Cutie Cat | Kucing Kiyut

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Dua orang teman baik saya tahu saya mempunyai hobi membuat boneka. Mereka lalu meminta saya membuatkan mereka boneka kucing untuk para putri kecilnya.

Awalnya saya menolak berkali-kali. Saya gak yakin bisa menyelesaikannya. Pertama, saya mempunyai dua krucil dirumah yang membuat waktu me-time menjahit saya berkurang drastis. Apalagi kalau mereka mengajak bermain lego atau meminta dibacakan buku, tak bisa ditolak. Kedua, waktu yang saya butuhkan untuk membuat boneka cenderung lama. Pakai acara bikin konsep yang sesuai, lalu bikin desain, lalu bikin pola, lalu jahit prototipe, lalu revisi pola, lalu, lalu dan lalu. Banyak ubah sini ubah sana sebelum menjahit final. Walhasil, jarak antara permintaan dengan selesainya boneka bisa berbulan-bulan.

Entah kenapa akhirnya saya iyakan permintaan mereka. Mungkin rayuan maut lewat whatsapp? hehehe. Untungnya mereka berdua itu cukup sabar menunggu dan pasrah pada saya masalah bentuk dan warna.

Salah satu boneka kucingnya akan saya ceritakan disini. Ini adalah boneka untuk si kecil Amara. Permintaannya cuma satu, bisa untuk bantal. Mulailah saya membuat sketsa bentuk yang pas (sayangnya sketsa-sketsa itu terselip, jadi fotonya tidak bisa didokumentasikan disini). Berhubung permintaannya adalah sekalian bisa dijadikan bantal, saya pikir bentuk pola dua dimensi lah yang lebih pas. Tinggal gambar, lalu dijahit jadi satu dalam sekali jahitan. Gampang, pikir saya. Tapi dasarnya saya itu cenderung ribet, akhirnya malah ditambahi ini itu. Makin lama hihihi.

Saya lalu membuat prototipenya, dua kali. Dua kali ini tidak termasuk bongkar pasang loh yaa. Prototipe pertama masih kasar memang, namanya juga percobaan awal. Sempat bongkar jahitan untuk menemukan bentuk yang pas. Kurva sempurna di kertas pola, ketika disatukan menjadi boneka dan diisi dacron, belum tentu bentuk tiga dimensinya sebagus kurva kertasnya. Karena itulah, kegigihan untuk bongkar pasang yang menentukan bagus tidaknya hasil akhir boneka.

Setelah bentuk dasarnya oke, barulah saya buat versi mininya. Pakai acara bikin ukuran mininya karena saya ingin memasukkan beberapa teknik tambahan di boneka ini. Biar makin spesial hehe. Untuk bagian raut muka, saya bordir tangan sederhana. Lalu untuk bagian loreng-lorengnya saya bikin pakai teknik patchwork. Polanya juga bikin sendiri. Disinilah saat-saat dimana kemahiran menggunakan AutoCAD berguna hahaha.

Kucing versi mini ini pun jadilah. Bahkan saat baru selesai,  si mini ini sempat di gembol Gendis kemana-mana tanpa boleh diminta.

Begitulah penampakan mereka berdua. Mereka lucu banget yaa hihihi. Sewaktu saya tunjukkan ke mama Amara, beliau menyukainya. Dadah meooong. Semoga harimu menyenangkan bersama si bulat lucu Amara yaaa. XOXO

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Two good friends of mine knew that I liked to make dolls as a hobby. They asked me to make cat dolls for their princesses at home.

At first, I refused their request. I wasn't sure I can finish it on short time. I have two kiddos at home that reduced my sewing me-time drastically. It is hard to say no whenever they asked me to accompany them while playing legos or to read them story books. Second, I tended to need lots of time to make one doll. I would make concept, then designing, making patterns, sewing prototypes, revising patterns, and so on. It was always a back and forth process before finalizing the doll. The interval between first request and sending the final doll to them could be months.

I couldn't remember how I said yes for making the cat dolls. Luckily, both of them were patiently waiting and left everything on my own desicion, including the design. The story behind one of the cat doll will be shared here.

This are the cat for little Amara. Her mother request was only one. It should've also be served as a pillow. I started by making sketches for the design (unfortunately i lost this sketches somewhere over the pile so I can't show you the picture). Two dimensional pattern was the best. All I needed to is drawing the shape and sewing the frontside and backside all together. Easy peasy, or so i thought. Everything went more complicated as I decided to add this and that :D.

