jinki rocking a black crotch gusset in SHINee's "Your Number" Performance Video (Black Version)

Gussets allow for extra room and movement when one is trying to do extreme leg movements like squatting. Unfortunately, I don’t have many good photos of his inseam. There’s so much going on with appliqués and piecing of mesh vs jacquard, it’s hard to tell. Part of the front half of his trousers is flesh mesh, swirling around them. The other parts are the jacquard, whereas the back is all jacquard.

I saw one photo which made me begin to wonder if the inseam is a little further forward than it could be, though. That could mean there IS a gusset. I’m really not sure...I don't have official visual confirmation, but now you know more about crotch gussets either way. You’re welcome.

That seam line is up a bit more forward than usual. It really has me wondering, because that would happen if there was a gusset installed. Hmmmm.

Okay. Zipper education time. I apologize in advance. Things get spicy but I tried to tamp it down. The center back (abbreviated as “CB” in the industry) of the top has an exposed zipper. This means exactly what it sounds like: it’s exposed. You look at it, and it looks like there’s a zipper right there. It’s not hidden. Sometimes it’s a perfect match, and sometimes it’s “featured.” Exposed zippers actually become a trend every once in a while in everyday fashion.

I thought it was extremely interesting that, on this elaborate costume, they chose to use a zipper with metallic teeth on white “tape.” (The fabric on the sides of the teeth.) It was a huge disappointment for me, actually. I would have loved to have seen the zipper more carefully hidden like his fly was.

Hello, zipper. I see you loud and clear!

I have to comment a bit on what I view as the one flaw in this otherwise perfect costume. I will preface this by saying that I was not in the fitting room where this was conceived, and I don’t know about any extenuating circumstances and the reasoning behind this decision. But there a few things that I would have done differently regarding the zipper and back collar of this top if were to have made it.

But first: some zipper education. Besides exposed, there are center lapped, as well as regular lapped zippers. With the center lap, it’s like the fabric covers your zipper but you can pull the zipper down through it. Your hoodie probably has one. The regular lap zipper is more like your trouser fly in that there is one flap of fabric that covers the whole zipper, hiding it.

Top: Exposed. (Though it has a matching zipper and zipper tape.) Bottom Left: Center Lapped. Right: Regular Lapped.

Either of those types could have been used to make the zipper more discreet. I personally would have chosen to use a regular lapped zipper, which is less likely to get snagged than a center lapped zipper.

People have defended the exposed zipper by asking if it’s because it’s less likely to get caught. I very much get this argument, and, technically it’s right.

But, in my extensive experience, I don’t think I can recall a case of an exposed zipper in the back of a costume, quick change or no. It’s unattractive. (Not to mention a dead giveaway in a period garment!)

If it’s sewn well and tested, with the correct size lap and no loose fabric, it will work just fine. There should be a hook and eye at the top to make sure that it stays secure while dancing.

Part of being a good dresser is being methodical and purposeful, not frantically zipping something up in a way that is more prone to snagging. They keep their cool, perhaps taking a couple more seconds but ensuring that they pull it up smoothly. They use their fingers to block the overlap as they guide the zipper up.

(Random side note: I met a dresser once who preferred zippers be installed upside down for their quick changes. Hey, whatever works best for them! I wonder how they discovered that…)

I will also note that, as far as I’m aware, the only times he’s worn this costume, he didn’t need to get in or out of it quickly. I know that he wore it in the MV, the Inkigayo performance, and the photoshoot. He also performed at SM Town Tokyo 2022, though he had 11 songs during which to change between Bad Love and this. He never wore this look at his G.O.A.T. in the Keyland concert. Oh, and the collab with the Jinro frog. I’ll talk about that later.

So ultimately, all of the zipper quick change talk is for nothing. There COULD have been a chance that this was going to be worn during his concert, I suppose. But if not, in the end, I can find no reason that there needed to be an exposed zipper other than: they wanted it that way.

Sorry for that rant. I know that it was intense. I just…wish it were pretty. That’s all. I know it wouldn’t have bothered most people, but I personally think that the costume deserved better!

Well then. They arranged the symmetrical beaded appliqué motifs so they didn’t interfere with the center back line, so it wasn’t an issue being all chonky around the zipper.

Unfortunately, since the zipper was built into the neck with just the “stretch mesh,” it moves very differently than the rest of the top. It has a substantially weaker structural makeup and it can’t support itself the same, so it stretched at a different rate than the zipper on the solid fabric on the bottom. It kind of “bubbled” when he moved and it rode up.

Showing the neck bubbling, and, on the bottom left photo, you can see that there is some sheer stabilizer to ensure that the zipper doesn't just tear out of the sheer net.

It couldn’t have been helped unless that whole back neck area had been backed with the solid nude base fabric. That’s what I would have done, personally. But using the stabilizer helped a bit. Without it, it may have not lasted a performance.

I don’t know why they did it that way, but the result was rather disappointing to me, especially considering the care that was taken with the rest of the garment.

Okay. End rant. The rest of the costume is EXQUISITE.

One more thing to note is that the zipper terminates about 4” above the top’s bottom hem. It is right around where his waist is. It was built that way to ensure that he was able to move his legs and hips comfortably without getting hung up anywhere.

His knee high boots were covered with the same peach jacquard as his top, as well as utilizing the gold fabric to serve as ornamental buckled straps.

The stretch element of the jacquard is further showcased by the fact that it pulls over the boot toe smoothly, with little issue. A completely stable fabric wouldn’t be able to do that.

Now for the ornamentation. Oooooh boy. There are around twenty types of various adornments on this costume, and I thought I’d highlight some of them.

I can spy about 15 different types of ornamentation here alone.

Beaded appliques at the neckline

Heavy chains

Rhinestone appliques and/or individual rhinestone pieces

Bugle bead chevrons

Gold round beads

Yellow individual small rhinestones

Grey beads in between bugle beads

Gold and silver flat braid trim

Gold stretch fabric

Round flat decorative chain

Hanging paillettes

Dark seed beads with some of the paillettes

Gold dangling lil dudes

A sequined applique peeking out from behind a chain

Utilizing the main fabric as a chevon stabilizer as a design detail

About paillettes: these might actually be my favorites. They’re like “floppy sequins” that only have one hole at an edge. They’re made of a very lightweight plastic, so they’re virtually silent. If you wear a dress completely covered in paillettes, you’ll just hear a little rustle. In this case, his were mainly attached via dangly wires as fringe around the upper sleeves. There are a few other random instances throughout the garment where they’re stitched on individually. You can read more about paillettes in my post here.

Appliqués: There are at least three different types of appliqués in this costume:

Beaded

Lace

Sequined

Rhinestone

Appliqués are premade decorative pieces. It looks like someone hand beaded everything on the costume, but they were able to take a shortcut by using these. So no, contrary to what you might believe, there wasn't someone laboriously hand beading every single thing on to this costume.

It still takes FOREVER to invisibly stitch each motif on to the costume as well as, in this case, sometimes layer upon layer. A lot of them are attached to a net base, and in closeups, I saw how they trimmed the net away closely around the motifs.

On the top, we have the gold paisley sequined appliques. On his trousers, you can see the low profile lurex embroidered lace appliques. Bottom left, you can see the beaded and rhinestone applique. And on the right, beaded appliques. You can see that they're over flesh mesh so, when it's on Key, it just looks like he has a beaded collar.

The sequined, beaded paisley motifs are the most prominent and plentiful form of appliqués, focusing around the top’s cuffs and lower edge. They’re also heavily featured spiraling around the trousers. There are even some appliqués stitched across the seams of the trousers and top.

There are some huge, gorgeous bead and rhinestone appliqués, like this one on his right bicep that you can see in the photo above.

There’s also the Lurex lace (metallic threaded) embroidered appliqués that concentrate mostly on his trousers' waist and hips. It’s low profile without any bits that might snag the top while moving. They added a few jewels to it further down once it was no longer posing any danger to snags. There are also a few flat appliqués on his rear, so as to not make sitting uncomfortable but still be adorned.

Beads and gemstones: There are also individual beads and jewels both sewn and what appears to be discreetly glued on as accents. A popular adhesive we use for that sort of application is called E6000. It bonds pretty much everything from plastic, leather, metal, rubber, and wood. It’s like a slower acting super glue, but is more flexible.

