beetlegrass

SweaterScarf: Rust/Brown

 

It's always fun photographing the stuff you make outdoors. Beyond not wanting to look like a Bozo in front of the neighbors, there's the How-Do-I-Do-This-Without-Hammering-a-Nail-into-a-Perfectly-Good-Tree factor that must be considered. For this shot, I wound a loop of English ivy around the branch, and hung the coat hanger from that. All those years makin' stuff outta weeds as a kid is payin' off BIG TIME.

The ribbing on a brown sweater, upper left, is just one more way to get pattern & texture into a scarf.

Designs & images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

SweaterScarf: Sky Blue/Gray

Another project from last year that just needed a few finishing touches to officially be declared "DONE". This scarf is comprised of 6" squares of felted wool sweaters, sewn together and embellished with stitching.

I've never considered myself to be a "blue" person, but am so pleased with the way this scarf came out that I'm keeping it for myself. So there. I sometimes pin this together with a Sheriff's badge. People ask me if I'm the Sheriff. And they're serious. I tell them, yes, I am, and that there's been a big uniform shake-up in the Sheriff's Department. Kevlar? Pah! WOOL.

 

I try to showcase "fancy" sweater squares, like these Fair Isle ones, in areas that will be seen the most -- at the throat, and at the ends. It's like they say, "If ya got 'em, flaunt 'em."

Designs & images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Sheepish

A little embarrassed that I finished these puppets maybe a year ago (?) and never showed them -- decided it was high time I photographed them & slapped them up here.

The 2 sheep above are sporting doll sweaters, knit by my sister. Some adjustments to the length of the sweaters' arms had to be made, as finger puppet arms are much shorter than yer average doll arm. Tucking & stitching seemed to do the trick. I added some duplicate stitching to the sweater fronts to give a Fair Isle look. 

The sweaters on these 2 sheep were made from felted sweaters -- cut, folded, glued, stitched, etc. Will resort to any & all means of man-handling to make things work the way they're supposed-ta!

BTW, Linsey-woolsey is a strong, coarse fabric with a linen or cotton warp and a woolen weft. Origin late 15th cent.: from linsey, originally denoting a coarse linen fabric (probably from Lindsey, a village in Suffolk, England, where the material was first made) + WOOL + -sey as a rhyming suffix.

 

Above are the close-ups of the extra detail on 2 of the sweater fronts. The black stitching on the right was done with 1 strand of embroidery floss ... and a really sharp, thin needle.

The names, concepts & designs of these puppets & their stories are the property of Megan E. Jeffery. These images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Vermont

Spent 4 days in Vermont, cramming in all sorts of autumn-y goodness. First on the agenda was the Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival @ the Tunbridge Fairgrounds. A rainy rainy day, but what does that matter when there are woolen things to look at and a lamburger to consume? This is why umbrellas, hoods, and absorbent paper toweling were invented.

'F' is for fiber, fall, fog, and filling up your flip-flop with mud. (Poor shoe choice; my error.)

Border collie demos... in the distance is a sign that reads, "Danger Poison Ivy"... hmmm... eradicate the scourge, or make a sign? Easier to make a sign.

Spent $10.50 on my "habit" -- the hand-dyed wool (blue, red, yellow) will be fun to use as puppet hair, and am eager to try needlefelting with it.

It should really come as no surprise that the MEN are housed in the BEEF barn.

Went to Quechee Gorge the next day... maybe they should rename it "Quechee Gorge-OUS?"     

Oh, come on. You would have said it too.

   

Everywhere you look, there's tactile, textile inspiration.

Next went to the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) to look @ owls, hawks, etc. (Oh, joy! Oh, raptors!) Went to their talk/demo on "Falconry, the Sport of Kings". A grossness occurred when the lecturer, with hawk on arm, reached into her fanny pack to retrieve a dead mouse for him to eat. Ewww!!! How can ANYONE still be wearing a fanny pack???

We then went hiking @ Deer Leap, up the observation lookout trail. Here's a view from where we parked. The top of the white crag is where we ended up.

And here is the view from the crag, overlooking the Green Mountains and of course the road. Only butt-surfed once on the way down the hill. Am only a novice. Hope for a longer ride next time.

Tried to fit apple-picking in on the same day, but that's like shoving 10 pounds of autumn into a 5-lb. bag.

These images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

WIP: Head with Hair

Since the last time you saw this hand puppet head, I've added hair, eyebrows, freckles, and a bit more color to the lips.