I made the prototype twice. The ripping out and sewing back the pattern were excluded, of course. The first prototype was very rough. I tore apart the rough doll once I didn't find it in perfect shape. After sewing the fabric and filling it with polyfil, perfect curve pattern on paper didn't always end up in good three dimensional form. The persistency to find the best form will determine the design quality.

Once I satisfied with the basic form, I started making the mini version of the cat doll (or should I say pillow?). I needed to make the mini because I wanted to add several techniques on it. It must be a special pillow :). I used simple embroidery to make the facial expression. For the strip pattern on its body, I used patchwork. Making patchwork pattern is always fun. This was the part where mastering AutoCAD was very helpful :p.

Taraaa..here comes the mini version and the big version. Aren't they cute? Amara's mom loved it too. Yippie! Bubye pussycat! Have a good times with little cutie pie Amara xoxo!

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Rumah Pintu Merah | Red House Door

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Ini adalah proyek cepat yang saya kerjakan hampir setahun yang lalu. Hanya dalam semalam, mulai dari ide, konsep, eksekusi sampai selesai. Dikerjakan karena saat itu saya sedang jenuh sekali dengan aktivitas harian plus kangen jahit-menjahit. 

Dengan pola sederhana yang dikira-kira karena kepedean dengan bentuk hampir kotaknya yang notabene setiap hari saya sambangi lewat gambar kerja bangunan. Sebenernya saat selesai, saya gatal ingin me-revisi proporsinya. Tetapi kemudian saya urungkan niat. Ketidaksempurnaannya membuatnya istimewa:).

Hingga usia si paling kecil yang hampir dua tahun ini, mainan ini masih bisa dipeluk-peluk. Semoga bisa bertahan lama sebelum dhedhelduwel dimainkan.

Saya sempat membuat cerita pendek untuk dimainkan bersama boneka rumah ini. Ceritanya berkisar tentang warna pintunya yang merah. Silakan dibaca di bagian akhir tulisan ini berhubung belum ditulis ulang dalam bahasa Indonesia.

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This plushie is a fast crafting project I made almost a year ago. Only in one night, I made the idea, concept, sewing, until finishing. That was the time when I was bored of my daily activity and missed sewing. 

It has simple house pattern. I overconfident for its almost straight rectangle shape that I mingle with almost everyday through construction drawing. When I finished, I felt the itch to revised the proportion. But then I took a step back. Its imperfection has made it special :).

Today, up until my youngest is 2yo, this house soft toy is still huggable. I hope it will last long.

I even made a short story to play with this plushie. Something connected with the red colour of its door. Please read below, or pass it to your little one if you like:).

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Mr Witsy had a new door for his new house. 

He wanted to paint it in red because it reminded him of the sunset that he loved.

He went to Mr Jeng store and asked for a bucket of red paint. 

Unfortunately Mr Jeng ran out of stocks.

So Mr Witsy went to the nearby mountain and valley. 

He wanted to collect all red color he could find.

Strawberry, tomato, and jalapeño..

Rose, dahlia, and aster

Apple, fig, and cherry.

Mushroom, orchid, and gladiol

When his bag full with things, he went back home

To his new house, next to the river

He pour all he got into a big bucket

Stirred slowly and mixed it well

Not for long time, he got color of bold red

He satisfied and sang happily

Now Mr Witsy has the door color he wanted

If you stop by his village, don't forget to knock and say hello!

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Angelfish Softies | Boneka Angelfish

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Boneka ini masih datang dari ketakjuban saya pada kehidupan bawah air. Keindahan kehidupan bawah air itu membuat imajinasi semakin dalam. Membuat fabel tentang makhluk-makhluk yang hidup di dalamnya sering terjadi dengan mudahnya. Walaupun begitu, berada di bawah permukaan air masih merupakan momok yang menakutkan buat saya. Selalu kesulitan mengatur napas membuat saya malas memulai lagi pelajaran berenang.

Ini adalah boneka angelfish, jenis ikan yang ternyata bermacam-macam speciesnya. Mulai dari Dori yang lucu dan terkenal dari film Finding Nemo, sampai jenis ikan Pennant, ikan favorit saya saat kecil. Yang jelas, ikan angel itu adalah ikan-ikan cantik berwarna-warni yang sering menghiasi perairan tropis.

Bentuknya saya buat sederhana. Saya buat garis-garis lengkung untuk pola tubuhnya, menambahkan sirip-sirip dan mata, melakukan beberapa revisi, Lalu jadilah yang seperti sekarang anda lihat.

