President of the Assembly, Planet of the Apes

[jessica]

Saw that, Dave. Thanks. Would love to see your photos of that! I have a poorman's version of Hydrospan.

I finally finished my friend's sculpt and that's enroute now. Can't wait to hear what he thinks--I put in a surprize in there.

Today I have to show Ethan how to sew. He's been bugging me since forever about it, so I figured we may as well start with a pair of pajamas. I'll show him how to cut out a pattern and how to put it together...and he'll sew it from scratch.

Am going to work now on a 1:1 scale Urko pullover (as soon as I source the appropriate hair), and start on a 1:1 scale jacket for a very patient person. Then I will probably finish up the devil guy sculpt from Star Wars and maybe shape up an ape or two. Don't know yet--whatever takes my fancy.

One pair of pajams done! It all about killed my desire to sew again. Actually, I had to cut two pairs of pajamas and it wasn't as simple as I wanted! The boys (Ethan and Ashton) wanted me to include the feet. So Ashton has a pair of footed pajamas now and he insists on me sewing the matching top. Sigh. Never ending!! He actually sewed the legs together. I showed him how to "drive" the sewing machine and where to keep his eyes. He's really excited about it, and I let him dot the bottom of the feet with some silicone caulking for nonslip gripping. Now I have to show Ethan how to sew. Ethan basically wants to sew costumes for his stuffed animals, but at least this way I could show him how to sew and he could make something he can wear. He wants to also sew a matching pillow cover. OK. We're busy!

[HardyGirl]

Sounds great Jess! You must post some pics of their work!

[jessica]

Yay me! I finally finished this Mystique outfit. It's 1:6 scale. The ample boobs made it difficult to sew the form fitting outfit. I have finished the edges of the outfit so the owner can thread copper wire in there to further force the fabric to billow for photos. I would do that for him but I believe we've since dumped the copper wires that were laying around the house. I photographed her standing on Ashton's Tiger Pillowpet, since she has no feet, hands, or head at this moment. I tried all sorts of fabric, too and this one was the best. I have a pair of boots to make now for Mathilda, and that mens jacket...and then my stress will be over. I can treat myself to working on Urko's mask.

[Doctor Flarb]

Wow, that'll look sweet once you add her belt of mini-skulls. The colour of the body is dead on too. Very nice, Jessica.

[jessica]

Whoo! Future samurai is in the house!! His features are so darn perfect for a samurai...



Fixing Ashton's pajama top. I messed up the lapel, so I'm going to do a Frankenstein maneuver and patch it up.

I am also waiting for finger weight yarn so that I can knit this in 1:6 scale. If the yarn is still big, I will have to place another order and go for lace-weight yarn. All I have to do is draw out the pattern on graph paper.


January 30 (Sunday)
Finished a pair of knitted socks for my uncle so he can stop trying to steal my aunt's socks that I knitted (knit?) for her. Yay! I splurged on some more yarn at Michael's. The best yarn for these knitted socks are pricey, at $6.50 for one skein. You need two for a pair of socks. Ugh, but it's so worth it to have hand knit socks made of washable wool that won't felt itself in the wash. And I really hate to hand wash clothing!!
Finished Ashton's pajama top, even sewed buttons on it. I will have to try to photograph that when he wears it.

January 31:
Yarn came today. Yay! The color I ordered is not exactly cream--it's oyster shell. Booo! Anyway, practice swatch looks wonderful in this scale. Looking at it, I could go with an extra layer of cream between the triangle patterns. But perhaps that can be overlooked because of the scale...because seeing it from far you can definitely see the pattern there. Also I think I need to go wider.


Paul came up with a great line for this photo!
"Zira, does this make my butt look fat?"


Feb. 1:
I have drawn out the pattern on graph paper. One square equals one stitch. I couldn't move forward with this project until this pattern was drawn out, as I am making the sweater from the bottom and knitting up. Some people knit from the top down--I like to knit from the bottom up.