You definitely need to use this in a ventilated area or, ideally, with a respirator. The fumes are no joke! There are little chevrons made out of long tubular metallic bugle beads that were probably glued instead of stitched on. There are also round bronze beads and gold rhinestones glued to the edges of the metallic fabric.

There are little dangling gold dudes, though I don’t know what they’re officially called. There are individual sew on rhinestones. There are circular decorative flat chains. There is gold beaded fringe at the wrists of the sleeves.

Top left: gold braid, beads and chains are heavily featured. Top right: the dangling gold dudes. I don't know what to call them. Bottom left: Paillettes, hanging on gold wires on the upper sleeve hem. Bottom right: Gemstones highlighting the center of the chest, with a whole organized, beautiful mess of braid, beads, etc.

There’s gold flat “braid” trim that also looks like it has a bit of silver in it to add dimension. It’s basically like a braided ribbon, often in metallic colors. It’s used a lot in military uniforms.

And there are a few other various random beads and trims that show up amongst the circus of adornment.

The layout of the overall design is asymmetrical, with left and right arms and legs that don’t match. However, the front of the top is completely symmetrical (which is extremely impressive) except for a few rampant rhinestones that intentionally deviate a bit. Here’s an abomination I made of the sleeves next to each other to see the asymmetry more clearly.

I THINK (not based on this photo but others that aren't Frankensteined together with different perspectives) that the sleeves are actually different lengths as well.

Something that I should cover is that with garments made out of a stretch fabric, like Key’s trousers in this case, stitching on something non-stretchy (like some appliqués) can be fraught. The appliqué can keep the fabric from stretching as much as it needs to accommodate a body in it, and it might tear off.

Sometimes, we need to stretch the fabric a bit as we sew on the motif so it will look normal when a leg is in it. It may look a bit puckered when it’s not being worn. The good news is that it appears that most of the motifs in this costume are on what is most likely a mesh backing, so they probably didn’t have to deal with that headache here!

Since the motif on the Jacquard fabric is pretty small, as well as the fact that some of the appliqués wrapped across the side seams, “pattern matching” wasn’t a big priority on this. However, it’s always preferable to keep the motifs at the same horizontal height. This is a REALLY small pattern, so it wouldn't matter terribly, plus the fact that it was so covered it can hardly be seen. There WAS a point on the right side seam where the pattern did match, but the fabric slightly torqued on the left so it didn’t. All in all, it wasn’t a big deal whatsoever. If it were a bigger print though, it could have been. I made a thread about pattern matching here. It's a subject I'm pretty passionate about!

This side seam was cut so that, at a fixed point, the motif was all at the same level horizonatally at there was a part where the motif perfectly matched up to create one complete one. Because there are curves in the seam, it can't do that everywhere.

Now for a bit of a departure: SHINee and its members have done a few collabs over the years, dancing with the frog mascot from Jinro soju. SHINee did one for Don’t Call Me, Taemin did one for Move, and Key did one for Gasoline.

They dressed the frog up like Key, complete with jewels and chains! It was precious. SO GOOD. Watch it now. I also bring this up because that video was the resource I used to figure out where the gold chains on Key’s top were “tacked” (AKA stitched to keep it held down strategically.) It was a nice close-up view. Thanks, Jinro frog!

(Side note: I have made mascots before and it's ironic because they freak me out. I also refurbished a hot dog mascot that had gotten too gross after public appearances over a decade. My life is weird.)

I love how scaled-back but accurate the frog's costume was.

Through the magic of the Jinro frog, I found the answer to the question “where were the chains tacked?” Here. Enough that they still have independent swing and look natural, but frequent enough to keep them from smacking him in the face. Based on the way they move, I think that is metallic coated plastic and not actual metal. Also, for safety's/comfortability's sake! You don't want to be thumped in the chest with every move.

Here's where the chains were tacked

Someone asked me how much they thought this costume weighed. My answer?

I really have no idea…but probably not NEARLY as much as it looks? I'm like 99.9% sure the chains aren't actual metal. I’m not sure if the “jewels” are glass or plastic. The tiiiiiny “seed beads” and "bugle beads" are glass, but there aren’t enough that they would weigh a significant amount. There's a lot of gold braid on there that's very lightweight. A lot of what you see are layered appliqués with sequins and seed beads, which weigh nearly nothing. The dangling paillettes are just a light plastic.

For the garments themselves, as we’ve established, the are a few layers of fabric and mesh, which aren’t very heavy. Because of the “encrusted” nature of the ornamentation, of course, it still weighs a bit more than just a regular top, and is probably kind of rigid on the front. However, it’s not like he’s dancing around in chainmail.

Lastly, there are his gloves. His left one is made out of that heavy gold stretch fabric that was incorporated into the rest of his costume, and his right was also made out of a flesh mesh. From the way it behaves in this photo, it appears to be a much heavier mesh than the top and trousers.

The right glove has thicker mesh that almost appears to have a natural fiber content that is getting snagged. It doesn't completely conform to the skin like a tight flesh mesh would.

The gloves are heavily ornamented with appliqués and beads. I’m going to guess that these were actually custom made for him, which is a big deal. I know very little about glove making, except it involves a TON of pieces to be done right. Gussets in between the fingers to make them slim and elegant and such. No Mickey Mouse hands here.

Stitching the ornamentation on to gloves is pretty difficult work. You either need a hand form and a curved needle or a very brave stitcher who uses their own hand as a form (palm up.) I haven’t done that for gloves, specifically, but I have been a “sacrificial hand” for other situations. I’m so calloused in most places, I don’t really feel much anymore!

There’s one more aspect to this costume that was seen in the intro for his Gasoline Inkigayo performance: the cloak. He didn’t wear it for very long, but it appears to button across his chest to the other shoulder with snaps underneath. The snaps keep the underlap from peeking out from…under the lap.

It looks like they might have had a wardrobe emergency here, because you can see that two of the three snaps were hastily stitched on with red thread. The ornamentation is asymmetrical, mostly focused on his right side. On his left shoulder, there is a decorative beaded “epaulette.” Those are the ornamental shoulder pieces you often see on military dress uniforms.

Left: The full cloak. You can see the facing on the inside edges, made of the same fabric as the outside. I'll write about that in a bit, and I'll show you a closer view later. Top right: The red thread holding on the upper snaps. Bottom right: Metallic epaulette.

It’s hooded and made out of the same jacquard fabric as the rest of his costume, and it has a satin lining the same color as the “fashion fabric.” It appears to be about calf length. One of the photos I found actually has a shot that shows the facing, the lining, and how the hem is done. Of course, I nerded out. It’s “self faced,” which means that there’s the same fabric that’s on the outside making up the “facing.” The facing is the first ten inches or so of the inside edge of the cloak. It makes a pretty transition from the outside to the inside, without a harsh switch to lining.

Then, there’s the hem.

While attached at the top, the hem of the lining and the outer fashion fabrics are allowed to “hang out” separately while on a dress form. Because fabrics stretch out at different rates (and it also changes by the direction they’re cut from the fabric, but that’s a whole different lesson…) it’s ideal for something like this to hang on a dress form and do its thing for a day or so.

In an ideal world, you’d have a fitting with your performer and you would mark a “level line” on them while they’re wearing the cloak (and also the shoes they will be wearing. Different shoes can change a lot!)

There are several different ways you can mark a hem. You can safety pin it up the way you want it, using a ruler measuring up from the floor to keep it even. But this can be awkward and clunky.

Or you can safety pin a “level line” and say that it’s, for instance, 18” off the ground, and you’d like the hem to be 16” off the ground. You’d draw a new hemline 2” down from the pins. It's the easiest way to know what's level and then decide exactly what you want to do later.

OR you can use what I call “the poofer” which is a little measuring stick on a tripod with chalk and a rubber squeezy ball that poofs chalk into a line at a set height, instead of dealing with pins. But sometimes the chalk doesn’t like to brush away, so that’s a bit of a risk in exchange for convenience.

First, let’s talk about hemming the outside cloak fabric. Because it may have stretched out unevenly, you may have wildly different hems lengths now that they’ve been “leveled.” Let’s say we’ll leave 6” of “hem allowance” to fold up into the garment so it can be lengthened later if we need to. You’ll trim the rest of it away. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve altered hem lengths on cloaks over the years! I'm always grateful to have extra.

