Saturday, January 29, 2011

Chibi Girl Pattern at last!


Chibi Girl
By Fiona McDonald 2010
Please not that this pattern is copyrighted as my design. It is free for you to use but not in a commerical manner. Please acknolwedge me as the designer

8ply yarn 3mm needles
Body make 1
Cast on 26 in underwear colour
Rows1-6: stst 6 rows
Change colour to flesh or singlet colour
Rows 7-8: stst 2 rows
Row 9: k2tog each end [24]
Row 10: purl row
Row s 11-16: repeat rows 9 and 10 until there are 18 stitches left
Change colour to flesh
Row 17: k2 tog along row [9]
Rows 18-20: stst 3 rows beg and end with p
Row 21: inc each st [18]
Row 22: p
Row 23: inc each st [36]
Rows 24-38: stst 15 rows
Row 39: k2 tog along row [18]
Row 40: p
Row 41: k2tog along row [9]
Row 42: p
Row 43: k2 tog x2, k1, k2tog x 2 [5]
Row 44: p and cast off
Legs make 2
Cast on 12 stitches in shoe colour
Rows 1-4: stst 4 rows
Change colour to sock colour
Rows 5-6: stst 2 rows
Change to flesh colour
Rows 7-12: stst 6 rows cast off on p row

Arms make 2
Cast on 3 in flesh colour
Row 1: inc each st [6]
Row 2: p
Row 3: inc 1 each end [8]
Row 4: p
Row 5: inc 1 each end [10]
Row 6: p
Change colour to singlet/shirt colour
Rows 7-14: stst [8]
Row 15: k2 tog along row [5]
Row 16: p cast off
To make up:
Body/head
Fold body/head piece in half lengthwise and backstitch up from base to just below the neck, leave thread. Stitch back of head from top of head down to just above the neck. The neck is so narrow it is impossible to sew this on the wrong side – it would not turn right side out.
Turn the body and the head right side out. Put some stuffing into top of head. Get a toothpick and wrap sticky tape the wrong side out along it and then bind stuffing very, very thinly around it. Insert into body and up into head. Stuff head and stitch head and top of body closed. Stuff rest of body and stitch the base shut.
Legs
Fold leg in half lengthwise, turn right side out and stuff firmly, leave top open. Stitch each leg to base of body.
Arms
Fold arm in half lengthwise and turn right side out. Stuff and leave top of arm open. Pin to shoulders and stitch.
Face
Chibi girls are very much in the manga/anime tradition so big, big dark eyes, small mouth and tiny nose.
Use the photo as a guide and place the eyes quite low on the face. I have embroidered these on with embroidery thread. They are basically two large circles with an outline of white underneath. Place a line along the top of circle to form an eyelid and make eyelashes come off it. Eyebrows are a single stitch as is the nose. The mouth is a longer stitch for the top lip and a shorter one for the bottom lip.
Hair
Go wild with the hair – lots of it and in bright colours.
I have used the crochet hook technique for this where you cut even lengths of yarn and fold each in half. Insert crochet hook through a knitted stitch and pull the folded yarn back through then pull it through itself to secure.

Dress
For this girl I have been very lazy and cut a length of wide lace, gathered it with a running stitch along the top and pulled it tight enough to go around her waist. Use super fine ribbon for shoulder straps.
Warning: Chibi girls are highly addictive and can be made in every colour imaginable.

New Creatures

These two heads have been around for a while. I need to finish them. They are made from DAS which is very tricky to work with.
This is a father and son piece. They are fashioned from wire and wrapped left over pieces and scarps of fabric, old stockings and socks. Oh and a pair of lairy Christmas Tree ornament boots for the father and a pair of vinyl dolls shoes fort he son.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

OMG Gabe will kill me!


Trawling through some old photos I found this from about 1999 or so. Gabe, now taller than me with a beard and hair to his waist, has just been offered a place at university (I'm so proud). This was taken at the Katoomba Wearable Art Awards. Gabe is wearing his dragon hunter's outift I made for him - we still have it somewhere. He was a sensation on the stage and won the people's choice award, kindly donated by sculptor Ian Swift - Gabe is standing with his prize.



I can't believe I haven't posted my chibi doll. I must show this to the Ravelry group and offer them the pattern to try. Chibi is Japanese for small and cute and usually refers to anime style little girls and their pets. Now there's a thought! I might do some pets to go with them.