To remind you of her origins:

1st step

2nd step

I started the hair off by fabric gluing on rust-colored roving, then needle-felting that into the overall shape. I thought that was going to be the complete 'look' after a night's worth of work. But the next morning, the hair just looked like a hat. You know how when some people dye their own hair, and it's just ONE shade, with light unable to bounce off of it, and it looks like a bad Halloween wig? Well, that's kinda how this looked, so I knew I had to add other colors to emulate real hair.

I did this by unraveling and pulling apart some variegated yarn, and needle-felting those pieces in. Took lots of time, because I was kinda making it up as I went along, but like the results of a Victorian/Edwardian hairdo with pink in the mix.

Above: same yarn! Now everything I make can live in harmony.

The back of her head looks like a baked good.

These designs & images are © Megan E. Jeffery.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 14th

François the French Bulldog would like to wish you a very...

He actually said that in French; I translated for you.

The name, concept & design of this puppet and his stories are the property of Megan E. Jeffery.
These images are © Megan E. Jeffery.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The name, concept & design of this puppet and his stories are the property of Megan E. Jeffery.
These images are © Megan E. Jeffery.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

WIP: Heads, Hands, & a Hook

Got the first round of painting done on the hand puppet parts this past weekend.

I say "first round" because more details will need to be added later on. 

Since the last time I showed these works-in-progress, I gessoed them, then painted on a layer of watered-down Burnt Umber acrylic (to give shadows, etc.). Then added the flesh colors with a combo of acrylics & gouache. "Dr. I've got a gouache in my side!"

Looking forward to figuring out the rest of these characters.

These designs & images are © Megan E. Jeffery.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

WIP: Hand Puppet Heads & Hands

Lately I've been drawn to hand puppets. Been seeing them in puppet film shorts, at the flea market, and in a documentary about the artist Paul Klee, who made over 50 of them for his son.

I love making finger puppets, but there is so much more STUFF I want to be able to do, to be able to put into & onto the character, and all this requires a "bigger canvas". A hand puppet seems to  the perfect blend of "doll" and "actor", with an added theatrical benefit of movement in head AND hands. 

I wanted to make some. 

So I am. 

I wrapped a sheet (maybe 1 foot in length?) of aluminum foil around the thicker end of a tapered candlestick for the neck (to allow for finger space & cloth?), and lightly scrunched the remainder of the foil  into a head ball. 

At first I tried using a papier mache product that I had on hand to create the "skin". I had had much success with this method in the past when I'd made some Santa head ornaments.

For some reason, this time, the product was not cooperating, and fell off in sheets when I'd get a section done. Frustrating.

Then I remembered a Crayola product called Model Magic, which is easy to mold, is lightweight (avoid the Finger Fatigue that comes from using solid marble), dries within 24 hours, and can be painted, etc. It comes in a variety of colors, but I opted for white. I don't care for the uniformity that comes with a solid color -- too cheezy? too plastic-y? -- so I will use paint, etc. to get the look I want.

 

After these dry completely, I'll give them a coat of gesso to smooth out any transition between the blorb of a feature and the face/hand. Also, want a better "bed" for the paint to lie on. Don't know if this gesso step is required, but I'm a good one for adding unnecessary steps. It's what I do. It's who I am.

These hands were made by wrapping an armature of aluminum foil around the candlestick (the "wrists"), leaving about an 1.5" of foil up top -- the "fingers". To make these, snip into the foil 4 times for 5 fingers, & pull the thumb down into his rightful place. Gently pinch these foil fringes into finger shapes. Doing this gives the fingers more dimensionality, and makes them thinner -- remember that the Model Magic will add mass. Used the side of an Exacto knife to make creases, nails.

Foil is a good armature. It's cheap; it's easy to shape; it gets your basic shape made, which conserves your "skin" material.

These images are © Megan E. Jeffery.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Pillow Talking

Two more pillows with needle-felted family sayings to show.

The first has a little ditty my dad quotes a lot:

"When in trouble, or in doubt, run in circles, scream & shout."

It's dad's subtle way of saying, "Stop getting whipped up into a frenzy about NOTHING."

"Wuz you there, Charlie???" is something my paternal grandmother would say, and if you'd like to give it a whirl, narrowing your eyes aids in the delivery.

For a relatively short saying, there are 2 implied messages:

1. "What do YOU know about it, anyway?!?" 
2. "Back off!"    

This is like writing a family tell-all book. Using wool.

Craft items, concepts & images are © Megan E. Jeffery.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

WIP or ... Head Cozy™

Was working on another finger puppet for the Law Enforcement series, & thought it'd be great fun to slip it over the head of my nakey Captain Picard action figure. 

Who knows? Head Cozies™ just may be the wave of the toy future.

This image is © Megan E. Jeffery.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.