For one of my earlier Geek & Sundry Vlogs I created a steampunk wizard hat to accompany a costume I was working on for halloween. Well halloween came again the next year, and rather than lug around the original gigantic hat, I decided to go with a smaller version so that I didn’t have a 3 foot hat on everywhere I went. The result was what I show you how to make in my DIY Steampunk Hat video.
Continuing the theme of playing catch up with my older videos, here’s a tutorial I did on making a DIY iron on patch using cross stitch. This would have been way more useful for me to have thought of when I was going to school, since I actually had a bag that I used frequently that could have held more of these. As it is, it seemed to fit nicely onto my computer laptop bag (that I rarely use, since my backpack’s got a laptop slot). Of course a 1up mushroom is just one example of what you can make with this idea. Since cross stitching and 8-Bit graphics go hand in hand, the list of things you can stick to other things is pretty near endless.
Ok, so this isn’t a ‘new’ craft that I’ve made, but I’ve decided to play a touch of catch up for some of the crafting videos I’ve made since I last posted here. I hope that’s ok with y’all. I made this video almost 2 years ago (man how time flies) and I can see a HUGE improvement in the quality of my videos. But you’ve got to start somewhere I’ve been told, and I see what they mean. The video is for my DIY Minecraft Creeper plush, and I think I went about it in the longest way possible.
First you need about a billion pieces, and then sew them all together. Ok, so maybe not a billion, but you definitely need way more little bitty pieces than is realistically necessary. I’ve often meant to go back and do a simpler version of this. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll go slap that on the TODO list right now.
Has it really been almost 3 years since I added content here? Crazyness. Amazing how time flies. Well time to get this party re-started!
I’ve recently started playing the latest game in the series of Lego games, LEGO Dimensions.
It’s incredibly fun, and I’ve been collecting all of the figurines as they’ve come out, which left me with the issue of figuring out a way to store all of them.
To solve this, I designed a case that I think fits the bill.
It takes a couple hours from start to finish to build (excluding painting.. which takes a few hours on its own) but for me it’s totally worth it. I end up with a handy way to store all my Lego characters, and it looks pretty cool too.
Up until now I have been making videos of crafts that were inspired by others, and then engineered by myself. Or at least were heavily influenced by an existing thing. My chewbacca domo for example while being a completely original design, was still based on an existing stuffed domo.
That’s changed with my TARDIS sewing box. I’ve been fighting with a way to keep all of my sewing gear in the same spot, and I have looked at all kinds of different places to find something that didn’t look like it was made for an old lady who really enjoyed floral patterns.
After months of fruitless searching, I had still found nothing. But I’m a DIY guy. I got this.. but the question was “what should I make?”. So many options to choose from, what should I do?
Inspiration hit when I was at my sisters. What seems like forever ago, I had made her a case for her Barbies out of plastic canvas. It’s after I saw that, that I decided to make a TARDIS.
So I sat down and started designing. And designing. And then some more desigining. But eventually I had a pattern to work from:
A mere 43 hours later (over several days) I had myself my very own TARDIS!
Sadly it isn’t bigger on the inside, but it is big enough to hold my scissors, and pretty much any other sewing essentials I’ll need to travel with. The only real down side is that it’s actually pretty large.. so it isn’t quite as portable as I’d like, but I’m still pretty happy with the way it turned out.
When rolis1108 suggested I make a Pacman and Pacman Ghost, my brain immediately went to work to figure out how it could be done. They’re really not much different than the Bob-omb I had designed. If anything, it would be simpler, since there was less pieces.
So Retro
I’m a sucker for pretty much anything video game related that’s “retro”. Not that I love old games for the sake of them being old, but I do love games that remind me of simpler times. They’ve got a distinct touch of nostalgia that really appeals to my inner child. This type of craft really lets that nostalgia really run rampant in my system.
Another Project
I let the pacman idea sit in the back of my brain while I worked on another (equally nostalgic feeling) project. However, the other project started taking a lot longer than I had anticipated. Lots and lots of work coupled with an extra dose of Canadian winter has kept it running for well over a month, with the end much farther in sight. So I decided to put that on pause, and let some of the other ideas that have been piling up on my todo list get some traction.
