DIY Portal Companion Cube plushie (a giveaway!)

Hey all,
So I made this?

I got the idea of a Companion Cube plushie and searched the internet for tutorials. So I found this tutorial (links to detailed tutorial in the description below the image), but it was made of felt and sewn by hand, and I hate sewing things by hand. So I tweaked the tutorial just a bit.

Or, you know, a lot.

I found these fabrics at a secondhand store for 3,5 euros. Close enough.

I drew the pattern and cut out the pieces:

The exact amount of pieces is mentioned in the tutorial I linked above.

Since I used a fraying kind of fabric, most pieces had to be cut out double, attached right sides together and then turned inside out to leave the raw edges within... like the hearts and the circles the hearts are on... *sigh*

So then I cut, and cut, and cut, and cut... Both my scissors and my wrist now hate me.

So then I sewed the hearts - two hearts together, sew along the edges leaving a small gap, turn the whole thing inside out... repeat, repeat, repeat.

Heart factory.

Add pink lines (I didn't have enough pink fabric to do full-length ribbons simply crossing in the middle, so this is what I did instead), and attach corners:

Repeat, repeat, repeat...

Then I sewed the smaller side pieces together, right side to right side, and turned them inside out as well...

Once I had attached all the corners, I simply sewed the heart-circles in the middle...

Then is was assembly-time!

On the right-side picture I've begun to attach the small side pieces over the seams. After this I just sewed the pieces into a box shape, and after every seam I attached the side piece over the seam (since it was still possible to do that with a sewing machine and not by hand, woo!)

So then after the last seams were done, I had this very sad-looking cube:

"FEED ME."

To fill my cube up, I used the insides of some old pillows and some store-bought polyester padding.

Then I hand-stitched the gap and hand-stitched the last side piece onto the seam. And done!

It's pretty huge...

It's going to be my cuddle companion when my husband is at work, or when I need a companion for all that stressful studying which is ahead of me... ♥

ALL THE CUDDLES.

***

So, I think my Companion Cube turned out pretty neat, don't you? :)

...which is why I actually made two...

...And I'm doing a giveaway for the second Cube.

So, if you want to win one of these Companion Cubes, read on!

Here's how you enter the giveaway:
1) Comment on this post telling me why you need a Companion Cube (in English or Finnish). Also leave your email address in the comment, or if you value your privacy and don't want to leave your email out in the open, send me an email with your details: gwenhwyfarsdottir [at] gmail [dot] com
2) Following me on Blogger, Bloglovin' or Pinterest gets you an extra ticket in the raffle. Let me know where you follow me so I can check :D
3) Advertise this contest on your website or blog to get an extra ticket in the raffle. Leave me a link to your ad.

So altogether you can get your name in the raffle three times: one if you simply comment, and an extra for following or advertising, two extras for both.

The raffle ends on Wednesday, September 9th at 23:59 EEST (Eastern European Summer Time). The winner will be contacted by email. I will ship internationally, so anyone can participate.

I will draw the winner by writing your emails down onto pieces of paper and picking one out at random from a bowl or a hat or something.

Good luck!

Image from here.

love,
scoundrel

"Back to school" DIY: Stargate SG-1 backpack

Hey everyone,
In the last post I asked your opinions about what I should put on the front of the green and black dress I made... Thanks for all the comments, here on the blog as well as on my FB. Well, right now Loki and Evenstar are tied, so if you still want to voice your opinion, head over to the last post and leave a comment :) If this ends in a tie I'll probably just print out both pictures on transfer paper and see which looks better and just iron it on :D

So a while ago I made a backpack, and while it is super awesome and has served me well, classes are starting soon and the backpack I made just isn't big enough to hold a binder, my laptop or whatever else I might need... so I decided I needed to make another backpack that could be used for the bigger items I'll need to carry with me to class.

Since I am lazy and love shortcuts, I tore apart this 4€ secondhand briefcase-style bag:

I took the long strap and cut in two to make straps for my backpack, and I also took the handle and some random pieces for other stuff, such as a strip of leather for padding the straps at shoulders etc.

I There was this cool pocket inside the bag, which I wanted to use on the front of the backpack, so I cut it out, cut a slit on the front piece of the backpack and put the decorative zipper on the right side of the fabric, leaving the pocket on the inside:

The fabric I used for the body of the backpack is the same I used to make a piping detail skirt last year. I bought the fabric off a flea market for 5€.

I also made a lining and an inside pocket for the backpack:

I put together the pieces of the lining and the backpack separately. I attached the straps and handle. I added a zipper on top and a side pocket for a water bottle. I then sewed everything together and realized it was 1AM and I'd been at it for about seven or eight hours and totally forgotten to eat.