Saya membuat dua buah untuk dua anak kesayangan ini. Sejauh ini, angelfish ini jadi boneka yang paling sering mereka mainkan. Bahkan fungsinya bertambah! Selain sebagai mainan, juga berfungsi sebagai bantal. Sering juga untuk kipasan di saat malam yang gerah. Habis bentuknya pipih sih! Kita lihat saja, nanti bisa berguna jadi apa lagi ya.

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This plushie still came from my amazement for underwater life. I found it's not only beautiful that made my imagination ran deeper, but also scary at the same time that it's still hard for me to take swimming lesson. It's easy to make stories about underwater creature but it's frightening to do real swimming in the water as it's hard to breath.

This were a soft toy of angelfish, which I found that it ranged wide from famous hillarious Dory from Finding Nemo the movie to pennant, my childhood favourite. Yes, it's that kind of beautiful fish with many colourful pattern decorating most of the tropical water.

The pattern's made from a simple shape. I made fat curvy lines for its body, added fins and eyes part, made a few revisions, then it became as it is looked like then.

I made two for this two loving kids. So far, it became the softies they play with the most. Acted Double, even triple functions. As a toy, pillow, sometimes as a easiest reachable fan in a hot bedtime night for its flat shape. We'll see if we can find another function ;).

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Puffer Fish Plushie | Boneka Ikan Buntal

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Saya selalu suka dengan ikan buntal. Fakta bahwa dia bisa mengembungkan dirinya menjadi bola besar berduri terdengar absurd untuk saya. Membayangkan bahwa yang perlu ia lakukan untuk mengusir musuhnya pergi cuma menggembungkan dirinya lalu melayang-layang di dalam air terdengar seperti kartun dalam komik. Puff! Boing! Boing! Lalu selamatlah dirimu. Saya sebenarnya berharap saya juga bisa menggembungkan diri seringan udara, agar dapat melompat-lompat untuk berpindah dari tempat yang satu ke tempat yang lain dengan mudah. Tetapi, berhubung saya merasa gak punya musuh, kemampuan super itu jadi gak penting lagi.

Saya gak sabar membuat boneka ikan buntal untuk anak-anak saya. Harus jadi boneka ikan buntal paling unyu!  Setelah berhari-hari (..hmm berbulan-bulan sih tepatnya), akhirnya saya mendapat bentuk yang saya inginkan. Ikan buntal yang bulat unyu dengan bibir tebal. Bagian bulatnya lebih mirip dengan ikan landak sih, (dan saya baru tahu ada perbedaan di antara keduanya) tapi gapapa yaa.

Saya harus akui saya gak terlalu suka duri-duri jadi saya ganti duri2 tersebut dengan pola polkadot pada kainnya.

Saya membuat dua boneka. Saya juga sempat menuliskan cerita panjang tentang mereka. Ceritanya tentang ikan buntal yang mendapati kekurangannya ternyata bisa menjadi kelebihannya. Ceritanya masih tertulis dalam bahasa Inggris. Silakan scroll ke bagian akhir halaman ini untuk membacanya.

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I always find myself in love with puffer fish. The idea of being able to inflate the body into big spiny ball seems so absurd for me. Imagining that all it has to do after inflating is just flying floating in the deep to send its predator away is so comical. Puff! Boing-boing! Et voila, you're safe! I wish I can inflate myself and -hop-hop-hop- move from one place to another easily because I will be as light as the air. But, since I dont have any predator, we have to get rid of that wish away. Fufufu

So I could't wait to make pufferfish softies for my kids. It had to be the cutest pufferfish ever! After days and days and days (... eerr replace the days word with months-I'm hard to be pleased, pardon *grin*) I finally came up with the shape I liked. Round shape with full lips. Well, It's more like a porcupine instead of a puffer, (Oh don't you know there are differences between them?) but I like the 'PUFF' part so I'll continue with pufferfish name.

I got to admit that I dont like the spiny part, simply because spines were not cute :D, so I got rid of that away. I replaced the with polkadot pattern fabric.

I made two softies. I even came up to write a long story about them. Together, they made a story about a pufferfish who found out that his weakness could be his strength. Please read below.

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There was a little pufferfish lives in tropical coral with his family. He plays happily with other coral fish all day long. One day when they were swimming between coral, catching each other, the little pufferfish slipped on a hairy anemone. He lost his balance,  and PUFF!!, all of a sudden he turn into big spiny ball. He tried to swim again but all he can do was floating slowly. He looked at his body and he felt so shocked. He's never been like this before.

All his friends swam closer. They surrounded him in amazement and curiosity.
'wow, you're.. inflating '
'My mom once told me that a puffer could actually swallow an octopus'
'Can you do bouncing? How far can you go?'
The little puffer fish who was literally not little anymore felt awkward. All of what his friend said made him mad.
'Leave me alone!' he yelled.
Everybody turned quite in a second. One by one, they swam away and left him alone.
He felt so sad. He spew the water and went home.