The first of which is (obviously) the Pacman plushies. They’re both pretty straight forward as far as sewing projects go. Really they’re both a couple of stuffed balls with some eyes. Of course, just because the idea’s simple, doesn’t always mean that I’ll get it right the first time. The first pacman I made looked like it had had a stroke, and the first ghost I made ended up looking more like a bullet than a ghost. But I found, and I think you’ll also find that the modifications I’ve made to both will get you a super cute set of your own plushies.
The Pattern
I wanted to make sure that I had a complete set of ghosts to go with the pacman too. That meant building a Blinky, Pinky, Inky and a Clyde. What I hadn’t counted on was them taking about 3 hours each, start to finish. So the ghosts you see represent about 12 hours worth of cutting and sewing together. But personally I think they’re totally worth the effort. They look super cute, even pinky, who ended up with one backwards eye, giving it some pretty derpy looking crossed eyes.
Raw Footage
If you’d like to see the raw footage sped up to run in 5 minutes, check out these videos
Better the devil you know than the devil you.. donut. Oh I’m so punny.
Friend of mine (Ziemek) showed me a link to the picture on reddit, and I thought it was pretty cool looking. However about half way through the build, I wasn’t sure I was even going to be able to make it.
But I tend to keep pushing until I figure out how to do something, and will only give up once I’m satisfied that it’s outside my abilities. In this case, perseverance paid off, and I now have a cool paper donut on my toy shelf.
This is one of the early videos that uses the “format” I typically go with now. Has an intro where I talk, although I’ve cut that WAY down, since it’s a pretty big view killer. I run through the “how to” part, with audio. I did some text in this video, but I typically would do this as a voiceover now. And the end is more talking followed by a “bonus” part at the very very end. This one is a joke about a dog with no legs. I don’t know if it’s the joke, the accent or the viking hat, but it makes me chuckle.
I’m also pretty sure that this is the first video where I added a subscribe button to my end screen.
Trying to get “$25 dollar McDonald challenge” was a HUGE pain to actually say. Must have done like 10 takes to get one I wasn’t entirely disappointed in.
New on the shelf this episode:
– Fido Dido
– Gonzo McDonalds toy
– Some GiJoe figures
When I was just a wee lad in day care, the people who ran the place read used to read to us. And one of the things they read, and the only one that I really remember was the Hobbit.
I remember this because one of the people who was there would also spend part of the day sketching out a character from the book and then giving it to one of the kids to take home. The characters seemed to come alive on the page. Gollum, and Gandalf and Bilbo Bagginses precious.
So when it was suggested by zachbrewer19 that I make Sting from the Hobbit, I started to come up with a plan to build my very own piece of the story.
I have seen a couple other swords made out of foam board and tape, so I decided to try my hand at designing a pattern that was simple enough to put together, and would still look pretty cool once it was done.
Originally it was my intent to use the stickers to do the curly pattern while spray painting, however that failed pretty miserably. The paint just went under the sticker and made a mess. Which is why in the pattern now you’ll just see the curly bits. Also, the handle turned out pretty rough, which is why I’ve got a decal for there as well. And of course, they didn’t stick as well (read: at all), so I ended up using crazy glue to permanently attach them.
The glow of course is special effects. Not that it would ever actually glow, since you know, there’s no such things as orcs.
All in all I was pretty pleased with how it turned out, and since I already had the spray paint, this was a pretty cheap project to make.
If you’d like to see the raw footage sped up to a total of 5 minutes, check out the video below:
Shortly after I made my plush chewbacca domo, I devised a plan to make another plush (Thanks to a suggestion from Ashe2342. However coming up with a pattern took a fair amount of time, hence the Boba Fett Pumpkin.
Once I had my initial pattern complete, I went about my usual process. Cut out all the pieces, stitch them all together and film the entire process for your enjoyment once it’s all complete. Continue reading »