But the backpack looked like this, which was nice:

So I went to bed and woke up thinking I wanted to add something to the backpack. So why not Stargate's Earth symbol?

I cut the symbol and hand-stitched it to the backpack.

So here it is in all its glory:

Plenty of room for binders, laptop etc.

***

So, what do you think? :) I think it turned out pretty awesome. ^_^

love,
scoundrel

Dalek Pride and a black/green dress (and a question to my readers)

Hey everyone,
So last week we celebrated Turku Pride. For the occasion, I made a black top and added a few Daleks...

Dalek Pride!

Cool, huh? I finally got around to testing an iron-on transfer paper, and I really like the result. Basically you just put the transfer paper into your (inkjet) printer, print out whatever you want to iron onto a shirt/skirt/dress/backpack/whatever, cut along the edges of the picture, remove the back cover of the paper, slap onto the shirt/whatever and iron without steam. The printed piece then sticks to the fabric and should be machine-washable in 30C, but I haven't tested it out yet. I was surprised how well the iron-on sticks to the fabric, because I'd read some reviews that said it doesn't work at all. I bought mine from Clas Ohlson.

Here I am in all my Pride glory:

Also featuring rainbow eyeshadow!

And these earrings I painted:

Aren't they the cutest?

I was celebrating Pride with my geek choir, Riverside Castle, so the slightly geeky attire was more than appropriate.

We made a banner as well:

More Daleks! Also in the picture: our lovely choirmistress.

So, Pride was a blast and I can't wait for next year's celebrations!

***

So, a while back I pinned this beautiful vintage dress on Pinterest.

So I decided I wanted to make something similar. So I set out to figure out just how that skirt part is made.

Here's what I came up with:

So then I created a pattern piece out of newspaper and cut out the pieces, with black on top and bottom and green in the middle (both fabrics are secondhand and cost me 6 euros altogether):

Repeat times 8.

Then I sewed the three pieces (top, middle and bottom) together, and sewed the ready dress pieces together at the side seams.

Then I had this:

For the top, I wanted to make something a bit different... I drew this idea on paper:

...and since it's like 35 degrees Celsius in this apartment, my brain melted and I forgot to take pictures of the top-making process. But anyways, here's the final result:

When I first had the idea of this dress, I thought of adding something to the front.

My original plan was Loki's helmet, but then I thought that Arwen's necklace from LotR would also be nice... or the symbol on the necklace on Laputa - Castle in the Sky.

Like so:

(Ignore the fact that the front piece looks nothing like the one I made - this was an early draft.)

I'd kind of want to add one of those to the front of the dress. But which one? Here's where you come in!

So, what should I add to the front of the dress?
A) Loki's helmet
B) Arwen's Evenstar necklace symbol
C) Laputa necklace symbol from Laputa - Castle in the Sky
D) something else: _________
E) nothing at all, it's best left as it is.

Also, the color of the design is still kind of in the air. Black would go well with the dress, but I have gold and silver paint and I think they'd look fab as well... So black, gold or silver? :)

Make one boob joke. I dare you. *death glare*

Please let me know what you think in the comments!

***

love,
scoundrel

A backpack, a dress and a plush toy.

Hey all,
I didn't even realize it's been so long since I last posted. Of course that's subjective, but it feels like I just updated... and then I looked at the date I last updated and it's well back in July! :o

I've been doing sewing lately, but I haven't bothered to take pictures of the process, or if I have those projects are not finished (I am in the middle of a dress project that I've photographed but it's not finished by a long shot...)

Here's some things I have done lately...

***

The zipper of my backpack broke, so I harvested the good parts (the side pocket, straps and handle) and then combined a variety of DIY backpack tutorials to make a new "body" for the backpack. It's my first ever backpack and I couldn't be more happy with it!

The fabric is a thick non-stretchy piece I found at the Salvation Army secondhand store for 2 euros. I just took this backpack with me to Tallinn for a few days and it seems to be very sturdy and durable. :)

***

I also made a dress for Tallinn because "I have nothing to wear!" (Ha. Ha. Ha. I'm so funny. :P)

And here I am at Old Town of Tallinn with the dress on:

That dress turned out amazing, I love it to bits.

***

And last but not least, I made a Totoro plushie as a birthday present for a friend:

Maniacal grin.

***

Somehow I've been low on ideas lately when it comes to geeky/nerdy stuff. It feels like I'm all out of ideas or that I've already done everything there is to make... But I did find some cool fabric in a fabric store in Tallinn, so perhaps that will inspire me... ;)

***

So, what do you think of the backpack, the dress and the plush toy? :)

love,
scoundrel