You may want to finish the hem with a “serger” or “overlock” machine, which is the sewing machine that uses 3-4 threads to sew things, often stretch, together and kind of seals off the edges. It’s probably what stitches together the side seams of your t-shirt or hoodie or lounge pants or basically anything stretchy. It’s used to keep hems and the edges of fabrics inside garments from fraying. Sometimes people don’t do it, especially since it's inside, but it’s nice if you’re planning on altering it or if the fabric is really prone to fraying.

The cloak fabric is then thoroughly pinned and hand stitched up. There are many different sneaky stitches which grab a few threads at a time from the front of the fabric and are virtually invisible. Everyone has their favorites. My personal favorite is the “vertical hemming stitch” or “vertical blind hem.” I like it because it holds the inner hem and the outside of the cloak more tightly together than a lot of other styles. The “cross stitch” which is called the “blind catch stitch” here in this diagram is one of the most popular methods. However, I feel it can be a bit too loose some times and is more likely to be caught on something. The one downside of the vertical blind hem is that, if you pull it too tight, it’s more likely to show from the outside. It takes a very sensitive hand to get it right. The lining is usually slip-stitched to the cloak hem.

Once you’ve got your level line of your fashion fabric, it goes back on the dress form. I’m…not entirely sure I’ll do a good job explaining this because I work best with showing things with points and grunts. My apologies.

You mark the lining to match the level where the hem of the fashion fabric ends. You decide how far up from the bottom of the hem you want the lining to end (in this case, 4”.) So normally, you think you'd fold it up 4", right? Ha! You subtract two inches from that number. This means you’ll be folding up only two inches of lining. But, since we will be stitching it 4” up from the hem, that means there’s a floppy extra two inches. (Cue Advice.) What’s that for? Now I have to tell you about “jumps.”

Jumps are a sneaky trick. This method is used in suit coat hems and sleeve linings as well. Basically, they’re a way to give a little bit of wiggle room with the length of the lining to hem interaction.

After the fashion fabric is hemmed, you hand stitch the lining 4” up from the hem. You have two extra inches of lining. One extra inch of lining is pressed down so there’s an extra inch of “underlap". This photo (top right) showed me that they had done this to Key’s cloak. You can see it stretched out with the pressed line on the left, and it is folded over on the right.

Left: The "self fabric facing" at the center front inside of the cloak. Top right: The cloak hem showing the underside of the "jump" (left) and it down in its "resting" position (right). Bottom right: the "poofer." They're marking a level line.

If you want to get even MORE granular, that is considered a “soft press”, which means that the iron steams and very lightly rests on the fabric. A “hard press” is what it sounds like. Squish that lil dude and steam the heck out of it. That line is never gonna come out.

Okay. Enough of that. I can’t believe myself.

I could literally discuss this costume inch by inch, but I think I’ve covered it enough that you can peruse it yourself if you’d like and kind of know what you’re looking at.

I deeply admire and respect the, perhaps, 100+ hours of craftspersonship that it took to make this stunning costume. Don’t even ask me what it cost to make!

Do check out the Instagram of @denicheur.official where you can see other costumes they’ve worked on for groups like IVE, Enhypen, Stray Kids and more. They’ve got an amazing portfolio to drool over.

I hope you’ve gained an even greater appreciation for this gorgeous look, and the knowledge you’ve gained here can go forward with you as you enjoy future costumes! And thanks so much for sticking with me. I hope it was worth it!

#Shinee key #Key shinee #kpop #kpop costume #kpop costumes #Key #shinee #costume design #costume construction #costumes #gold costume #costume analysis #fashion analysis

[emiliaoleary]

Hooking rugs that look like dogs

Here's how I do it:

The process I use is called rug hooking (not latch hook or punch needle or tufting, though it is the forerunner of the latter two techniques). Rugs are hooked by pulling loops of fabric strips or yarn through the holes of a base fabric with a coarse open weave, like burlap, or linen, or rug warp. The loops are pulled through the fabric with a squat-handled hook whose business end is shaped like a crochet hook.  There are no knots and the loops aren't sewed down in any way.  The whole thing stays put just by the tension of all those loops packed together in the weave of the foundation fabric.

This isn't a true detailed tutorial but a walk-through of my particular process. The same information is on my web page, emilyoleary.com .

I hook with yarn, rather than with cut strips of wool fabric, which is what many rug hookers use.  I can get a looser, more organic distribution of loops with yarn than I could with wool strips, which are hooked in neat lines. 

Mostly I use wool yarn. In terms of yarn weight, I can use DK, worsted, or Aran.  If I'm using thicker yarn, I leave more holes un-hooked; if I'm using finer yarn, I hook more densely or double up lengths of it.  I particularly like using single ply yarns (like Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride or Malabrigo Worsted).  I don't keep count, but I think I usually use around two dozen types and colors of yarn per dog.  

This is my yarn wall in my apartment. Mostly brown and gray yarn!

I start from a small drawing in my sketchbook, then I head to FedEx office to use a copy machine, blowing up the drawing repeatedly and experimenting with how big the dog rug should be. 

After transferring the image onto my linen, I immediately go over it with Sharpie, because the Saral is really difficult to see and really easy to rub off.

The rug is held taut by a PVC quilting frame that I set on my lap.

I push my hook down through the fabric with my right hand and my left hand stays below the fabric and guides the yarn while I pull it up and through with the hook. Not every hole in the fabric is hooked. Hooking every hole would make the rug too dense. I do hook pretty densely, though-- If you pick up one of my rugs you’ll see they have a slight curl to them, which is because they’re hooked pretty tight. I'm using all different weights and types of yarn, so it's a challenge to keep the overall tension even.

I hook my loops at varying heights to create a very low relief. Sometimes I trim the loops to make them fluffier or wispier or to shape a particular part. I look at a reference photo while I work and pull out and redo sections a lot.

My q-snap frame can accommodate the growing dog rug. I have extenders to make it bigger and I can clamp around my hooking.

The back of a rug looks like lines of little stitches. The lines are little worm trails snaking around because lines of hooking are not supposed to cross over each other. It's important to start a new length of yarn rather than cross over a stitch you already made! I read this when I first started and took it to heart. It makes it much easier to undo and redo hooking if you have to (and I redo sections A Lot). It also keeps the back from getting too bulky and resulting in uneven wear on the back of a functional rug that gets floor use.

When I’m done hooking everything I turn the rug over and brush watered-down Sobo glue on the edges of the dog, making sure to get one or two of the outermost lines of hooking. I do a couple coats of this thinned out glue. I'm careful not to use so much that it seeps to the front of the rug. When the glue is dry I cut the rug out, but I don't cut so close that the loops don't have any linen to keep them in.

​ It generally takes me at least several months to finish one dog rug. My hooking frame and yarn bag are very portable (though bulky) so I can hook out and about at coffee shops or the library or a brewery if there's enough space and light.

Hooking in the wild makes me an ambassador for making things in general and rug hooking in particular. I answer people's questions and always emphasize how relatively easy it is to get started hooking. Sometimes I get anxious that other people will hook rugs that look like mine but better, but I think that working in a traditional medium means you should share your knowledge for the good of the craft.

#tutorial #rug hooking #rug tufting #rug art #dog #dog art #yarn

[gaviicreates]

Tips for Using Red Heart's All-in-One Granny

(From someone not trying to sell it to you)

And I mean that - I'm just another crafter who was skeptical but intrigued enough to want to give it a try. If you have no interest, this post isn't for you and I'm not going to tell you to go out and get it anyway. But if you are curious or intrigued like I was, or if you have it in your stash and are struggling, I wanted to share my thoughts and tips.

TIP 1: Know yourself as a crafter Who is this yarn for? Is it for me? That's a great question, and really the first thing you should ask yourself. Be aware of what you are working with and the goal of the yarn. This should be for someone that enjoys working with acrylics. If you work up granny squares often, or enjoy the process of a basic granny square, and will enjoy the seeing the colors change, you might enjoy this. Do you like playing yarn chicken, or does that stress you out? If living on the edge, is your cuppa of hot cocoa, you might find something with this product.

Maybe read through some of these tips if you aren't quite sure where you fall, and they might help you can decide if this type of yarn is up your alley.

TIP 2: Understand what you are trading.

Because there is still work involved - just a different type.

This yarn is going to work differently for everyone, and it's going to take time for you to figure out what works best for you. That'll be a lot of work on the front end, getting to know the yarn and your gauge and tension and how you want it to look, for a long term trade off of not having to weave in ends later on or having to choose colors at the beginning of the project (if that's part of this yarn that's appealing to you.)

You'll be making a lot of granny clusters, so strap in.

