FO: Luke's Christmas Present

Since this gift alone entailed so many items (and they're so cute!), I figured I'd put all these as one post together. Remember the awesome birthday present I made my nephew in November? Well I had more Star Wars patterns and I knew back then that I would be adding to his set for Christmas. Spoiler Alert - I still have patterns for more figures, so you will certainly see more of them in the future as well. I'm working through the patterns in (what I feel) is the order of character importance. The last set had all the main characters (Luke, Leia, Han, Yoda and Vader), so I added some of the supporting cast this time :)

I started off making the simplest pattern first, the Stormtrooper. He's a very basic shape and only 2 colors, so he went together in just a few hours. I know it's hard to see, but he has a bobble stitch belt too :) He is made with Vanna's Choice in white and black, and the only change I made to the pattern is the eyes. The pattern tells you to use safety eyes, but the troopers in the movie have these triangular eyes in their helmet, so I was trying for authenticity with these felt ones. He certainly looks meaner than the pattern, lol, but I like that it's more accurate.

C-3PO came next just because I already had all the yarn on hand to make him. The pattern suggests using a brown and gray variegated yarn for his belt, which I didn't have so I just went for a striped design and I really like how it turned out. I also made felt eyes to keep with that as a theme, and I made an orange ring because I feel that's an important part of his look in the film. I love that the pattern actually works a bend into the arms, so they stick out like they always do in the film. This was made with Vanna's Choice yarn in mustard and black with Patons Canadiana for the silver.

My next endeavor was Chewbacca. This pattern was really funny - at first I thought that you had to use fuzzy yarn - not so! You take a metal dog brush and brush the daylights out of the finished figure, lol. It was certainly the weirdest thing I have ever done to yarn, lol.  You have to get kind of medieval with is to really get it looking hairy - I'm kind of amazed it didn't rip it apart. This one ended up bigger than normal because I technically used a bulky yarn (Lion Brand Homespun in Barley), but I did use the same size H hook that I used on the rest, so it's a bit of a mystery. He definitely towers over the others though. His satchel is made from Patons Canadiana in Gray and Vanna's Choice in Rust.

Next up, R2D2 - where would the films be without him?! I always loved R2 as a kid, so I really wanted to do him justice. The legs are actually jointed, so you can move them to get him standing upright. The only change I made to the pattern is that I shortened his body by 1 row - it just seemed like it was too long. I made my R2 using Lion Brand Pound of Love in White, Patons Canadiana in Gray, and Premier Everyday Soft Worsted in Royal Blue. I also added a little French dot of red embroidery floss just because I wanted to :)

The final figure I made Boba Fett. He didn't come last because I was reluctant to make him, quite the opposite really. I know that little boys (and big boys) everywhere LOVE Boba Fett, so he was one of the first ones I planned to make for this set. My delay was caused by yarn choice - I had no idea that "Boba Fett green" would be such a hard color to find! I was sure I would have something in my stash that would work when I began, but the further I dug and looked through my Ravelry stash, the more I realized what a strange color green it really is. I'd always though olive green, but he has a decided amount of teal in his color. My husband would not accept the substitutions available in my stash, so he accompanied me to Joann's specifically to find the right green. He ended up being the one to pick the perfect color, lol. The green yarn is Patons Classic Worsted in Jade Heather (write this down if you plan on making him up, you will thank me later!). The pattern actually has quite a bit of literal "color work" for his face and accessories. It was time consuming to make him up, I won't lie, but I love how he turned out. The other yarns I used were all from my stash and included: Vanna's Choice in Mustard, Cranberry, Toffee, Black and Charcoal Gray, as well as Paton's Canadiana in Gray. I did change the pattern and make his cape bigger - I added length and width. I made the cape as the pattern is written and it looked puny, so this one is much more dramatic.

