Medusa

I am exploring the world of Greek Mythology with my this chibi doll I finished today. I have always been fascinated by Medusa and her story, she has been the figment of the imagination of great artists who recreated her image in sculptures and paintings. I am not one of them, but I wanted to give my own interpretation in crocheted form using the Chibi style I am accustomed to.

I started with a drawing to follow as a guide. In this case I made a few changes on the doll, such as changing the mouth to a snake tongue instead of fangs, and not putting a bracelet on her arm. The fangs just did not work out for me!

I used a electric wire to run through the entire doll that supports the head but also gave me the ability to bend the tail. The doll was crocheted from tail to head continuously, the arms were added along the way.

The headpiece is my favorite part of the doll. I crocheted a green cap and sewed all the snakes on top of it. I had a lot of fun creating that part of the doll even though it was a long process to get through it.

It took me three weeks to finish this doll, this is probably the longest time I spent working on an amigurumi but it was all worth it. I really like my Medusa a lot, she is going to join my collection of Mischibious dolls.

Now I can move on to my next project, something completely different. I am working on a little ducky pattern for ETSY and I also plan to finally create a pattern for a Bowie doll. I had a lot of requests for that so I am really happy to say that it will be available soon.

I hope you are having a great summer and that you are all staying cool. Happy crocheting!

My creepy cute princess

I just added a new doll to my creepy cute collection. I don’t have a name for her yet but she is a princess from some far away fantasy land. She reminds me of Maleficent because of her head piece but that’s where the similarity stops. First of all, my doll is not as mean as Maleficent, she’s just creepy cute.

I really think I found my style in this collection I started at the beginning of the year. I still want to improve my skills but Chibi dolls are pretty much what I enjoy crocheting the most these days.

I started with a drawing then crocheted my doll based on my sketch, just like my previous dolls. This one ended up slightly different than the original drawing because I made a slight modification on the head piece.

I had planned to use sheer fabric to hang from the cones but my lack of sewing skills got the best of me. I was supposed to sew the raw edges of the fabric but it ended up being too complicated for my talentless self. I resolved to use felt instead and a few ribbons to doll things up.

Even though I liked the end result I was disappointed in myself for not being able to do things as I had planned. For a moment I felt mediocre and discouraged, but the feeling went away the day after. I just need to take that lesson with me on my next project, it’s a constant learning process.

Happy crocheting!

Patch, the Chibi Bear Boy

It all started with a cute brown button I found in the abyss of my craft supply box… The minute I saw I thought it would look great on a Teddy Bear. I took my sketch pad and started drawing a chibi character wearing a bear costume all thanks to that inspiration.

The next step was to turn this drawing into a doll. The challenge is always to make it as accurate as I can even though it’s not always possible to find the same color schemes. Here is my doll and the original drawing:

The colors ended up being a bit darker because I couldn’t find a yarn of the same color tone but I am still happy with the result, it turned out really cute.

The button that started it all

I used Red Heart Super Saver and a 2.75mm crochet hook. I said it before but I like using smaller crochet hooks to make the stitches tighter. The hair was made with felt that I just cut and glued to the head after the hat was done.

His name is Patch and I don’t think I need to give an explanation to that. The head is very big so I put a wire though is neck and body to keep it stable.

Now he is going to join my growing collection of chibi dolls. I already have my mind set on my next project, a chibi version of the bride of Frankenstein and for that, I have to go back to my sketch pad and pencils. Drawing is so much fun!

Chibi Cat girl

I just finished a doll that took me longer to crochet than usual because I have been very busy with boring life events that made me wish I could move to a deserted island with just my crochet hook and my yarn… Just crocheting to my heart’s content.

Anyway, let me introduce you to my new little one. She is a fierce cat girl that I drew on my drafting paper a while ago, feels like ages now but truly it’s been just three weeks. I wanted to make a goth cat girl, and this is what I came up with.

I think she turned out really cute. I really like her little sweater with the paw print on it. This sweater took me forever to crochet because the stitches are much smaller than the rest of the doll. I used thinner yarn because I didn’t want her to look too bulky.

Now that I think about it I would like to make another version of this doll, a cute version with pinks and fluffy girly things. She would be the polar opposite of this one but since they would be sister they would get along… Sometimes. I will have to get back to my sketching notebook with that idea in mind!

Anyway, back to my gothy cat girl. I usually put wires in my dolls body to hold the head straight but I did not need one in this case because the neck is very thick. I wasn’t sure that it would since the head piece is quite heavy but it worked!

I have more projects coming up, I am currently working on a little zombie boy in a teddy bear costume. It’s on the sketching phase at the moment, I just need to figure out the right colors for the body (hopefully the colors that will match the stack of yarn I have in my overstuffed closet because I am tired of taking trips to the craft store to buy more)

What do you think of my little cat girl? Do you think she look fierce enough to save the world?

