Landlocked Mermaid

Anyone else been using lockdown and all this extra time at home as an excuse to get crafty for presents? I have. My big box of clothes too pretty to throw out is slowly dwindling! But that is a good thing. As is the fact that I have been doing a lot of sewing. I am slowly getting better, stitches getting straighter, and projects more adventurous! Seriously, I made a dinosaur tail belt. I may have forgotten how circles work in the process, but it actually looks like a dinosaur tail. This craft post is not about the tail though. Sorry, I genuinely have no idea how I managed to make it and very much used the shape of the trousers I made it from to my advantage! Instead, I am sharing how to made a cute dice bag. I only call it a "dice bag" because two of the three people who received these are likely to use them to hold their dice collections. Due to the nature of the fabrics I used, I ended up making these three different ways. But the core principles remained the same. Plus, fr...

With all this extra time we have, it seems only right to dedicate some of it to crafting. For Christmas, I was gifted a delightful Make Your Own Mermaid felt kit by Groves Ltd - thank you Emma. I found myself with a free day and decided to have a go. The kit All the pieces were pre-cut and everything I needed had been provided. The best kind of craft project - the ones which do not rely on my cutting ability. The instructions were nice and simple, easy to follow. The only hiccough I really had was knowing how much thread I needed to use. It came with bundles of five threads and advised using two with the metal needle for detail but did not specify with the plastic needle and pre-punched holes. Inevitably, I tried both. Two threads worked fine throughout. 6. Sew on the hair. (Guess who forgot to take a photo!) I have to admit, I gave up on the plastic needle in the end. It kept bending and was difficult to punch through the existing hole. I ...

- Ursula from The Little Mermaid . It's Hallowe'en soon. Do you see where I am going with this? No? I'll be clear then, I am going as Ursula, badass sea witch, for Hallowe'en. Because, you know, she is scary to mermaids. Photo from a Buzzfeed article arguing that Ursula is actually a hero! I have been umming and aahhhing about my costume this year. I contemplated going as Rebecca Bunch from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend , as we have similar builds, hair, and wardrobe. But I figured that would mean I was just going as myself, effectively, just with a few more songs thrown in. While I love a good sing-song, I felt like there was something more creative I could do. And then it hit me. Ursula. She's badass, has a great villain song, and has a costume that shouldn't be too hard to replicate. I let Charis gut my wardrobe recently, so I have lots of fabrics to play with. I thought I still had a strap-less dress which I could just attached tentacles to, but...

One of the reasons why I am trying to get better at sewing is so that I do not have to rely on fast fashion and that disposable way of thinking. Oh, these jeans have a hole in them? Better bin them. No! While there are some items of clothing that once they have holes in them they become unwearable, but I am mostly thinking undies here and they definitely have a shelf life. But a perfectly wearable pair of jeans your chunky butt tore a hole in? Well, that's a different story. The original offending hole. And that is exactly what I was working with: an old pair of work jeans which went threadbare in the butt. (Naturally, I found this out midshift, when they finally gave way.) Not enough of my wardrobe actually fits me - my fluctuating weight makes things tight or loose, or weirdly both. But these jeans consistently fit me, hence why I wore them to work. The last thing I need with my hands full is a pair of droopy drawers. So while they have been officially retired and ...