Tag: Self-drafted-ish

Kraken Chalk Bag

Intimidating(?) Kraken looking at you when I try to scale a wall.

While I might only boulder once or twice a year, my desire to own all the things means that I’ve been wanting to make a chalk bag for a good long while now. There are lots of examples out there of fun looking chalk bags and that was exactly what I had in mind. So I set out to find a suitable plush pattern to create a bag out of. It took me a while to find what I was looking for and in the end I went with the angry kraken. I had already purchased that pattern from CholyKnight/Sew Desu Ne (here) and made Brian the Derpy Kraken.

I made much use of the instructions from the ‘do it yourself’ chalk bag pattern by Edelrid for most of the proportions. Then the original Kraken bag was printed again on 130% scale. I chopped off the top, and redrew the sides to be a little bit straighter. I needed to be able to put my hand in it, so the opening had to be large enough. The spots were placed in slightly different locations and the side flaps(?) were also redrawn to fit the new proportions. The outside was light blue wellness fleece, the spots and other details are felt. The lining is black fleece and the stretchy blue closure fabric was some jersey. Some blue paracord for the closure and blue tape for the belt loops. His suckers are grey minky fleece.

It was very easy to put together, basically the same as Brian the original. The only difference was adding the lining and closure jersey. I was worried that overlapping the light blue to the inside would be too thick to sew through but that turned out to be fine. Because it’s so thick it really keeps its shape well and stays open. I did make one small change and that was to add some stitches to the middle of the underside to keep that from sagging too far down.

Hopefully, the corona situation eases up again and climbing will be possible so I can test out if he works in situ. I do smile every time I look up and I see him laying there, looking at me. So that’s at least something nice about this project.

House Bear

Made a cover sweater to fulfil my ultimate baby bear dreams.

My body temperature regulatory system is out of whack sometimes. That means that I’m cold, most of the time. You can regularly see me walking around the house in a second sweater. It’s large, beige, has thumb loops in the sleeves and a hood. It’s hideous but I love it. I decided recently that I needed another like it. Something fluffy, warm and preferably a little whimsical.

  • Original
  • New front
  • New back

So I put a mat on the floor that I could pin into, put some pattern paper on that and grabbed the original. I spread the sweater onto the paper and started drawing the edges and pinning the seams of the pieces. It took a while, but I eventually got all that I needed. I cut those pieces from a black fleece blanket and freehand cut some ears. The pocket bags were cut from an old discarded jersey top. I sewed everything together by treadle and got out the overlocker to finish all those seams. That last step was very relevant because this fabric sheds like you wouldn’t believe.

  • Bear ears
  • Thumb hole
  • Pocket inside

The thumb loop and all visible edges were finished with jersey bias tape, same as the beige original. I discovered that sewing with the nap was so much easier, so I had to do some interesting manouvering to make that possible. Since I finished it about a week ago, it’s been in regular rotation as something to just chuck on. It might not be the prettiest, or most elegant thing I’ve ever made, but it perfectly does the job it was intended for. Time to live out my ultimate baby bear dreams!

Plaid Earflaps

Using more leftovers to make a new hat that also keeps my ears warm!

Recently, I got the urge to make a new hat. In my head was the idea to make a witch’s hat like this one from Bernadette Banner. But then I remembered that a) I wear my hair up nearly always without any pins and it needs to be somewhere, b) I want to wear a hat to keep my head (and ears) warm because winter and c) I wear hats to keep the rain out of my eyes. So on to plan b, make a ‘baker boy cap’ type thing, but add ear flaps! I grabbed the one cap that I’d made before and popped it on my head to see where the ear flaps needed to go. Turns out that they would have to be directly beside the brim, so that was a lucky coincidence.

  • Outside
  • Inside

I grabbed some scraps from the green plaid pants that I have kept all these years. Eked out all the pattern pieces exactly and got to work. The ear flaps were lined with a black fleece for additional warmth and I put in a braid of the ‘yarn’ I’ve been using for stuffed animal eyes, to tie under my chin. I sewed most of it together and then had to make a lining. I chose to just put my pattern pieces down, make a circle-ish shape out of it and add the darts back in. It seems to work fine so far. For the button on top, I found a self-cover-button-kit. I’ve been attempting to use that kit for a while now and never managed to make a button. However, I finally had an epiphany: I just needed to be stronger! In comes a glue clamp thing that I’d never used before. So I popped the pieces in, and clamped the clamp over them and tightened, something I couldn’t manage with just my hands. The bottom of the button suddenly stayed in; miraculous. I made two other buttons but ended up not using them.

  • Button top
  • Keeps my hair dry too!

The hat’s been on a few test rides now, and I think it’s wonderful. I may look like a bit daft but I’ve never let that stop me before! My ears and head stay nice and warm, and it’s got a lot more of a brim than the knitted ear flap hat I was wearing all through last winter.