Channeling my Spirit Animal: Stimpson J. Cat

 

 

A friend of mine recently celebrated her 30th birthday with the best theme ever….Nickelodeon of the 90’s!

Of course, dressing up was encouraged and there were SO MANY great shows to choose from! From the game shows (Legends of the Hidden Temple, Gutz, Double Dare, What Would You Do?), to the cartoons (Doug, Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy), and other classics like Salute Your Shorts, Clarissa Explains it all, Are you Afraid of the Dark, just to name a few.

I decided early on I wanted to be Judy Funnie. However when I realized I’d be Judy Funnie minus the orange hair, minus the purple dress, and minus the glasses….I knew I had to do something else. Unfortunately that was the day before the party. I was out of time.

I brainstormed that morning, and something drew my thoughts toward everybody’s favorite cat…Stimpson J. Cat!

My spirit animal.

I had a burgundy shirt that would work and I would recreate Stimpy’s goofy face on my shirt!

With some white, blue and pink fleece from leftover projects I could make it happen. I was a little short on time, so after a few attempts at using a satin stitch for the mouth (the sewing machine kept jamming) I decided on using a Sharpie to outline his eyes and his mouth. The tongue was sewn only on one end which left it wagging a little (a feature I was very excited/proud about for some reason).

The hardest part was getting the face onto the shirt. Fleece doesn’t stretch very much. On the other hand the shirt was very stretchy. I hand sewed the top corners, and the rest I safety pinned to allow it to stretch and move without bunching up. (Plus, I wanted to be able to use the shirt later without Stimpy.)

It doesn’t look exactly like him, but for someone who doesn’t draw at all, I’d say I’m close enough! Most importantly I had a lot of fun making it and wearing it!

Any other 90’s kids? What was your favorite Nickelodeon show?

 

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Mollie Makes Wall Hanging Loom Kit

Woven wall hangings. You can’t turn a corner these days without seeing one in a crafty magazine or blog, and every time I see one I get a little kick out of it. You see, back in the 90’s at the height of the heyday of fabulous floral bedding and matching curtains, I too had a woven wall hanging in my room.

Look! Its a woven wall hanging!

 

No, neither of those is me. Yes, that fabulous room is mine. And that wall hanging? Made by none other than my grandmother.

Naturally, when I got Issue 58 of Mollie Makes I was amused that the free kit was a loom kit! I immediately thought of my old wall hanging and my grandmother’s many talents.

The kit came with a mini loom and shuttle, string, yarn, a needle, and a dowel (although I think mine didn’t come with the dowel….I had to use the shuttle instead. It occurred to me a yellow #2 pencil would’ve looked cute too…if I had one.)

You guys, weaving isn’t easy….I mean, once you get into a rhythm its quite soothing. But the setup? I found it confusing. The instructions and photos weren’t 100% helpful with some parts. And I never thought of my fingers as fat….but with this mini loom I felt like a giant trying to be dainty.

So please don’t ask to look at the back of my wall hanging. Its not pretty.

Throughout first half I was trying to recreate the wall hanging from the magazine photographs, but when I realized I had free rein it was fun trying to figure out what I can do through trial and error. Towards the end I was excited, knowing I could reuse my loom with new yarns and make as many wall hangings as I like! (I can just picture me “wallpapering” my walls with little mini hangings…)

And there is my finished product! I’m embarrassingly proud of it.

Someone told me that my wall hanging looked a bit like a dress. I think they might be right….so here it is being modeled by a doll!

Have you ever tried loom weaving?