Sewing

[altivo]

By hand. Not because I don't have several sewing machines here, but because I want more precise results than that. So, I'm assembling a new tail for Argos, sewing with blanket stitch overcast seams and doing it by hand. His old tail will be plumped up a bit and given to the story teller to wear.

Other costumey things to be completed: repair a torn seam in one boot, loosen the fur under his jaw, improve the neck to head interface joint, and add longer cuffs to the gloves. Most of this is fairly trivial except for the jaw fur. If necessary I'll take half or all of Tuesday off to get it done, since I have vacation and personal days available. In fact, I have an extra day because July 4 came on a Saturday and we did not close the day before.

Went to Sam's Club because Gary wanted a filing cabinet. He got that, and we replenished our supply of coffee beans (we like their beans better than the ones at the supermarkets.)

Watered plantlets. Took Tess out to the pasture. Made dinner. Mundane stuff. It was sunny and warm. We actually need some more rain: the creek is dry. But it won't do any good if it all comes in one huge deluge, and we need hay more right now than we need rain.

Just got a stack of additional photos from the dyeing session yesterday, haven't had time to download or sort through them, but I'll post more if they are interesting enough for non-fiber folk to appreciate them. Chances are at least one or two will measure up.

Comments

[rustitobuck.livejournal.com]

!

Maybe if I ever get around to working on fursuit stuff again, maybe I could ask you to show me how to sew by hand?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Sure, I'd be glad to show you. Sewing fur fabrics by hand is just like sewing real furs the way furriers do it. Mostly you need two stitches, the blanket stitch and the ladder stitch. I acquired some proficiency at doing it quickly back in the 80s when I designed and made teddy bears for sale.

[saythename.livejournal.com]

I thought sewing a suit up would be harder than
that. I did some horse tack stuff in the 80s
and leather is tuff stuff to "sew". Then again, a fursuit
is probably just abou the same density as a teddy bear
to be honest.

I still think thats skillful stuff.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Glove leather is pretty easy to sew. Harness or shoe leather is not. Obviously the toughness requirement varies. ;p

Fur fabric is easier to get a needle through than tanned hides are, yes. But the stitching and assembly techniques are similar for both.

Sewing a fursuit up requires a combination of skills drawn from several different realms. My plush toy design and construction techniques are valuable, of course. General garment construction also helps. Then there's a certain artistic perception required, both in three dimensions and two. Fortunately all of those can be acquired through practice, as long as you're motivated and have a reasonably good eye for detail.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Hehe, for me using the machine is the more accurate...my hand work is shall we say...rudimentary at best.

I thought you'd had a spell of wet weather?
*watches the plantlets with interest*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

We had a series of very heavy rainfalls in May and June that caused flooding and standing puddles all over. The last three weeks though have had only minimal rain in spite of being quite cloudy.