Palm trees and mermen go together, right?
More fun with merman hair. The color is dark purple/red with black crosshatching.
Lounging on the sofa-
And outside.
I have got more mermen in the pipeline but will be putting these 3 into my etsy shop in the next 24 hours. I will update when they are listed.
edited- They’ve all been claimed. I will have some more next week.
I made a blue merman a long while back (October 2017) and I have wanted to make more but kept being unsatisfied with my blue dyeing attempts. As I described here, I finally approached the dyeing in a more deliberate fashion, found actual color charts and recipes, and this time I got colors that I was happy with. Funny thing about that!
I am having fun with the merman hair- making exaggerated swoops.
I am having the best time with these colors.
A close-up of his hair-
I posted this photo (above) on my Instagram feed a few days ago. I sewed up 10 mermen over the weekend and I am so excited to see who they are! They are very, very colorful- Spring must be in the air. Here is the first fellow that pushed to the front of the line and made himself known.
He has swoosh-y hair and a swoosh-y beard…
So why green? These fellows are fantasy creatures so they can be any color, right? Also, I like the idea of trying out a range of skin tones. Then I can play with all kinds of crazy hair colors, eye colors. So, I guess it is about keeping it fun.
He is a birthday gift so I had to wait to post him until he was delivered-
Happy Birthday Eleanor!
I am now working on Mermen so hopefully will have some to show by the end of this coming week. I will put the other 4 fellows that I made this week into my etsy shop this weekend.
Another white-haired man. I love this white fabric and it is so perfect for the hair that I can’t help needing to make some more of these handsome fellows.
This French General toile is perfect too. A family portrait on his chest and a dancing lady on his back.
He’s got arrows on his pants.
Rooster on his back.
Here is the big picture. It is hard to see the toile images in the blocks, so I have put some detail photos at the end of the post. I am very happy with it! It is all made out of fabric from my stash: mostly from my scrap bins. I will admit that I cut out a few larger toile images to have some bigger blocks in the center.
And the back is made of more toile scraps; mostly from the slipcovers from the sofa in my childhood home (60’s – 70’s). Amongst the scrappy bits of red and white toile, was a different pattern than the slipcover. I am guessing it was a sample piece that my Mom was trying. I had to piece the backing since there were damaged areas and some of the color differences are due to fading. I love the story it tells.
Here is a close-up-
On a bed-
Some details-
Thanks Ben!
In case you are wondering about the toile scraps- I use toile to make the tattooed people. I buy fabric that has a white or cream background, with black, brown, or blue printing. I cut out the doll pieces and then I dye it to various skin tones. Most of the toile in this is off-cuts or scraps that I couldn’t bear to throw away. I don’t use any red on white toile for my dolls.
Just some party-ing skeletons, all over his chest, back, and arms.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Time to love on some handsome fellows :-)
I got a little packet of antique/vintage star buttons at my favorite place for such things- Vintage and Antique Textiles in Central Massachusetts. Here is the first one I found a use for.
This is the last kitty for now. Yes, those are little mice on her dress.
Silk bow at her ear-
Some details- Vintage cotton rickrack at her hem. Antique buttons on her jacket- I think they are some kind of nut shell? Antique shell button on her purse.
I will be putting the last 2 kitties into my etsy shop today. I have pulled out a pile of already-sewed-up tattooed people and have started to stuff them. I also need to pull out the dye pots and dye up some more mermen. Onward!