Schmancy Olympic Challenge: I am done!
Kristen - the challenge commissioner! - pointed out that the whole idea behind this challenge was to have fun. Lately - at least since I've been out of school - giggling is my primary goal when I'm making something (this could be good, it could be bad, whatever). So here is the TEAM LINUS bobsleigh.
Heading down a mountain! Even though bobsleds run in tracks!
This is wool and wool blend felt, a little peltex in the runners and the bottom of the sled, a bit of polyester stuffing, and lots and lots of thread! I stitched everything by hand, and mostly tried to match thread colors and stuff, but not very hard. Almost everything was improvised - I sketched to start with, but I didn't make any paper patterns. I did make a sample hamster out of acrylic felt, but it wasn't really a pattern. Just more of a.. go at it with scissors method. I just wanted to make sure it would work first, before I cut into my more expensive and much nicer wool felt 
The improvisational nature of the whole thing means that there are stitches EVERYWHERE. In my life I've always made little slapdash mockups before doing big projects, but I secretly love the little mockup way more than the large, polished project. While making this, I treated it like it was a mockup for a larger, nicer piece, but didn't really intend to make that larger nicer piece. I wanted to keep it in the LA DI DAAHhhhahahah world.
I think, anyway, that the embroidery is kind of nice. It's so tiny!
Hamsters without helmets:
I would have constructed the hamsters differently if I had done it over again. In this version, I sewed their bodies together in white felt before I even thought about how to make their markings. That was a mistake! I had to choose between some kind of stitchwork, or cutting patches of the color and trying to make them fit over the body. If I had sewed the markings and their faces on before construction, I think they might look a little bit nicer.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with this, because it was fun! And little felt animals have been my true love since I was twelve years old!
Working on the Olympic Challenge
I've begun working on my entry in the Schmancy Olympic Challenge!
The first day, I started constructing the bobsleigh itself, and by time I went to bed, I had these parts:
Next, I added a little more structure to the bobsleigh, and I embroidered Linus' face onto another bit of felt. I used sewing thread so I could make fine lines. Then I stitched the face onto the front of the sled, and sewed the sled parts together.
simplified stuffed kitties
I made some triangle cats for Christmas presents last year. They have sticky-outy paws and tails and stuff - all kinds of extra parts! I like to throw together simple flat stuffies for gifts - they are cuddly couchbuddies. This one got a new home in June, with my friend's grandmother. The kitty is meant to look somewhat like a cat she used to own.
The bow is a removable pin!
Hugo gets some attention..
Before we even got Linus, I did some direct-application dyeing on canvas and began machine embroidering a portrait of Hugo. It's nowhere near finished, but here are some in-progress photos.
As it is currently:
Closeup of the thread on his face; the dyed fabric without any stitching.
I like this because it is like the Royal Rainbow from Katamari Damacy, which is my favorite video game!
It’s hard to tell he’s a goofball
A machine embroidered canvas stuffie of Linus, star of Linus in Hats