And there you have it: Luke's Christmas present :) I am really happy with how all of these turned out. I will confess that Luke didn't really seem too into them, but he was tired at the time. Toddlers, amiright? His mom loved them though, and I know his dad will be excited too when he gets to see them. These have now joined the rest of the gang in their special carrying bag. I'm excited to finish off the set for the next occasion - I think I have 4 or 5 more patterns to go :)

*If you want to make these yourself, you will have to wait until Lucy Ravenscar's Star Wars Crochet book is published later this year :)

FO: Luke's 2nd Birthday Present

(Warning - this was a large project which translates to a long blog post with lots of pictures - you've been warned!) :)

Well, it's that time of year again - when I come up with some awesome idea for my nephew's birthday and then give myself barely enough time to accomplish it, lol. In my defense this time I have had this planned since July/August, and I had all the amigurumi completed by a week and a half ago, I just put off the sewing until last night. At least it's an improvement from last year when I made the fishing pole about 30 minutes before the party :) Yay, progress! Anyway ... here's what I made this year:

It all started when I discovered Lucy Ravenscar's patterns - which include all the main characters from the old Star Wars series. My sister and her husband are big Star Wars nerds (I mean, their son's name is Luke, ok? this was no coincidence), so I knew that these would be a big hit. Luke himself may not know who these people are, but he certainly will soon anyway. I figure he may not appreciate this so much quite yet, but he will grow into them. So, let's look a little closer at these guys :)

Originally, my plan was much grander. I wanted to make ALL THE PATTERNS! But when October rolled around and I realized how much time each one of these figures take to make, I shortened my to-do list a bit. I figure I covered the top 5 here (and then I have more characters to make for other occasions - I'm looking at you, Christmas!). I did make one small change to how these are made - I used worsted weight yarn and a size H hook like I always do. This made the figures bigger than the pattern intends, but I think that's a good thing :)

Luke Skywalker came first (of course). I made half of his head and when I went to get eyes for him out of my safety eye stash I discovered a hiccup - the pattern calls for 7.5 mm eyes which are a specialty size (meaning Joann's and Hobby Lobby don't have them, and therefor I don't have them). I had to make a decision - spend $15.00 ordering all the eyes I would need for the whole cast of characters (so I didn't have to order them again in a month or so), or make felt eyes. Since I'm trying to be ultra frugal right now, I opted for felt eyes. Thank heavens for Sizzix Paddle Punches :) Love those things. Anyway, I made all of the figures first and added their eyes later. I majorly raided my stash for all the yarns used in these since you need very little of most colors. Luke is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (his skin), Chocolate (his belt), and Linen (his boots) as well as Loops & Threads Impeccable in Yellow (his hair) and Premier Everyday Soft Worsted in Cream (his clothes) with some random scraps of black for his mouth.

Han Solo came next since he and Luke are the same, just different color combos :) Han was a bit more complicated due to his colorwork, but still nice and easy :) I love the little stripe of red on the sides of his pants! Such a cool detail. Han is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (skin), Toffee (hair), Chocolate (belt),and Black (vest and shoes) as well as Premier Everyday Soft Worsted in Cream (shirt) and Really Red (stripe) and Red Heart With Love in Peacock (pants).

Princess Leia followed. I was worried her buns would be hard, but they are just flattened 3-d circles - so simple! Leia is made using Vanna's Choice in Beige (skin), Chocolate (hair), Cranberry (lips) and White (dress) as well as Patons Canadiana (Vintage) in Silver (belt). I decided to get fancy and add eye lashes to her eyes as well.

Yoda was another simple design. The pattern includes two versions (like this or with a removable robe) - I went for the simplest option. His ears are also very cleverly made. Yoda is made using Red Heart With Love in Lettuce (skin), Patons Canadiana in Flax (clothes), and Vanna's Choice in Chocolate (belt) with a scrap of black for his mouth.

Darth Vader was the last figure I tackled for this gift. I'm glad I waited to make him last because he was definitely the most complicated of all. He wasn't too difficult or anything, but much more so than the others. The construction order is pretty neat and I love that the head is all one piece including the helmet (meaning you don't sew the helmet on later). You do sew the nose on, which I just couldn't get quite as triangular as the pattern example photo - sadly mine looks a bit more like a black pig snout, lol. Oh well, you have to look really close to even see it at all since it's all one color. I do really love the embroidered tummy area. It was a pain to do, but totally makes the design. Darth is made using Vanna's Choice in Black with Patons (Vintage) Canadiana in Silver along with scraps of green and red. Darth has felt eyes as well, but I didn't add white French knots since they are just part of his helmet. Darth's cape is a solid piece of felt that I whip stitched to the back of the neck. The pattern includes an actual pattern piece for the cape, but since I used larger yarn I had to scale it up considerably. 