Tip 3: Find your own recipe

What helped me was not thinking of the goal as one whole granny square and then finding the right tension for it. I've only tried a little color pooling (I'm awful at it so far), but one thing that stuck with me was that it's more about the color than it is the gauge or stitch. You might sub a hdc if you have more yarn than needed, or pull tighter in areas, so not to sacrifice the way you need the colors to lay.

This is where that yarn chicken comes in - I thought of each row in the sequence as it's own challenge figuring out what I need for each part of the sequence. For me, I was willing to go up and down hook sizes. If you feel you need to change the cluster a bit, or alter the number of chains to get a row to work - I would encourage giving that a try and see how you like the aesthetic. Keep in mind there might still need to be some adjusting, and I am still learning and working with this yarn, but here's what I've been using as a starting point for myself.

Row 1: tight 5.0mm Row 2: relaxed 5.5mm Row 3: relaxed 5.5mm Row 4: relaxed 5.0mm Row 5: tight 5.0mm I've had to swap out for a 6mm for some, so I do have a third option easily at hand.

Successfully working the row so that the color change is happening when you want it, feels like a mini-version of how it feels to succeed at yarn chicken - without the risk of having to buy a whole new skein of yarn at a potentially different dye lot if you lose. In this case, just go back a bit in your row, alter something about what you just did to try again. You can either alter the whole row, or just go back a side or two depending whether you have too much yarn or too little.

It's like a puzzle and finding the right combination that works for you and for that particular part of the sequence. Something about it has been tickling the lizard brain for me.

Tip 4: Use this alternative for the starting chain 6 I am fairly tolerant to different ways to make the same thing, and I've done many a version of a granny square. But I can not emphasize enough how much I despise the way the main pattern recommends for the starting corner. If it's been working for you, great! But here's my gripe with it, and my solution.

The chain 6, 3dc in the beginning with the 2dc in that space at the end, as the pattern suggests, looks incredibly clunky in comparison to the other corners. Because of the way the join pulls the chain together, I consistently was still left with what felt like a gaping hole unrelated to gauge.

So if this is happening to you and you want to fix it - replace it with a stacked sc. You know that trick that helps you get straighter edges along the sides? It's that one. I am not a very good teacher - I have written words and pictures, and am not savvy with a video camera to explain how this works. So here's a video I can recommend that explains it well - Here. You just make a sc into the corner and one sc into the side of that stitch as the tutorial describes. When you get to the end of the granny round, 2dc into the final corner the way the pattern explains, and then join to the top of the stacked sc.

If you are worried about the amount of yarn, I've been able to work with this alteration. You are going to be doing enough making and frogging and making again in order to find your recipe that I recommend just doing this alternative from the beginning so you can account for it as you practice.

TIP 5: Don't relax on that final row

Remember, you're supposed to also have enough yardage to weave in, and more consistently than not, I was finding I had to go down a hook size AND tighten my tension to get row 5 to have enough yarn to close the row, let alone have some left over. As part of finding your recipe, you may just want to plan ahead for that. I haven't tried it yet with skipping the ch1 spaces in between the granny clusters, but I did think about it. So far, pulling tightly has worked, but I've had to give it a few tries.

TIP 6: Don't expect perfection

Look - I'm not going to dance around this. There are imperfections in the yarn. Most of the time, the spotting from other colors didn't bother me, personally. But I did have one situation pop up early on where the color inconsistency was confusing around what was supposed to be a color change. I went up to a loose 6mm to try to work through it, but I couldn't really tell what the intended end was supposed to be. In the end, I still got it to work relatively cleanly.

The 2dcs and join to end the row help blend the color transition, so just be aware of that if your color change is not happening *as* perfectly as you'd like. Since your double crochets that end the round are working around the previous row's stitches, they help to hide some of the transition. Plus, I found the goal of this worked better with the stacked sc than the ch 3 - another reason I am a big advocate for that.

TIP 7: You should be having fun

Try not to be discouraged when it doesn't work right away, because it won't. But if you are not finding the process of experimenting with the yarn fun, then just put it down. Maybe take a break and come back to it later if you just need to mentally reset, but this comes back to knowing yourself as a crafter if you want to give it another go.

Final Thoughts: I'd continue to use this. Right now I only have two skeins for practicing, but I could see myself getting some more to make a bigger project. And I could see the tiny wins of getting the color change aligned being a motivator for me, rather than a deterrent.

However, you will be "locked in", so to speak. The yarn was designed for one pattern, one sequence, and as cool as that is, it's also limiting. This isn't going to be a versatile yarn. More than anything, the process tickles the part of my brain that wants to succeed over a challenge, less so the creative part. And sometimes, that's ok. I know myself well enough as a crafter to know what WIP I need to pick up. Right now, I am having fun, and I'm planning to keep playing with it.

If anyone has additional tips and tricks, I'd love to hear them, and good luck if you're taking a go with this yarn.

I hope this was even a little bit helpful. Thanks for reading if you've made it this far :)

By the way, this colorway is called "Black Dove" and the second one I ordered was "Cyber Leaf" which is blacks and greens. Excited to keep working them both up.

#crochet #crocheting #crochetblr #yarnblr #red heart all in one granny #granny square #crochet tips #yarnspirations #red heart yarn #yarn crafts #long post

[carry-on-my-wayward-gays]

Jimmy Solidarity should get a doll skin JUST for Halloween and ONLY to use it to play a Other Mother type character. Like do a whole "don't you want to be a toy too?" plotline. Like. Imagine him just creeping around Tumble Town as a full on doll.

Like limbs that are held together by stitching, skin that's polyester stuffed with cotton, button eyes, yarn hair. It's creepy. Especially considering he can't blink, his eyes are unmoving black buttons after all. His sewn smile never moves either, no one knows how he talks.

Everyone thought it was funny at first. "Oh he finally accepted he's a toy! It's canon!" But then Jimmy gets weird. He moves oddly, like a baby deer just getting the bearings on its legs. His movements are jerky and he stumbles around like he's about to fall over any minute.

Anyone that brings up the fact that Jimmy is actually a toy now is always stared at for a minute or two. It's a long awkward pause after comments like "awe man you forgot the pull string!".

Black button eyes stare empty at you, through your soul and at the rock behind you. Jimmy barks a laugh. It's punched out and loud, just one syllable.

"oh yeah, it's a great time. Would you like to be a toy?"

"Uh-"

"Cause I know a guy! He did all this to me, after all. It's so wonderful." There's always nervous laughter followed up by that. You raise your hands in mock surrender and for some reason you feel the need to back up. But you stay put.

"your hair would make a lovely color of yarn." Jimmy reaches for you and you flinch back. His hands don't even have fingers, they're just mitten shaped pockets of stuffing and polyester.

"Right, yeah. Very scary Jimmy. Happy Halloween or whatever." You say, trying to hide your nerves behind dismissal.

"Halloween? Oh no you misunderstand. This is not a gimmick or a costume, this is permanent. You did know that, didn't you? When you cursed me to this form?" Jimmy tilts his head, but it flops to the side like a bag of rice. His face is unchanging. It sends a chill down your spine.

"No no I mean. Y-You can stop with this act now, stop trying to scare me, Jimmy." You dig your heel into the sand beneath your feet so you can turn and run at the drop of a hat.

"But this isn't an act! Being a toy is so wonderful! Which is why you made me one, right? Don't you wanna be a toy too?" His tone gets sharp and aggressive but his voice never raises. You flinch back with every word.

"No, I don't!" You wave your hands frantically in front of you. Jimmy takes a step forward.

"Oh but you can choose the color of your buttons." You swear his smile twitches, growing wider and wider. You do not hear the sound of tearing fabric though.

You never noticed you're hyperventilating now. You're scared, fully terrified. Your heart is in your throat and tears are building behind your eyes. You notice just in time that Jimmy is slowly reaching for you.

You don't want to stay to find out what will happen if he does touch you so you spin on the heel you've planted in the ground and run. You run and you don't look back at that town or its Sheriff even though you swear you hear the jingling of boot spurs behind you.

Joel doesn't get a chance to talk to the Sheriff who is suddenly a polyester doll. But he sees him. He sees Jimmy walking around with his jerky movements trying desperately to stay upright. It gives him goosebumps, especially when Jimmy will stop and jerk around to look at Joel, which is when the god stops looking.

