Friday, April 21, 2023

Patchwork ! Scraps ! Mini-zines !

I've finished each of my pillows in full color, but I wanted to rewind and talk about making the patchwork shells for Gandy & Gerdy.

I started by going through my pile of larger scraps. All of these scraps were left over from cutting the patterns for Rainbow Worm, Tarold, and Todd. I decided to separate the scraps into two different color palettes, one for Gerdy and one for Gandy. I was pretty happy with how this turned out but I would love to try a more randomized palette in the future!


I started placing pieces together where it felt natural, working with the pattern piece to create the right shape.



Goodbye for now ! *ੈ✩‧₊˚

 
(hi ryann)


Sunday, April 9, 2023

Rainbow Worm, Todd, & Reading Inspo

Hello!

Rainbow Worm is born! It was really great to start working with color this week! Rainbow Worm is finally rainbow!




I also worked a bit on Todd's pattern. I found that working small is difficult, but rewarding!




Draft #1 of Todd (left) and Draft #2 (right)

As I work on the mini-zine-tags for Rainbow Worm, Tarold, Todd, Gandy and Gerdy, I've found it really helpful to read and study graphic novels and comics. Some that I've read this past month that I really enjoyed:
  • Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley
  • Ant Colony by Michael DeForge
  • Big Kids by Michael DeForge
  • The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins by Carey Pietsch and the McElroy's
And I'm currently reading Ex. Mag #03 by Peow ... it's so cool I cannot recommend it enough. 






AHHHHHHH I LOVE BOOOOOKSSSSSSSSS !

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Rainbow Worm Ultimate Epic Upgrade & More

 Hello, 

Wow it has taken me a long time to write another post. School is busy and life is crazy but here I am with a complete and final pattern for Rainbow Worm!


Below you can see my first attempt at the pattern, and above is Rainbow Worm 2.0 including features such as:
  • bigger size
  • cooler face
  • less curvy in the head and butt
The last last thing I want to change about the pattern is NOTCHES, because darn all of those rectangles and trapezoids are easy to flip around.

In other news, I would like to introduce Tarold and Todd. They are replacing Leaf-roy (rip Leaf-roy you will be missed and maybe resurrected in the distant future). 

Todd is a cherry tomato that dreams of being a bodybuilder. When Todd realizes his dreams he grows arms and legs so that he can start getting those sick gains (sort of a little Ponyo moment).




Tarold is an heirloom tomato. I'm not sure what his dream is yet. Below is draft #1 of Tarold. I'm currently working on figuring out a way to secure his stem better. Other than that I'm going to move his face around (gross) and add about 3/8" more the body seam.



Goodbye for now ☺

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Draft #1 of Gandy the Turtle & a Trip to Fabscrap !

This week I began drafting patterns, and I chose to start with Gandy because I had a limited amount of shoddy and he is my smallest pillow.

I drafted the pattern directly from my illustration and this was the result:



To the left is all of the fabric and thread scraps that I ended up with after cutting the pattern, which were then used as stuffing.


Shout out to Ryann, whose real life childhood pet turtle was named Gandy.

I definitely learned a lot from this first draft. A lot of the seams ripped during the stuffing process (mended with the orange thread), but I feel ready for draft #2! Here are my notes for subsequent changes:

Additionally, Dasha suggested I add another embroidered eye on the back, which I think is a great idea!

Saturday, February 18, 2023

hello !

This blog is a part of my capstone project at Parsons. I'm working on a series of throw pillows inspired by my work in illustration and nostalgia for stuffed animals of the late aughts. You can learn more about the project by reading the comic below:




 Meet the creatures:




Thanks for reading! ☺
Stay tuned for process photos, doodles, inspiration, etc.