I was really happy with all of these patterns. Everything is explained really well and each figure took 2 to 3 hours to make, so really not bad at all. Interestingly enough you can no longer buy these individual patterns, but it's because Lucy Ravenscar got a book deal! How exciting :) Star Wars Crochet will be available to buy in spring of 2015. You can see all her particulars here.

Now for the bag ...

I hadn't really thought much about making a bag until I came across this adorable fabric on Spoonflower (I would post a link but it seems to not be available anymore). I ordered an 8x8" swatch of Eco Canvas knowing I would incorporate it somehow - I just didn't know how until Friday night, lol.

The black is actually some kind of old polyester table cloth that felt canvas-like. I got it at a thrift store in their fabric section a while ago for something like $0.50. The previous owner had already cut a big section off, so it was perfect for my purpose. Even my zipper was one of the crazy bag full that were $0.10 each. Hooray stash busting!

So since I only had a few hours, I buckled down and decided on a bag design. I chose to make a box bag with handles and I wanted to make it big enough to accommodate the whole collection of figures when I get them done. Look at my "oh so official" pattern, lol. I decided to make it 12" tall x 11" wide and 3.5" deep - I just added 1/2 seam allowance to all sides and and cut them out with a rotary cutter.

I put in the zipper first - the one I had in my stash was 9" long so I had to get creative with extra fabric to cover the space it left since I wanted the zipper exposed from the top for a nice pop of color. I used Wonder Tape to set the zip in place before sewing it in - man how did I even insert a zipper before I knew about this stuff?! I'm not sure if I did the rest of construction in the "correct" order, but I sewed the narrow strips together for the sides first. Next I turned the edge under on the pocket twice and sewed it on as a patch pocket - I did it this way so I could use as much of the swatch fabric as possible. Once the pocket was on, I sewed the front and back pieces to the edges. I added the strap after the rest was completely constructed - they are just two lengths of polyester grosgrain ribbon from my stash. I made sure to really go over where the straps connect to the bag several times to make sure they are very secure. Once that was done, I finished all the inside seams with pinking shears and then pressed the daylights out of everything to make it look more professional - it's amazing the difference that makes, really.

And here is the finished product :) I figure the bag can be used for lots of other purposes as well. It doesn't stand up on its own, so I stuffed it with netting for these pictures, lol.

All the nice finished details :) Look at the insides of that pocket! Mmm... love it. I burned the heck out of my fingers while pressing under those tiny edges, so I am particularly proud of the insides. I wanted to make sure the canvas wouldn't fray with use though, so it was worth it for the bag to have more durability. The top stitching isn't perfect since I used a weird foot (I just grabbed one with a guide I could follow and it didn't have quite as much tension as usual. It's close enough though and like a kid is really going to notice anyway :) I'm also quite proud of how nice the zipper looks. All in all my bag came out very boxy just like I wanted :) And as you can see all the figures fit in it quite nicely.

I love the results :) It's funny - this year's gift was so much more work, but definitely not as well loved by the kiddos. I know Luke will grow into them though.

Poor guy - he was much happier than he looks in the photo. He hadn't napped all day and it was about 6:30 pm when we did presents at his party. It was a Halloween themed party and he was Russell from UP! My sister was Kevin (the bird) and her husband was Carl. They looked really cute :) Luke was a little preoccupied by his other noise making presents, but Kelly and Nick were very excited so it's all good. I think these will end up as room decor until Luke is old enough to know what they are, lol.

Anyway, the secret is finally out! Yay! lol I hate keeping big projects like this a secret, but I do love the reactions to the reveal. The cat is now out of the bag for subsequent gifts since I plan on increasing the set, but I know they will be well loved. 

Happy Birthday, Luke!