"Dad, I was inflating, in front of my friend." Once he's home with his Dad.
"Hohoho, finally you did it for the first time, my son. How does it feel?"
"I hate it. I became big and ugly. I think they're all don't want to make friends with me anymore. Why do a puffer has to become a silly balloon once he swallows water?"
His father smiled. "Sometimes in this life, my dear son, there'll be time in this life when you don't even like yourself. You'll wish God to transform you into others. But once you're able to challenge yourself to see things differently, you'll wish to reborn exactly the same."

The next day, the little pufferfish went swimming around coral reef alone. When he get to the end of red corals, he encountered other coral fishes from a far. All seemed happily chatting and singing. He's about to join them, but something crossed his mind. He thought his friend would think he's weird for what happened yesterday. He didn't want to accidentally inflate again in from of them. He turned his back and sadly swam away.

He was just swimming few meters when he heard mass screaming. Oh, it sounded familiar. Yes, it was his friends screaming loud. The singing and chatting has turned into loud screaming. He decided to the get back to see what happened.

He saw a big sea snake making move toward those little coral fish.
"Heeeellllppp!" yelled the gobies.
The little puffer's trembling. He wanted to help but he's afraid. He never faced a snake before.
He thought what was needed was gaining some time so that his friends could getaway and hide inside the coral reef.
The big sea snake was chasing one of the little anglefish. With his slim long body, soon he'd be able to chase her. When the angle swam to the right, she faced the snake tongue that coming out from his fanged mouth scarily. When she turned and swam back to the left, there's the snake tail ready to wrap her. There's clearly a fear on her face.
Right when the snake was about to grab her, the little pufferfish came and stood bravely in the middle of them. "Run!" He yelled to the angle fish. The sea snake stopped and felt surprise. This gave her some moment for running away.
'Aahh another little fish. Why did you ask her to run? Do you want to replace her and become my meal?' Said the snake in deep and terrifying voice.
The little pufferfish went trembling again. He's too afraid to say a word.
"Well then, if that's what you wish!" said the snake again. The sea snake come closer and ready to open his mouth.
The little puffer closed his eyes in fear. In darkness, he remembered what his father said last night.
With all the power he had, he opened his mouth. He tried to swallow as much water as he could.  What happened the day before was repeated again. Puff!! He turned into a big spiny ball. Bigger ball, and sharper spine!
The sea snake stopped.
"Aarrgh, turn out you're a puffer." He yelled in mad voice. He knew that he can't eat a puffer, not only they will clog and hurt his throat, they're also poisonous.
He's looking around searching for another little fish, but no one around. All fish has been hiding inside the coral reef. He looked angrily toward the puffer that was floating slowly in front of him.
"I'll be back!" The snake went away.
The little puffer felt so much relieve. He has just getaway from a terrifying predator.
All other little fishes that were hiding and watching from inside the coral cave, came out and swam closer.
"You're my hero! Thank you so much!" said the little anglefish.
"I never saw such bravery before." Said a butterfly fish.
"You're cool. I wish I can inflate just like you" said the others.
The little pufferfish was smiling. He finally understood what his father said. He's proud of himself.

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Premiere! Cute Elephant Softies^_^

 Finally, I finished my first softies, my own pattern design. Woohooo! I am so proud of myself. Especially since sewing is my long forgotten hobby. Last period of my sewing time was 15 years ago, that's before i drown into drawing and architecture. It started again last November after a good friend of mine passed me her old sewing machine.
It turned out making my imagination of softies design is not as easy as i thought. You may read my first summary here.
Started with simple conceptual sketch.

It took many redrawing pattern ...

and many failing elephant ...

and of course it took many hours. I have to juggling around between taking care of El, doing household work, and other works. But since I made my first prototype below, i just can't stop sewing. It's a new addiction^^. 

I collected pictures of the failing elephant to see the transformation, for my own record. You can see that one time i wanted to separate the cutting for the trunk to smooth out the shape. Another time i struggled to get fluffy shape of feet and round shape for body. At the end, I get to match the concept of elephant i once sketched out. Yaay! 

Several failing elephant didn't make it here. I ripped it off directly when it didn't come the way I wanted it to be -__-

I managed to get it a company, a sleeping Elephant. I looooveeee shocking pink ^^

Now we call them Mother and Baby Elephant. Great way to tell story to El that he'll going to have baby sister very soon :)

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