[Captain_Mego]

Just seen all the new stuff you have been doing...absolutly hands down OUTSTANDING WORK Jess. Your one of my all time fav customisers. Very inspiering.

[HardyGirl]

You're doing a Starsky sweater?? I would love one! I have Starsky! (I wish I could find a brown leather jacket for Hutch!) How much?

[jessica]

You're doing a Starsky sweater?? I would love one! I have Starsky! (I wish I could find a brown leather jacket for Hutch!) How much?

It's for 1:6 scale though...I ordered finger weight and not lace weight yarn. Let me see how this one works out and then try it on a smaller scale by knitting half of the yarn. I may have to make my own knitting stick with hangers from a wire--like the Peruvians do. Let me see how many hours it takes to make one and if I still have my sanity at completion.

I have been told to paint the pattern but why when you can knit it, right?

Aw crap! I have to re-do a part of the pattern because the mountains are too large. Perhaps I have to rework the major portion of the pattern as well--I just can't tell how large it's going to size up until I do the practice swatch.

Here's the revised pattern. I'm going to have to sacrifice the outline of the mountains to make it work with the scale. It's the smallest and most simplified way I can draw out the pattern...I can't make it any smaller than this.

[Meule]

You're making a Starsky sweater and you're even copying the pattern? Now that's dedication

[jessica]

Aw shucks. I'm going to have to forego accuracy and tweak the pattern because it knitted too large!



I am obsessing again. Here's the newly fudged pattern, and I won't be able to tell how it will look until I knit it. From eyeballing it (comparing the two patterns side by side) the new pattern looks like it will end below the row of brown upside down mountains. What a shame--I am going to unravel the sweater because I am too lazy to start a new one...plus what's the point of having a partial swatch you can't use?

So confusing!! Had to use a friend to help point out where I was...


More like it! Sizing of the pattern is much better now for the scale:

[babycyclops]

Starsky knit sweater is frikkin fantastic! brings a big smile to my face to see you replicating that iconic garment in miniature. Just too great!

[TrueDave]

I wanna an original character by you or the boys.
Or how about a dream actor portrayal?

Vincent Price as a Romulan or something?

Conquest of Apes is my favorite, would love to see some of the Humans.Esp Rcardo Montelban. ( Actually I bet you've done him havent you?)

[jessica]

wow. Size 0000 knitting pins. I purchased some. Next Tuesday, I'm hoping to catch some lace weight yarn at a yarn store in Oakland. I am wondering how small a sweater I can knit. Perhaps I can make one Mego scale. That would be crazy cool. Still wondering how I will accomplish the sleeves for this current sweater. I can't wait to see Cornelius wearing it.

Now that I have officially started the 1:1 scale inverness jacket, I can think about the 1:6 scale boots I need to create for Mathilda and how to make it happen.

I broke my Hot Toys gorilla's knee yesterday. Am in the middle of surgery to fix this. You would think they can use better materials for a toy that's over $100 a pop.





Feb 9: I need to cut the lining now for the jacket, but I have sewn together the back and shoulders, making a shell. Next step: sides of jacket. That's it for the jacket today. I also have to do other minor stuff--like weeding and knitting.

Also finished knitting Ashton his second pair of socks...it's all done and ready to wear. Yay. He made me purchase the yarn a few years ago, but I made him promise that he had to wear the socks I would knit from it. So now it's ready for him.

[jessica]

OMG! One of my favorite sculptors, Alex Lopez, is ready to unveil his Starsky headsculpt~~ Really exciting, even though I don't ever remember watching Starsky and Hutch. Why am I spending so much energy making this sweater, you ask? Why, so Cornelius can wear it! And why not? I think he looks great in it.

This is Alex's sculpt of Starsky:





After I finish this sweater, I'm going to knit another one with an ultra simplified pattern to try to get the block of color to be thinner. Maybe it will look better in the lace weight yarn. I won't know until I cross that bridge. But at least I should finish this sweater and see how it looks.

[HardyGirl]

You've GOT to do that in Mego size! I MUST HAVE THAT SWEATER!!!! Nice job, Jess!