Little bunny girl

This week I spent most of my free time working on this creepy cute zombie girl in a bunny costume. I am having way too much fun drawing and crocheting these days, being creative just makes me happy.

Her name is Bonny, because well… Bunny.. Bonny. I am not really good at picking names so I let my friends choose one for me, and that’s what they came up with. I actually like it, it suits her well.

I got the inspiration from the creepy cute chibi genre, a style that I love. I started with a drawing and coloring, then went to my closet to get the appropriate yarn which of course I never have, no matter what. For that reason, I picked a slightly lighter blue to make her costume and slightly darker pink color for the hair. Next time, I will check out the yarn first before deciding on a color.

Her head is really big and I was afraid that it wouldn’t hold against her tiny body, so I put some wire inside to keep it straight. It worked out great! The hair was the most daunting task because it took me forever to attach all those strands of yarn on her head. I lost count of how many I had to cut, probably close to 200 if not more.

I want to make a doll stand for Bonny, and my other dolls as well. I don’t really like the ones available at the craft store, they are very basic and don’t always work out. It’s on my list of things I want to learn and when I do I will blog about it.

I am already on the drawing phase of my next chibi project, I am on the drawing phase right. It is going to be a girl dressed as a gothy black cat, cute and spooky! I am going to have a lot of fun with that one, I love cats!

Chibi Boy

Yesterday I just finished a chibi doll that I tried to replicate from my sketch. I mentioned in my previous post that my goal this year is to make crocheted dolls based on my own drawings and so far I am having a lot of fun playing with pencils and felt pens. It can be a challenge if you are not used to it, but it is a good practice.

I started drawing last December and I am slowly getting better and more confident with my pencil. I am hoping to become the next Picasso and have my creations displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago by the end of the year, or maybe not, tehe!

Here is his crocheted replica, his name is CC. A friend of mine came up with that name and I decided to just go with it, somehow it fits him. I started with the feet and worked my way up to the head. I learned from my drawing tutorials that Chibis bodies are supposed to be the same size as the head, so I tried to be faithful to these measurements. I could have added a few more rows though for the hair, but it still looks cute.

The sweater was the hardest part of the crochet. Changing yarn every three rows made it a daunting task and took some patience. I am still a newbie in the clothing department, it will get easier with practice 🙂

There was a lot of yarn involved in the making of the hair, my carpet had turned into a shade of pink by the time I was done playing hairdresser. I used hairspray and a glue gun to style his hair, he really does smell like he just came out of the salon now.

I am already involved in a new project that I can’t wait to talk to you about, a little creepy cute zombie girl in a bunny costume. I hope she will turn out as cute as I want her to be.

See you next time!

From drawing to Amigurumi

I have been crocheting for many years now and most of my creations have been inspired by Pop Culture characters or generic Amigurumi animals such as dogs and cats that I crocheted spontaneously or without preparation. Most of the time I didn’t know what the end result would look like. I was the queen of improvisation until I went to the DesignerCon convention last November.

DesignerCon is an annual art and design convention that includes collectible toys, customs, plush, designer apparel and pop art of all kind. I was blown away by the talent and creativity of all the artists and it really inspired me to go beyond what I have been doing for the past few years. I decided to learn to draw characters and use my imagination to be more creative. I started with online beginner tutorials that helped me understand the basics and crocheted a doll based on the Manga Monster drawing tutorial I learned from artist Christopher Hart.

Using a drawing I made from a tutorial was a good first practice. I have learned a lot in the process and even though I ended up with a few mistakes along the way I am very happy with my first try.

I had no problem making the body but the real challenge came when I started crocheting the head. I was afraid to make it to small or too big. I ended up making it a little too narrow (if you look at the drawing, the face is a bit wider on the sides). It’s no big deal since it’s for practice, but I did learn that I shouldn’t be afraid to crochet on a larger scale!

I named this little monster Olallieberry, which explains why its main color is purple (I picked the name before deciding on the colors). I added the blue and pink based on color combinations I found on google.

I had intended to put the ears a little further back but I forgot myself for a second and glued them closer than I intended. It still looks cute, but I was a little mad at myself because the main purpose of this practice was to make a replica and…Oh well… Live and learn! lol

I had a lot of fun doing this, and I intend to continue in that direction this year. I hope to learn and improve my skills by doing this, and I can’t wait to make my second doll using this new process.

I will still make Fan Art dolls because my love for Pop Culture will never fade, but I am going to focus more on my own creations because I really want to use my imagination and see what I can do.

I can’t wait to start on my next one!! Stay tuned for the next episode (I can’t wait to show you what I have in mind).