And he's heard the stories the other rulers have spread. It's bone chilling but Joel pretends his paranoia doesn't spike when he sees Jimmy online. He pretends to not want to scream in horror every time he sees Jimmy and Jimmy sees him.

He was truly haunted by the ghost of a monster of his own creation.

After Halloween Jimmy goes back to normal. He's bubbly and bright and fiesty as he ever was. But now there's a subtle hint of mischief behind his eyes.

People have tried bringing up his Halloween bit and how it wasn't cool (you and others had nightmares for days) but Jimmy just asks "what are you talking about?" It unsettles everyone. No one talks about it after that. But they think of it. Every second of every day they think about the doll with Jimmy's voice, telling them to replace their eyes with shiny buttons.

#discord liked this one #figured Tumblr might get a kick out of it too #jimmy solidarity #solidaritygaming #empires jimmy #empires smp #empires s2 #joel smallishbeans #he's only mentioned but i'll put his name here too #horror writing #empires smp fanfic #kinda? idk #shadow's scribing again

[askladyinwhiteandfam]

Missing Stitch AU

Welcome to the missing stitch au! It's a new AU idea I had while listening to music, and I got the idea when listening to 'No Wind Resistance' For some reason-

The AU is based off of the kidcore / possible Traumacore aesthetic, and it's actually a game idea I've decided!

I call it the missing stitch au, mainly cuz the critters are stitched together and catnap is the only one who isn't

(If you want more info about the characters and the AU, please keep reading)

༻꫞ ᗩᗷOᑌT Tᕼᗴ ᑕᕼᗩᖇᗩᑕTᗴᖇՏ ꫞༺

Dogday - Dogday Is the leader of the group! His role within the place is to Make sure guests are happy and comfortable, He is overly friendly and quite adventurous sometimes, though he does set out some explicit warnings about different areas

Bobby Bearhug - The medic / nurse of the group, her role within the group is to make sure that guests are okay and to heal them when they're hurt, She can be quite motherly the kind, And she does make sure that if You get hurt, You get healed right away

Hoppy Hopscotch - One of the athletic ones of the group, She tends to make games for you and the other critters to play, mostly running around and that stuff. She is energetic and a tiny bit impatient, but she means no harm, the least she would do is just thump her feet And tell you to hurry up

Kicken Chicken - The other athletic one of the group, he tends to make games that are more skill type, say, skateboarding for example. He can be a little bit cocky but he's also very kind and chill, He isn't as impatient as hoppy, he'll just wait for you until you catch up

Bubba Bubbaphant - The teacher of the group, He is definitely the one to elaborate more on Dogday's warnings, and like the original AU, he steers the group to make smarter choices, especially in a panic. He's smart and pretty chill, and as long as you listen to him, he'll be okay with you

Picky Piggy - The cook of the group, she's the one that makes sure that guests are eating well and she cooks for you and the others! She is sweet and kind, and she is real knowledgeable when it comes to cooking, Sometimes she'll invite you to cook with her, but she doesn't mind if you say no

Craftycorn - The artist/storyteller, she enjoys making up stories and doing art and she often shares it with the rest of the group, therefore it has became her job to make up stories so that she could share them with the group, she's shy and sweet and artsy, and she is often the one to try and cheer you up when you're sad and haven't told Avery

Avery Antelope - the therapist of the group, he's the one to make sure everyone's mental health is in check and that they aren't going insane- He's generally calm and respectful but he can also be quite panicky, or energetic, kind of like Hoppy and Kicken, Of course due to his ADHD. Whenever you're down, he often invites you to talk it out with him

Catnap - The "Puppeteer or"String Puller", He is the one controlling the characters, he can control what they do but he can never control what They say, in fact, he's the reason why the critters never want you to go into "night mode" in the game, because he's often roaming around the place, if he catches you, looks like you'll become one of his puppets...

༻꫞ 𝙵𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚞 ꫞༺

• The critters are basically all controlled by catnap during the day, But at night, he doesn't really control them anymore, he just gives some free will for them at the end of the day

• Avery is the only one that catnap can't really control, mainly because Avery is still haunted by that thing, and he can't really have two people trying to take control of him-

• Bobby is always making sure her friends are well, And she's willing to take care of them if they're sick

• They each have their own rooms, just like in the amazing digital circus

• They all have their own color scheme, such Dogday being warm colors and Catnap being colors related to purple and black

• They have their own areas related to their hobbies and that stuff, Hoppy and Kicken share an area because they're both sporty and that stuff

• The closed off areas are usually covered with large stickers, pieces of paper, cardboard, etc.

• All the closed off areas Usually lead to Catnap's room

• Among catnaps walls, you can see all the dead players that have actually played the game and lost

༻꫞ About Y / N! ꫞༺

• They are Genderfluid

• In the real world they're around 16

• They're generally curious, always trying to find ways to open up the restricted areas

• Outside of the game, They have a younger brother named Rowan, who just went missing...

• They are based off of your favorite animal and fav color, Of course because they are self-insert OC's!

• They do tend to enjoy the weirdcore aesthetic, as well as other aesthetics related to it

• They enjoy playing games, and exploring!

༻꫞ Location names ꫞༺

• Main area / Lobby

~ Inhabited by all the critters, each of them giving their own little spin on the lobby, safe to say, it's bright and colorful with each of the critters' drawings / twists

~ Has doors leading to different areas, each of them having a sign above them

• Medical room

~ Inhabited by Bobby Bearhug

~ Has so much medical stuff, but also very colorful, mainly colors related to red and white

• Classroom

~ Inhabited by Bubba Bubbaphant

~ there are different areas of the classroom that represent different classes, such as science, social studies, and math

• Hangout

~ Inhabited by Dogday

~ It has a mainly warm color scheme, as well as a bright and happy atmosphere

• Outside

~ Inhabited by Hoppy Hopscotch and Kicken Chicken

~ has lots of physical activities, like running, playing hopscotch, tag, etc.

• Kitchen

~ Inhabited by Picky Piggy

~ Has a lot of things related to cooking, like pots and pans, as well as a bunch of recipe books, each for a different food category and different ingredient categories

• Art room

~ Inhabited by Craftycorn

~ Similar to the classroom, But with much more artsy stuff, like paint and canvases, it also has a bunch of pictures hung up on the wall, seemingly the things the characters made

• Therapy room

~ Inhabited by Avery Antelope

~ Has a calm and quiet atmosphere, as well as more neutral / dull colors, more calming colors as well, as well as those chairs you see in therapy rooms as well-

• Catnap's room

~ Inhabited, of course, by Catnap

~ It has a map of the entire place, as well as some dolls of the critters, all except Avery and you, the walls are also aligned with avatars of different people who played the game...

• The Void

~ Not Inhabited by anyone

~ a quiet place, almost all sound is absorbed, depending on whether it's day or night, it's either white or black, and everything there is floating

༻꫞ Voice lines! ꫞༺

Dogday ☀️ -

☀️: *When you first appear in the Lobby* Oh hello player! Welcome to the lobby! Name's Dogday! You?

☀️: *when you introduce yourself* Ohh! Pretty name! Would you like me to show you around?

Bobby Bearhug ❤️ -

❤️: *when you first enter the medical room, where she's organizing things* Hm? Oh hello there sweet pea! Do you need anything? *You ask her who she is* Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Bobby Bearhug! What about you sweetie?

❤️: *When you introduce yourself* Oh what a wonderful name! I hope you don't mind me calling you N / n! (Nickname), do you?

Hoppy Hopscotch ⚡ -

⚡: *When you first enter outside and decide to talk to her first, she's just running around* Huh? Oh hey newbie! What are you doing here? Oh, by the way, I'm Hoppy Hopscotch, what's ya name, newbie?

⚡: *When you introduce yourself* Oh! Nice name, anyway, I'ma go back to running now, see you later newbie!

Kicken Chicken ⭐ -

⭐: *When you first enter outside and decide to talk to him first, He's just waxing a surface for him to skate on his skateboard* Hm? Who are you?

⭐: *When you introduce yourself* oh, cool name! I'm Kicken Chicken, would you like to skate with me?

Bubba Bubbaphant 💡 -

💡: *When you first enter the classroom and decide to talk to him while he's reading* Hm? Hello (insert one of the smiling Critters), did you need anything? Oh wait you aren't them ... Hello, I'm Bubba Bubbaphant, who might you be?

💡: *When you introduce yourself* Well, nice to meet you Y/n, If you have any questions, please ask me, alright?

