Lately I've started every post with "where did all the time go?!?!"...but not this time. I know exactly where all my time went this month. Every spare minute was spent on parts and pieces and assembly for this challenge. This is due to the fact that I had been planning what I was going to make for nearly 2 months beforehand, as soon as Jen had put her theme on our group schedule. Normally I procrastinate and leave everything for the last week of the month, but one of the projects I was planning is something that has been in my mind for years...
I vividly remember my first encounter with a luna moth. It was the summer before I started highschool on our drive from Oregon to South Carolina to visit my grandparents. At some point in the midwest my mom found a luna moth in a rest area bathroom. I (of course) kept the moth until it died. This started a summer trip of insect and entomology obsession. I was convinced I was going to become an entomologist and spent the time in SC collecting insects. My grandfather took me to the nearby university to buy me a used entomology textbook, pins, and vials. The bag in the picture above came about a few years later when I was in highschool, and remains the largest piece of charted beadwork I've ever stitched.
For the following projects, I used a lot of photo references, but also relied heavily on this actual specimen from my friend Ash. She's one of my local bug friends that has had some luck with raising luna moths from eggs - both wild caught and captive raised. She gave me this gal a few years ago and this came in really handy when I needed a quick 3D reference.
Moving on to the projects...please forgive my lack of captions on most photos...there are so many! I had a really fun photo shoot with both of the soft sculpture projects and couldn't choose!
PROCESS -
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| I decided straight away that I wanted to make both a stylized doll and a giant realistic soft sculpture moth - roughly large kitten sized... It's easier to pattern if I have my own sketches of the item I want to make - it helps my brain turn the idea into flat pattern pieces that will eventually turn into a three dimensional item. You can also see here my lists of materials needed and ideas that might not make it into the final pieces... |
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| Collecting fabrics and other materials from my stash...I had originally intended to use this green silk charmeuse for the wings on both the doll and soft sculpture, however I ended up needing to get 2 other fabrics for the large moth. |
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| Progress... |
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| Giant realistic antennas... |
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| Bodies - the two photos on the left are for the realistic moth, the one on the left is for the doll. |
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| Wing steps for the realistic moth - The process for this was similar to a quilt, using a thick interfacing instead of batting. |
DOLL -
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| I'm pretty pleased with these itty bitty boots... |
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| Is this an artistic nude? |
GIANT REALISTIC MOTH -
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| I had to go borrow a friend's yard and front door for this photoshoot... |
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| ...mostly because I could see this photo in my mind. |
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| Let me in! |
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| The wingspan is just under 36 inches. |
ONE MORE MOTH-Y PROJECT
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| I also squeezed in just enough sewing time at the last second to make two doll "sleeping" bags for my Momoko's. I've been wanting to make storage/transportation bags for all of my dolls. This protects their faces from rubs and scratches to the surface or paint during travel especially. The flannel left from the moth wings makes the perfect lining fabric, and the theme gave me the perfect reason to break out my small stash of luna moth fabric... The girls approve! |
I hope you have fun browsing these photos, and will forgive my lack of words this month! If you have any questions on the process or materials used, please leave a comment and I will reply as soon as I can!
I hope you will hop along and check out what everyone else has been up to this month. I can't wait to see how everyone else has been inspired by this mysterious and ethereal creature!
Guests:
