(no subject)
There is a Transformer sitting on my desk.
This is normal for a lot of people, obviously. Many people around the world enjoy the Transformer franchise, and have a little plastic robot standing a vigilant watch on their desk, capable of folding up on itself into a vehicle or gun or animal or what have you.
Mine doesn't transform.
It's also made of felt.
Okay, backstory time.
I dimly, dimly, remember the old-school Transformers cartoon. The show is older than I am, you'll have to forgive me if I forget the details. I remember enough, though (and Beast Wars is quite clear in my mind) and when I heard about the new Transformers (from here on out, abbreviated 'XFMR') movie, I decided that I wasn't going to see it, mostly because I didn't want those few memories I have of Optimus Prime being pissed upon in the name of a Hollywood blockbuster.
I kinda ish changed my mind when I heard that the robots looked really, really good. But again, dim memories, and it wasn't at the top of my must-see list. Until I came back from leave. Shane, a classmate, saw it five times over leave, and he adored it, and he was aghast that I hadn't seen it yet. So, he and Caleb dragged me to the theater, plunked me down, and had me watch it.
I loved it. Frankly, I adored it. It probably pushed every single button I have to push - giant robots, explosions, adorable things that will kick your ass, military bad-assery, computer geekery, a ish-good-ish-bad guy I could cheerfully hate, bad-asses who know they're badass and aren't afraid to show it, stupid jokes, a hot female lead, an amusing male lead, and plenty of fangirl fodder leik woah. Win and awesome, and the most adorably badass robotic lead I've ever seen in a movie - Bumblebee.
Like many, I love the 'Bee. Love him. He's cute, he's friendly, and he will kick some butt. Love. Now, I'm a fangirl extraordinaire, and when I love something, I fangirl right the fuck out. So, over the course of about a week, and a second viewing of the movie, Sae Got an Idea. A wonderful, soul-destroying idea. Sae would make a plush. A Bumblebee plush, out of felt. A non-transforming, chibified movie!verse Bumblebee.
I wanna know what the hell my brain was thinking.
A lot of people know about Baby London Star and her patterns, the UFO catcher doll, and the Moogle doll, and that's where I started. The pattern I used for the body was a highly modified blend of the two patterns, and the armor bits were more or less free-styled, based off designs found at Ben Procter's site, one of the guys who did the designs of the Xfmr's for the movie. Some cursing, some sewing, and an interesting time turning the arms inside out later...
I had a naked li'l Bumblebee.
I would also like to take this opportunity to say two things.
One: my (now old) digital camera sucks.
Two: THIS PLUSH IS THE MOST LOPSIDED TOY KNOWN TO MAN.
This is what I get for trying to make a plush robot after eight months of not touching a needle and thread. His arms are different lengths, his legs have different amounts of stuffing in them and one is set further forward than the other, his face is embroidered on crooked, and his entire head is sewn on very much NOT in the center of his shoulders. It's hilarious. It's also aggravating. But I managed to compensate for most of the off-ness in some way or another, thus, unless you're holding him and really looking, he looks pretty balanced.
And if we zoom out a bit...
We can see all of his bits. The scissors were included to give a sense of scale.
All of the above are felt, and edged with a blanket-stitch of metallic thread which is satan itself when working small-scale. The metal rings you see are metal eyelets that were either pressed into the felt, or just pressed and wrapped in thread. The wings have wire worked into them so that they stick out nice and proud and pixie-ish. ALSO: I couldn't fit all the numbers on his license plate, so it says 'LAWL' XD
Now, at this point, I had been working on him for about... a week, I'd say. The next two weeks would be filled with pain and pins and stabbing myself in the hand, and metallic thread everywhere, as I attached the armor to the little protoform. None of the pieces are completely sewed on, and are instead anchored by a couple stitches in three or four places each. Much like the original, I wanted bits sticking out everywhere and anywhere.
And the end result makes me smile every time I look at him.
He stands about 6.5-7 inches tall, perfectly sized to fit in the palm of your hand, and is by far the most adorable thing I've ever created. His place of honor is right above my computer on my shelf, between the wall and the dinky $5 Wal-mart Bumblebee that has only, like, four steps between car form and bot form. THE DIFFERENCE IN THE TWO IS AMAZING. ONLY NOT.
Ohshit, I forgot to move my Navy cap LAWL. You can also tell this is when I bought my new camera.
Yay, detail shots.
That little itty-bitty Autobot insignia is about 1/4" by 1/4" and was the single most difficult bit of stitchery I did. However, even the shiny new camera I bought won't zoom in well enough to get a good picture of it.
Annnd the back. Those taillights win the award for 'Piece I laughed the hardest while making'. Srsly, the taillights on his buttback had me cracking up when I first saw them.
And now, my dear friend Tray is paying me for an Ironhide Oh god the GUNS so I'll possibly have pictures of him some time soon, and I will probably hate giving him up. DAMN YOU TRAYEL.