Picky Piggy 🍎 -

🍎: *When you walk in the kitchen and find picky reading her recipe book* Oh hello! Are you new here? I haven't seen you around here before, oh, by the way, I'm Picky Piggy!

🍎: *When you introduce yourself* Nice name! If you want I could make something for you? Also, how is your day so far?

Craftycorn 🎨-

🎨: *When you first walk into the art room, where you find crafty drawing* Oh! Hi! Welcome to the art room! I'm Craftycorn! You?

🎨: *When you introduce yourself* oooh! Your name is so pretty!!! Anyway, if you want, we can paint together!

Avery Antelope † -

†: *when you enter the therapy room, where Avery is just staring in a mirror, and you make a noise that scares him* Oh! Uhh... Hello! Wh-Who might you be?

†: *when you introduce yourself* oh, nice to meet you Y/n.. I'm Avery, Is there anything you would like to talk about?

Catnap 🌙 -

🌙: *When you first enter his room after finally getting the cardboard off of the restricted area door* ... I've been expecting you Y/n... My name is Catnap, no need to introduce yourself

🌙: *When you try to run* Well, off you go little puppet... Just know, I'm always watching...

༻꫞ Their nicknames for you! ꫞༺

Dogday - Sunny, Sunnyside, Daylight, Cloudless

Bobby Bearhug - Sweetheart, Sweet pea, Honey, Dear, lovely, Cub

Hoppy Hopscotch - Zippy, Skippy, Hopster, Hopscotch

Kicken Chicken - Man, dude, bro, Clover

Bubba Bubbaphant - Student, Class clown, Teachers pet (In a good way), Friend

Picky Piggy - Buddy, Spice, Strawberry, Pepper

Craftycorn - Artsy, Painters buddy

Avery Antelope - Dear friend, buddy, Lucky

Catnap - Puppet, Doll, Ragdoll, Seams

Anyways, that's all for this AU idea, if you want more, please let me know!

#ppt #smiling critters #au idea #poppy playtime #smiling critters poppy playtime #catnap #au #Missing Stitch AU

[therosebunpost]

Oh to be Steddie's crafty GF~!

So, im touching on this topic in my Steve x Manic Pixie Dream couple story, of course, but I just wanna take a moment to gush about this idea.

Like, making things for them would be lit. My first thought is making Sports merch for Steve!! Shirts, hats, shorts, whatever. You either hand dye it to match the team colors or upcycle already existing things to add some personality to it.

Oh!! And upcycling his old clothes! Bet, you take some of his old polos and make dresses out of them by adding fabric to it! I think he'd love seeing you walk around knowing that shirt used to be his once upon a time. You just look so cute, and he'll even buy a new matching polo. (Listen, Steve feels like the type of dude who would 100% be down for matching things. I just feel it in my bones.)

Personally, I headcanon that Steve isn't very artistic. Not that he doesn't get it or he doesn't like it, no. It's just, he's never really felt the need to pursue it. He'll join in on activities involving crafts, but he's more interested in the social aspect rather then the craft itself. Likes watching others be creative and supporting them in doing so!! He loves watching you and Eddie in your elements, offering support and opinions when he can but ultimately just vibing.

Speaking of our dear Metalhead, craft buddies!!! You can not convince me that man hasn't got a crafty bone in his body, because he absolutely does! Now, I feel like Eddie is the embodiment of those cross stitch/embroidered pieces where you expect some wholesome, grandmotherly quote but instead its "This isn't a whore house, its a whore home." Or he'd 100% be the one who makes something vaguely (lets face it, theres no subtly) phallic or vaginal shaped. My dude is putting dicks, butts, boobs and coochie where he can, if he can.

That aside, I do think he's very artistic and actually does have things to say with that talent. Be it music, his writing, or any art medium you'd think he'd pick up. Sure, there's goofy stuff, but mixed in are some deeper meanings. Messages about the world and his life. I also think that stuff is really good. He puts a lot of effort into it, even the joke stuff. Hell, especially the joke stuff because "obviously you gotta make the boobs sit correctly or else the whole bit is thrown off, Steve!" (Steve reacting to that art just sounds so funny to me. He's supportive but also how can they bring anyone over anymore when there's a painting of a weed leaf hanging over the couch, or the goofy art of butts in the bathroom???) Also, I do think Eddie would happily make you both things. In fact, thats his love language. He's written you both songs, made patches for clothes, has even helped you in making custom Sports merch for Steve. Beyond just crafts, I also think he likes fixing things. (Even if Steve tells him he'll just buy a new one, Eddie likes seeing if he can fix it.)

Okay i think I got on a Eddie craft rant right there, but!! Back to you!! So, I imagine you've helped Eddie make props for campaigns, screen printed shirts for Corroded Coffin, and Hellfire, and also just thing's he likes. Custom band merch, book merch, all the merch!

As for your own crafts for yourselves, they love seeing what you come up with! If you make clothes, they absolutely want to see them. If you make jewelry, they admire it on you all the time. If you do something else, like crochet or knit, they love watching your hands as you work with the yarn. If you cook or bake, you bet your ass that they want to eat it, whatever it is. Steve is just so in awe of your ability to create something out of thin air. Eddie is constantly inspired and finds a muse in both you and Steve.

Just, being the crafty GF of them sounds nice~

#thebunspeaks #stranger things #steve harrington x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #fluffybunnycorner #steve harrington #stranger things hc #eddie stranger things #steve stranger things #steddie x reader #steddie

[starswallowingsea]

I have been thinking about what types of notions and things the craft dorm (what I've been calling the Shu/Izumi/Kuro/Mao dorm) would have in their respective kits and ended up making some collages with my thoughts. In order it's Shu, Izumi, Kuro, and Mao. Longer explanation below the cut.

Shu:

Since he canonically makes lace I put all sorts of different lace making tools on his. In the english server it got translated as crochet and crochet lace can be absolutely gorgeous and it's pretty portable so it makes sense, hence the steel hooks. The other lace making tools are bobbins and a bobbin pillow and a tatting shuttle. While tatting is the "lesser" form of lace making compared to crochet and bobbins, it's by far the most portable as the thread is wound around the shuttle and to me Shu would probably do tatting on the plane to/from Japan and France. Also included for him are pretty generic sewing notions, your pins and pincushion, scissors, a needle and thread, t-pins, and beeswax. T-pins can be used to block the lace as well, and the beeswax is for hand sewing. Fun fact but if you run your thread over beeswax a few times before starting to sew it'll help strengthen your thread and prevent it from splitting! Shu also heavily prefers working with natural fibers over synthetic.

Izumi:

Guy absolutely uses DPNs (double pointed needles) for his knitting, at least when it comes to socks and hats. I believe in some of the examples of his knitting we've seen he has done cabling so a cable stitch holder is there as well, though I can imagine he does it without it too if it gets lost. He also has a ball winder and I wish I had thought to put a swift on here too but like Shu, he prefers to get natural fibers over synthetic and hand dyed wool is great but it comes in hanks which areeeeeee hard to work with so a swift and ball winder would be necessary for him. Also included are more t-pins, a blocking board, stitch markers, and yarn needles.

Kuro:

To me, Kuro is the type of guy to make scrap quilts with left over fabric from the outfits he makes for his friends (and also out of like old shirts his sister has grown out of), so he has a huge scrap fabric pile he's constantly thinking about what type of blocks to make them into. I feel like he'd also make his own appliques for these quilts and would use basting spray to hold those down, obviously. Also the type of guy who just carries spare buttons on him in case of an emergency. Also has a seam ripper, scissors (thread, fabric), a tailor's measuring tape, and a cutting board.

Mao:

I know he doesn't really craft but to me? He's a crocheter. He tried knitting once and failed very badly but crochet (in my opinion at least) is a lot easier to grasp for beginners and I think he made the dorm a few dish cloths at first but mostly makes amigurumis now of his favorite manga characters, as well as little toys for his friends, hence the safety eyes. Probably works more with synthetic fibers due to ease of accessibility and variety of colors, though he tries not to buy too much of the same color unless he knows what it'll be used for. Also has stuffing, yarn needles, stitch markers, and a little crochet hook carrying case.

