Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted – time gets away too quickly! This weekend my son had a solar system birthday party. You may recall that he had a “space” party last year at this time, but in his mind “solar system” and “space” are different somehow.
Zippered Pencil Case
For the favors this year, I made the kids zippered pencil cases. They can use them to carry school supplies and other little treasures. There was a bunch of rocketship and planet fabric left over from last year (since I didn’t have time to make anything except an apron). The zippered cases are fast and easy to make and hopefully I will get a tutorial posted on them in the next few weeks.
Zipper Pull
The zipper pulls were some space themed charms from Oriental Trading Company. They are attached to the zippers with some lanyard hooks from Wal-mart (found in the children’s craft section). In addition to the charms, I bought a whole bunch of space things from Oriental Trading Company – it was basically like a solar system party in a box.
Solar System Party Favor
If spend about $50 on one of the value party packs (they have many different themes) you can get everything you need! The “space” party theme included an inflatable solar system, cup/plates/napkins, 3 craft projects, 3 party favor items, and cardboard decorations of space things. All in all a good deal and a huge hit with the elementary school crowd.
I Love You!
My son had a great time and was so happy with the favors I made for his friends. He made me a special note with his drawing tablet to thank me! I love the fancy lettering he used.
For those of you who don’t know what I a do for a living, you may be surprised to find out that I make videogames. I’ve been working in the industry since 1996 and have worked on all kinds of titles for PC, Xbox 360, PS3, DS, and many more. Every year, there is a huge convention called E3 where all the game companies show off their gaming line up for the coming year. I’ve been to almost every E3 since I started working in the game industry and always have a ton of fun!
E3 Convention - Los Angeles - 2011
Since my day job directly impacts how often I can blog on Keep It Thimble, I thought it would be fun to show you a few pictures from this year’s convention. I was in Los Angeles all last week and was pretty much in meetings or on the show floor for three days straight. Needless to say, I’ve had my fill of games for awhile.
E3 2011 - Skyrim Billboard
Here is a pretty amazing billboard for a game that will be coming out this fall. I can’t even imagine how long it took to install this billboard, or how they even figured out how to get it this large in the first place.
Another fun part of E3 is seeing all the people walking around in costumes. For example, here I am with two of my Star Wars buddies. I also saw Cooking Mama, and some other game characters, and zombies! In addition, this is a great place to spot celebrities. While there I saw Hulk Hogan, Verne Troyer (Mini-me from the Austin Powers movies), Gene Simmons, and Hiro (from Heroes).
E3 2011 - Rage (yes, those are zombies)
However, no matter how much fun I had seeing what new games are coming out, I couldn’t wait to get home to my sewing room. I have some exciting projects planned for this summer, including a few video tutorials. Let me know if there is something specific you’d like a tutorial on.
My son enjoys all kinds of creatures, both big and small. A few weeks ago he asked me if we could make a stuffed paramecium. He learned about these one-celled organisms from watching the “Cat in the Hat” (proof that television IS educational 🙂 ). For those of you who need a refresher in biology, here is a picture of what one of these critters looks like:
Diagram of Paramecium
As you can see, it is a simple oval, with some colored shapes inside the body, and a row of little hairs around the edge – simple enough to make with some fleece, felt, and pom-pom trim! This is a great project for you to do with your children since there are so many things they can do in the process. I didn’t take photos of the actual project in process, but the tutorial is fairly straightforward (I hope!).
Perry the Paramecium - Standing
To make one Paramecium toy you need:
1/2 yard fleece
Craft felt in assorted colors
3 yards pom-pom trim
1 bag Fiberfill
Google Eyes / Buttons (optional)
1. Starting by drawing 10 – 12 different shapes on the felt. Use a variety of colors and shapes to add interest. The shapes should be various sizes ranging from 2 x 3″ to 6″ x 6″.
2. Cut out the shapes and set aside. I found the shapes to be the most fun for my son. He drew and cut out all the shapes by himself. The bonus was that this kept him busy for about 2 hours (off and on) which gave me time to sew some other project.
3. Take 1/2 yard of fleece and cut it into two equal-sized rectangles (it’s easiest just to cut where the fabric was folded on the bolt). These will be the front and back of the paramecium.
4. Take one fleece rectangle and arrange the felt shapes on it. Again, my son did this step. He took each piece and placed it where he wanted on the creature. Be sure to leave about 1 – 2 inches seam allowance around the perimeter. Pin the shapes to the fleece.
Paramecium - Ready to Sew the Shapes
5. Using your machine, stitch the shapes onto the fleece. Stitch on top of the shapes (basically like raw-edge applique). Since this was a toy, I just stitched around the inside edge of each shape, leaving the edges of each shape raw. Don’t be a perfectionist about this, just get them stitched down securely. For example, I stitched through the center of each star point instead of trying to stitch around the perimeter of the star.
6. Take the pom-pom trim and loosely arrange in the shape of an oval around the perimeter of the fleece rectangle (the one with the shapes). You will have excess fabric at the corners. Caution – do not actually cut the fleece into the shape of an oval, this makes it harder to stitch together later on. Instead, just shape the trim into an oval shape and pin around the edges. Make sure the pom-pons are pointing towards the center of the fleece.
7. From the front, stitch around the pom-pom trim with your machine. You can use a basting stitch to complete this step more quickly.
8. Take the second piece of unembellished fleece and place it RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER with the piece you just finished embellishing. Pin around the edges.
9. Turn the piece over (pins and all) so you are now looking at the wrong side of the piece with all the felt shapes stitched onto it. With pins, clearly indicate where you will start and stop the seam in order to have a 6 inch opening for turning and stuffing (pick the center of one of the long sides).
10. You should be able to clearly see the stitching line around the perimeter that is securing the pom-poms. Using this seam as a guide, stitch the front and back together just inside this seam (about 1/8″ seam allowance). Again, no need to be a perfectionist about this. Remember to leave 6″ open for turning and stuffing.
11. Trim corners so that you now have a nice oval shape. Turn the paramecium inside out.
12. Stuff with fiberfill. This will use an entire bag of fiberfill! Again, kids can participate in this step and handle the stuffing themselves.
13. Once stuffed, whipstitch the opening closed by hand.
14. Optional: Glue on google eyes or sew on button eyes. My son opted to draw some eyes and mouth in the middle with a marker (can you see it in the picture?). However, he did mention he would like to sew on some buttons for eyes so you can see them better.
15. Name your new creature! My son called his “Perry.”
Keep it Thimble 