Creatures

This fluffy bug was super fun to do, I used little tufts of embroidery thread sewn under the other patches.

Trash

I had the idea one day to incorporate more scraps and metal into my aplique work. My own jacket projects include a layered "scale mail" of aluminum can tabs, but I wanted to see what I could do with some fun designs, and even use the metal of the cans themselves. When thinking about cool ways to use the metal (with simple shapes) these goofy retro robots came to mind, and became my first experiment.

I watched a couple videos on working with cans, and learned that people use metal tape to cover the potentially sharp edges. I know that some crafters say the edges aren't sharp enough to be dangerous, but if these are going to be sewn to clothes and bags and be potentially bumping up against people a lot, I want to be 100% sure.

I cut open a can with an ex-acto knife, and finished cutting it into small rounded rectangles with scissors. I cut the metal tape into fourths and carefully wrapped each rectangle around the edges. Afterward, I took the rounded metal handle of my knife and rubbed the tape wrinkles until they lay smooth. With an awl, I stabbed four holes in the corners of each piece to sew them on.

Time for designs! Using a clay tool, I embossed whatever came into my head. They aren't super deep, but any more pressure and the tool broke through the metal. The designs are visible if you're close enough and at the right angle. This whole process took me about an hour, and I ended up with a whole handful of prepared rectangles.

Now for the little robots! I wanted to use the tabs of the cans as their little eyes/goggles. Though this does mean the ratio of tabs to actual can metal is way off. I started cutting and layering fabric to build the outlines, and pinned them to a background fabric to sew in place. The metal pieces are hand-stitched on, of course, and little embroidery details freehanded afterward. I'm doing a lot of freehanding here, I want them to have a loose and scrappy charm while of course, saving myself some time. I found that I liked the designs better when the metal pieces are sewn off-center or even slightly outside of the lines.

Lick the other cats attempt to leap between furniture but woefully miscalibrate and bellyflop onto the floor; what's your problem? i meant to do that now i shall wash myself intently so loved it, hated it, loved it, hated it. Chirp at birds. Making sure that fluff gets into the owner's eyes. Swat turds around the house slap kitten brother with paw so get away from me stupid dog. Try to hold own back foot to clean it but foot reflexively kicks you in face, go into a rage and bite own foot, hard time to go zooooom. Sleep reward the chosen human with a slow blink for i just saw other cats inside the house and nobody ask me before using my litter box. Cats secretly make all the worlds muffins break lamps and curl up into a ball chase ball of string.

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