General Notes:

There were some things I didn't think to add until after I had already finished all of these collages, and some things that were things I thought everyone would have. To start, Shu would obviously also have a blocking board for his lace blocking, and as mentioned earlier Izumi would have a swift. Shu probably also has a swift and ball winder or just borrows Izumi's when he buys anything heavier than thread for crochet (which isn't often so I'm leaning more towards borrowing). Kuro would also have a bar of beeswax for the same reason as Shu, as well as maybe a thimble? Though I suppose it depends on how much he cares about his fingers being callused from the needle. Shu has a thimble. I also think all four of them would have some sort of project bag, whether it's just an old backpack or something a bit more expensive, they all have something that allows them to take their crafts on the go.

Anyway that's all I had but please tell me your thoughts if you want :3

#shay speaks #enstars #ensemble stars #shu itsuki #izumi sena #kuro kiryu #mao isara #ensemble stars headcanons #enstars headcanons #i want to get a tatting shuttle :( i know how to make nets though with a shuttle and spacer #tatting lace can look really beautiful if you know what you're doing please look up some examples of it #ragh. anyway. i'm gonna stop myself from going off on too much of a tangent rn #i <3 crafting

[pocketsizedquasar]

Hi! First of all I wanted to thank you for the posts you've made about the racism in the TMA canon, especially in regards to the handling of Annabelle, Daisy, and Basira as characters. There were some things that always felt off to me about canon but since I'm white I didn't have much experience at putting together all the pieces. You've really helped. The idea you had of switching Basira and Daisy for Julia and Trevor is so cool too!

Anyway, it's not your job to teach me so you obviously don't have to answer this if you don't have the inclination or energy to do so. I was wondering something about the fandom racism you often write about. You've given examples of how fandom makes Jon ambiguously brown and Martin white based on (flawed) interpretations of canon personalities. I get that part, but besides it I haven't really spotted any other racism that isn't already in canon. Obviously there's additional instances of fandom racism here that I simply can't spot yet. So I'm mostly wondering if you could give any tips on how to see it? Like are there any specific tropes in TMA fanfiction, fanart, or fan analysis that are especially bad? I would hate to unknowingly hurt people with my own work.

As I said before, you can disregard this ask if you don't want to answer. That’s totally ok. Take care

i typed out a whole response to this and tumblr ate it; i'm going to try and remember everything i said aslfjsdjkjfa

anyway hi!! thank you for the question! definitely a lot to consider here.

in my experience, the thing with fandom racism is that it's often (though not always) hard to see in individual instances, but more something i notice in patterns and overall trends with how diff characters get treated. it's very insidious in this way, and it allows perpetrators of fandom racism to shrug off specific instances of it happening because it's not that big of a deal, you're making this about race, etc etc

fandom racism is most often visible in the treatment of white characters vs nonwhite characters (in the case of tma or other non-visual, whether that race is canon or fanon). it looks like characters of color getting called "dumb" and "stupid" more often than their white counterparts, even in the face of canon evidence to the contrary. it looks like characters of color getting shafted, ignored, or even outright villainized because they get in the way of a ship between white characters. it looks like fandoms being more than willing to write nuance, backstory, and personality into white characters when it isn't there, but never afford the same grace to characters of color, or even actively ignore existing characterization of POC in favor of focusing solely on expanding on their white faves. or excusing white characters for the same actions they villify characters of color for.

(obviously, there are more overt instances of fandom racism, but it doesn't seem like that's what you're asking about, so we'll stick with stuff like this for now)

i'm far from the first to talk about or notice these issues; there are many folks out there who've dedicated years of work and study into documenting and discussing fandom racism. stitch and saathi are two that come to mind off the top of my head, but there are many more.

an example of this from the ATLA fandom is how often I've seen sokka get characterized as "dumb" or the "himbo" of the group, when he is canonically the "plans" guy/the team strategist, and literally invents multiple complex machines over the course of the show. every character in ATLA get their dumb, silly, funny moments, but sokka, the visibly brown man of the group, is the one who constantly gets reduced to only that being a defining character trait. again, despite canon evidence to the contrary.

that's the thing, i think: it's fine to call someone dumb for a specific decision or say they did something stupid. ur not inherently racist for calling a character who happens to be nonwhite dumb. but are you reducing that to be their defining trait?

in TMA, fanon racism looks like a lot of things. it looks like people bending over backwards to create headcanon and backstory for minor white (often male) characters who really don't have all that much (og!elias, michael shelley), while completely ignoring the complex and dynamic characters of color (salesa, oliver, annabelle).* it looks like people widely depicting jon as (ambiguously) brown and then regularly referring to him as dirty, stupid, "feral," being unable to take care of himself, pathetic, etc etc.** or people comparing a jon they've portrayed as brown to animals, especially rats (genuinely, the number of times i've seen that specific comparison is insane). it looks like Tim getting broadly cast as East Asian and also broadly reduced to "dumb flirty sexual himbo" as his only character traits, even though he canonically is very intelligent (nothing wrong with being flirty or sexual, but when that is all that tim is allowed to be, that's a problem). it looks like people making excuses for characters who are killer cops, agents of a deeply violent and racist state institution. it looks like people highlighting and exacerbating the more "monstrous" traits (physical or figurative) of a brown jon while simultaneously flattening a white martin to be more pure, good, and "human" (give me more monster martin designs it's hot i prommy). or people not taking the time and care to draw their characters of color properly. it looks like people ignoring that characters like jonah/elias, daisy, basira, and peter are white supremacists. etc etc.

generally, i think it's just good to be mindful of how you think and talk about characters of color vs white characters. it's good to be aware of what your gut reaction is to a nonwhite character (canon or fanon) vs a white character in the same situation. how much agency are these characters given? are they allowed to exist as whole people, or reduced to fun memey tropes? which tropes are getting assigned to which characters? i guess insofar as tips on how to see this stuff, I don't really know how to answer that question because for me, as someone directly affected by it, i just... see it, yaknow? but these are some patterns to be on the lookout for. i think in general, just being mindful and aware of the fact that there is a discrepancy between the way fandom talks about, engages with, and treats it's nonwhite characters and white characters will go a long way to spotting those discrepancies in action.

anyway, genuinely hope this helps! thank you for asking. I hope you're doing well!

*because i always have to clarify this, it's not a bad thing to like these characters. or to headcanon things about them. but it's frustrating to see fandom over and over again latch onto white male characters -- some of whom, like og!elias, are deliberately written to be boring (literally guys the whole point of elias is that he's a privileged white dude and that's it) -- while simultaneously refusing to engage with characters of color or offer them the same grace.

**again, nothing wrong w making jokes about characters being dumb or poor pathetic little meow meows etc etc. that's fine (in moderation). i find those funny! but like. there is certainly a line where people take it too far and completely strip POC (in this case Jon) of their agency, and act like they are completely helpless and incapable. often doubled with them needing a white character to come "save" or fix thim (in this case, often martin).

#fandom racism #fandom crit #fandom critical #tma #the magnus archives #tma crit #the magnus archives crit #quasartalks #ask #hearkheark #racism #long post

[nunezs-stuff]

Yuutsu dark facts and sweet facts

She can't understand her emotions sometimes and she tends to question if she's real

Because of what her mother did in the high expectations of both her mother and father and put her in a state of panic whenever she would fail because she would think that she is only a useless doll

That's why dressing the way she wants is therapy for her

Her kittens were the only therapy she had before she was free from her parents' expectations

The most noticeable thing about her is the way she dresses and how she doesn't have a certain style that she follows she just dresses however she likes if she wants to dress Gothic she'll dress Gothic if she wants to dress in Lolita she'll dress she will dress and Lolita

Because of the facility in her small business she earns quite a lot of money so she sits aside a bunch of money for the things she wants and for the things she needs

But when she grows out of her clothes she usually either gives them away or stitches somewhere they're larger

Since she has a lot of clothes she has a lot of wrecks and hangers and a big closet

She's no hoarder she understands that there's a limit to how much she can buy so she organizes them a lot and picks up the things that don't fit her and the things that do fit her

So her closet will be clean and organized

She has a lot of cute clothes that she is very grateful for since as a child she was never allowed to wear those types of things so now she wears all the cute clothes she wants

And repairs the childhood she never got

Whenever she's angry she always has this expression

It really shows how much anger can build up in someone before they pop

Although she doesn't like holding on to it because to her it's exhausting but sometimes she just can't let it go

And either teach us the person a lesson or let someone else do it for her she's not an evil person she usually has a reason for what she does

Her hair is a soft pink

But since she uses her ability called pink creation she can permanently dye her hair pink whatever shade she wants

Her eyes are different story her eyes are pink with a little bit of purple

She likes to wear cute stockings or tights or even socks with cute Ruffles

The colors are mostly consumed of light pink white or black

She prefers to wear these types of shoes since most of the people she knows are taller than her she isn't short though but she does like to wear these shoes because they are comfortable to walk in and especially the Mary Janes

#xbox live #yui komori aesthetic #youtube #yandere oc #storytelling #where did my memories go #is this the start of a new friendship #soundcloud #spotify #sato matsuzaka #kanato sakamaki x reader

[knit-with-it]

Do you know resources that explain how to knit in simple terms? I can't understand spacially what's happening with most demonstrations online and your blog seems very knowledgeable!