Also: If you'd like to leave a comment via dA...
This is normal for a lot of people, obviously. Many people around the world enjoy the Transformer franchise, and have a little plastic robot standing a vigilant watch on their desk, capable of folding up on itself into a vehicle or gun or animal or what have you.
Mine doesn't transform.
It's also made of felt.
Okay, backstory time.
I dimly, dimly, remember the old-school Transformers cartoon. The show is older than I am, you'll have to forgive me if I forget the details. I remember enough, though (and Beast Wars is quite clear in my mind) and when I heard about the new Transformers (from here on out, abbreviated 'XFMR') movie, I decided that I wasn't going to see it, mostly because I didn't want those few memories I have of Optimus Prime being pissed upon in the name of a Hollywood blockbuster.
I kinda ish changed my mind when I heard that the robots looked really, really good. But again, dim memories, and it wasn't at the top of my must-see list. Until I came back from leave. Shane, a classmate, saw it five times over leave, and he adored it, and he was aghast that I hadn't seen it yet. So, he and Caleb dragged me to the theater, plunked me down, and had me watch it.
I loved it. Frankly, I adored it. It probably pushed every single button I have to push - giant robots, explosions, adorable things that will kick your ass, military bad-assery, computer geekery, a ish-good-ish-bad guy I could cheerfully hate, bad-asses who know they're badass and aren't afraid to show it, stupid jokes, a hot female lead, an amusing male lead, and plenty of fangirl fodder leik woah. Win and awesome, and the most adorably badass robotic lead I've ever seen in a movie - Bumblebee.
Like many, I love the 'Bee. Love him. He's cute, he's friendly, and he will kick some butt. Love. Now, I'm a fangirl extraordinaire, and when I love something, I fangirl right the fuck out. So, over the course of about a week, and a second viewing of the movie, Sae Got an Idea. A wonderful, soul-destroying idea. Sae would make a plush. A Bumblebee plush, out of felt. A non-transforming, chibified movie!verse Bumblebee.
I wanna know what the hell my brain was thinking.
A lot of people know about Baby London Star and her patterns, the UFO catcher doll, and the Moogle doll, and that's where I started. The pattern I used for the body was a highly modified blend of the two patterns, and the armor bits were more or less free-styled, based off designs found at Ben Procter's site, one of the guys who did the designs of the Xfmr's for the movie. Some cursing, some sewing, and an interesting time turning the arms inside out later...
I had a naked li'l Bumblebee.
I would also like to take this opportunity to say two things.
One: my (now old) digital camera sucks.
Two: THIS PLUSH IS THE MOST LOPSIDED TOY KNOWN TO MAN.
This is what I get for trying to make a plush robot after eight months of not touching a needle and thread. His arms are different lengths, his legs have different amounts of stuffing in them and one is set further forward than the other, his face is embroidered on crooked, and his entire head is sewn on very much NOT in the center of his shoulders. It's hilarious. It's also aggravating. But I managed to compensate for most of the off-ness in some way or another, thus, unless you're holding him and really looking, he looks pretty balanced.
And if we zoom out a bit...
We can see all of his bits. The scissors were included to give a sense of scale.
All of the above are felt, and edged with a blanket-stitch of metallic thread which is satan itself when working small-scale. The metal rings you see are metal eyelets that were either pressed into the felt, or just pressed and wrapped in thread. The wings have wire worked into them so that they stick out nice and proud and pixie-ish. ALSO: I couldn't fit all the numbers on his license plate, so it says 'LAWL' XD
Now, at this point, I had been working on him for about... a week, I'd say. The next two weeks would be filled with pain and pins and stabbing myself in the hand, and metallic thread everywhere, as I attached the armor to the little protoform. None of the pieces are completely sewed on, and are instead anchored by a couple stitches in three or four places each. Much like the original, I wanted bits sticking out everywhere and anywhere.
And the end result makes me smile every time I look at him.
He stands about 6.5-7 inches tall, perfectly sized to fit in the palm of your hand, and is by far the most adorable thing I've ever created. His place of honor is right above my computer on my shelf, between the wall and the dinky $5 Wal-mart Bumblebee that has only, like, four steps between car form and bot form. THE DIFFERENCE IN THE TWO IS AMAZING. ONLY NOT.
Ohshit, I forgot to move my Navy cap LAWL. You can also tell this is when I bought my new camera.
Yay, detail shots.
That little itty-bitty Autobot insignia is about 1/4" by 1/4" and was the single most difficult bit of stitchery I did. However, even the shiny new camera I bought won't zoom in well enough to get a good picture of it.
Annnd the back. Those taillights win the award for 'Piece I laughed the hardest while making'. Srsly, the taillights on his buttback had me cracking up when I first saw them.
And now, my dear friend Tray is paying me for an Ironhide Oh god the GUNS so I'll possibly have pictures of him some time soon, and I will probably hate giving him up. DAMN YOU TRAYEL.
Also: If you'd like to leave a comment via dA...