Dragon Puppet Pt 2 - Dying Fur Strikes Again
Hey Reader!
I know its been a week since you last heard about how the dragon puppet was coming along. When we last left it, it had crazy loose fleece skin and a face that was equally part cat and part human - in that it looked like neither of those things.
Regardless, I decided it would be green. The thought was that as I work on my rainbow series, this new addition could serve as the green puppet. You will see why that was incredibly wrong as this story unfolds.
Call that foreshadowing. You know, the dramatic device where an important plot point is mentioned early in the story to return later in a more significant way. First step in creating this puppet's new fur was to use my pattern and cut out some panels. That pattern sure does look weird, but it fit with the fleece so I had to just hope that it fit.
You will notice that my fur is white. That is because we are doing to try dying fur again! If at first you don't succeed, fail at it twice. I mean - attempt it twice. I mean - foreshadowing.
I know I have written about this before, but just to reiterate a tip I picked up along the way about cutting fur: if you use a razor blade and carefully cut the underside you can avoid a lot of the mess of cutting fur. It assures that you are only cutting the backing and not the fur itself, just watch your carpet.
Once it was all sew together, it really was looking cool! I began to devise new and creative ways to ruin it through the magic of fur dying.
I bought some synthetic dye this time, with the hope that since the fur was synthetic, it would be a more true color - a correction from last time when I tried using non-synthetic blue dye and it wound up a little gray.
I carefully read the instructions and was quickly met with a serious problem. Synthetic Riy dye requires that the liquid and fabric be kept in hot water the whole time. It suggests using a pot and heating it on the stove. You might recall I bought a special vessel for dying things. That vessel is a plastic painters bucket that would be unlikely to survive a lengthy rest on my hot stove.
I have a big sauce pan, but its actually not big enough. Plus, what happens if I ever want sauce again? Is synthetic dye easy to clean out of a dish? Would I be comfortable putting food in it after? Fortunately for any house guests I have over for pasta, the answers to those questions are: I don't know, and No.
Forced to think creatively, I decided to just use the hottest water I could get in the bucket and hope for the best. After all the dying was said and done, I was left with a beautifully dyed bit of fur. Unfortunately, now matter how beautiful it was, it was definitely NOT Emerald.
Somehow, it came out about the same shade of blue as when I use the blue dye incorrectly. Consider yourself foreshadowed.
So my dream of using this puppet in my rainbow series was completely dashed and I have to go back to the drawing board about what to do next.
That is the beauty of trying to make things. Sometimes it doesn't come out the way you want, and you have to make adjustments. If I learned anything from Nailed It, it is that creative thinking can really help when you hit a wall. Incidentally, if you don't know Nailed it, get it together.
We will continue working on this fantasticgreen blue puppet!
Keep making cool stuff,
Until next time,
JoshPrime
I know its been a week since you last heard about how the dragon puppet was coming along. When we last left it, it had crazy loose fleece skin and a face that was equally part cat and part human - in that it looked like neither of those things.
Regardless, I decided it would be green. The thought was that as I work on my rainbow series, this new addition could serve as the green puppet. You will see why that was incredibly wrong as this story unfolds.
Call that foreshadowing. You know, the dramatic device where an important plot point is mentioned early in the story to return later in a more significant way. First step in creating this puppet's new fur was to use my pattern and cut out some panels. That pattern sure does look weird, but it fit with the fleece so I had to just hope that it fit.You will notice that my fur is white. That is because we are doing to try dying fur again! If at first you don't succeed, fail at it twice. I mean - attempt it twice. I mean - foreshadowing.
I know I have written about this before, but just to reiterate a tip I picked up along the way about cutting fur: if you use a razor blade and carefully cut the underside you can avoid a lot of the mess of cutting fur. It assures that you are only cutting the backing and not the fur itself, just watch your carpet.
 |
| pictured: emerald dye |
I carefully read the instructions and was quickly met with a serious problem. Synthetic Riy dye requires that the liquid and fabric be kept in hot water the whole time. It suggests using a pot and heating it on the stove. You might recall I bought a special vessel for dying things. That vessel is a plastic painters bucket that would be unlikely to survive a lengthy rest on my hot stove.
I have a big sauce pan, but its actually not big enough. Plus, what happens if I ever want sauce again? Is synthetic dye easy to clean out of a dish? Would I be comfortable putting food in it after? Fortunately for any house guests I have over for pasta, the answers to those questions are: I don't know, and No.
Somehow, it came out about the same shade of blue as when I use the blue dye incorrectly. Consider yourself foreshadowed.
So my dream of using this puppet in my rainbow series was completely dashed and I have to go back to the drawing board about what to do next.
That is the beauty of trying to make things. Sometimes it doesn't come out the way you want, and you have to make adjustments. If I learned anything from Nailed It, it is that creative thinking can really help when you hit a wall. Incidentally, if you don't know Nailed it, get it together.
We will continue working on this fantastic
Keep making cool stuff,
Until next time,
JoshPrime
Comments
Post a Comment