Well I haven't checked the basics in about 10 years but I can take a look and try to compile some stuff!

Probably a large amount of info under the cut!

So when learning to knit the basics, there are probably 4 things you need to learn.

Cast on

Basic stitches - Knit / Purl

Cast off

Weaving in ends

Knowing the basic stitches at this point is best because even though there are a ton of variations, most of them (if not all of them) are just alterations of those 2 (ex. K2tog = knit 2 stitches together).

Cast On

I find this video is good at explaining the slip knot in a simple way, and one variation of the cast on method. The creator goes very slow and it's very easy to view what they are doing.

This video is also really good at going over a bunch of different cast on methods, as well as talking a bit about the down sides to them!

If videos aren't your thing and you'd prefer pictures, this post is also really helpful!

Basic Stitches - Knit and Purl

This video shows a pretty good explanation on the basic knit (K) stitch.

And this one is good at slowly explaining the Purl (P) stitch.

I'd recommend this channel: Sheep and Stitch. The woman who does the tutorials goes slow and the videos are bright and easy to follow (in my opinion)

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My Notes:

For knitting and purling the most important thing is to know where your "working yarn" is.

Knit stitches have the working yarn "in the back" meaning it's on the side of the work that isn't close to you: the back.

Purl stitches have the working yarn "in the front" meaning it's on the side of the work that IS close to you: the front.

*I think it's also important to note that what you see as a classic "knit" pattern isn't just straight knitting. What we call stockinette stitch is one row knit, and the next row purl. To knit all rows creates "garter" stitch which is a bunch of half loops.

Stockinette Stitch (when done, the edges of this WILL curl by nature and to get rid of that you need to block the work)

Garter Stitch (made by knitting every row)

Cast Off

This is the easiest and best cast off method in my opinion. I use this for all of my projects because it's easy and if your tension is consistent, then the final project looks really clean!

*There are a few different methods for casting off by for beginners I recommend starting with this one unless the pattern you are using calls for a specific method.

Weaving in the Ends

Once you've cast off there are going to be threads of yarn leftover. It's very important NOT to just cut these, as the work will probably just unwind itself over time. But weaving in changes depending what the work looks like. To properly hide those threads, knowing how to do it with different work types is important.

Here's how to weave in Garter Stitch

Here's how to weave in (the back) stockinette stitch

Here's how to weave in seed stitch

There is also a 'magic' weaving technique for stockinette stitch that I actually picked up a while ago on Tumblr, but my silly self didn't save the post after learning it so I'll update this post if I ever find it again. (if anyone knows what I'm talking about please link it!)

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This is the absolute basics you need to know! I'll also try to link some beginner projects that seem fun and easy to follow.

Projects

Here is a page with 10 simple beginner patterns including hats, dish clothes, little hearts, scarfs, and bookmarks.

Here is a blanket pattern that uses smaller squares. It's listed for "upper beginners" but once you get the first 2 squares done I think it's a perfect blanket pattern since you can use many colors!

Here is a link to a ravelry page with 60 simple knit patterns, but I personally think some of these (if not most of these) look a bit difficult.

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I could keep listing projects, but the thing about getting into knitting is you should make what you WANT to make, not what's easy.

My first project was a huge blanket I made by just knitting the most simple squares and sewing them together. My mother attempted to make a scarf, but didn't have the patience for it and hated it, so she stopped knitting.

My recommendation is to think of what you want to make, think about the time required for that (many projects take much longer than you think) and decide if it's for you.

The websites you are most likely to find patterns are:

Ravelry: This is the Knitting/Crochet website where you can find pretty much any pattern. (Free/Paid patterns available) *you do have to make a free account to save/download/view patterns*

Pinterest: Pinterest is a great website for finding patterns and having more recommended for you. The issue with this one is being able to distinguish between knitting and crochet, as sometimes the tags are not accurate and searching for a knitting pattern instead gives you a bunch of crochet ones. (I'm not salty about this)

Personal Blogs: Searching through google is another good way to find some creators who keep their patterns on their blogs, but pinterest and ravelry will likely be easier resources for this

If anyone else has any websites or resources they'd like to link, please do!

Good luck creating and I hope this is enough resources to help you get started!

#knitting #knit #crafts #craft #ask #resource #info #tutorial #artists on tumblr

[masonshaws]

15 people 15 questions

thanks @girlfriendline @giveemgreef @tblueger <333

1. are you named after anyone?

i am not! my middle name was an homage to my mom's grandparents but i have since changed it and my parents are blessedly allergic to otherwise naming anything after anybody

2. when was the last time you cried?

few days before christmas

3. do you have kids?

no and i do not want to. i have one fur baby (that i co-parent with my parents lmao) though as you all well know (scout my baby boy <3)

4. what sports do you play/have you played?

played kids' baseball/softball until i was like 10/11 bc i was constantly in the outfield and nobody can pitch until you get to like. high school. so it was boring and i hated it so i quit. i was on dance team for a while until i had to drop it bc recital dates kept being on the same days as school band concerts. was in marching band throughout high school, which counts bc i was a percussionist and had to lug around those heavy drum harnesses

5. do you use sarcasm?

a ridiculous amount. if we also count like comedic lying in this i accidentally convinced a coworker that there were only three seasons of spongebob doing that whole pretending that only the good parts of a show exist. such a shame spongebob ended after season 3. there's no more of it! just too bad

6. what’s the first thing you notice about people?

hair probably

7. what’s your eye color?

brown! medium tending towards dark

8. scary movies or happy endings?

while i love gothicness and gothyness i am a Known Weenie and certain types of gore literally make me feel faint. like the finale of the terror s1 made me a little faint and gave me the sweats and i had to fully pause the episode and lay on the floor for a while. so i guess categorically happy endings based on that. if a scary movie isn't super gory though i'll go for it

9. any talents?

i’m very performing arts inclined! i play piano, sing, dance, and act (was a theatre major in college). i memorize things quickly if i set my mind to it, am great at navigating, have great pitch memory (like i can be exactly or near-exactly on pitch when singing something i’ve heard before even without backing accompaniment. this unfortunately drives me crazy when people post pitch-shifted versions of songs and i can tell they’re off. bearer of the curse), decent stage combatant, good crowd weaver, and somehow bear the ability to unintentionally come off as intimidating to basically everyone i’ve ever met

10. where were you born?

iowa, usa

11. what are your hobbies?

i'm something of a gamer in my spare time. basically only solo joints though i'm not like gamer nhlers that play like. league of legends or fortnite or counterstrike. i've recently joined a community band and a bar trivia team (with my old middle school choir teacher lmao. he's a homie), i write fic every once in a while, read, dance around the house, go for walks when it's not cold, snuggle my pup, and obviously watch hockey. i keep telling myself i'm going to learn how to sew but trying to find beginner projects for men types is fucking dire and i keep not going out to get fabric for the pirate blouse i keep wanting to make rip

12. do you have any pets?

ah there's a separate question for this. scout, my yellow lab baby boy whose breeder had a confederate flag up in his barn when we got him (we saved you buddy). have some pictures

13. how tall are you?

5'5". short king territory

14. favorite subject in school?

i was a band/choir bitch. probably followed by english (literature). i liked basically all of it but phys ed though fuck that class i hate distance running it gives me a stitch in my side and you have to run a mile at least twice a semester (fuck you presidential fitness test). on top of all the other running they make you do. loved when they just did games though. matball my beloved

15. dream job.

actor, either stage or voice. unfortunately i do not want to live where the big voice acting studios are located and regional stage acting is kind of limited unless you go all the way out to chicago, which i tried for a couple of months before multiple breakdowns told me i should probably be closer to home. i enjoy being a librarian though :)

tagging @get-hockeyed-idiot @amandaleveille @wildaboutmnhockey @girldewar @letkirillfight @yes-perwallstedt if you guys haven't done it yet and also anyone else who wants to

#tag game