I’m a huge Dr. Seuss fan and was very excited to find out the 2014 spring musical for the Newfound area of New Hampshire is going to be Seussical the Musical April 11th and 12th. Last year the play was Peter Pan and I made Pirate hats and Peter Pan caps to sell during intermission. They were a big hit and I was happy to help raise funds to make Peter Pan fly.

This year I’m creating Seuss inspired fascinators, for the stage and for sale during intermissions. (Fascinators are miniature hats on headbands or hair combs). I'm making top hats, tri-corn, cowboy and pillbox styles. 

This  is a “Cat in the Hat” inspired fascinator modeled by my handmade stuffed tuxedo cat. These will be for sale during intermission. (The hats not the cat)

I'm also making some colorful and funky Who inspired fascinators using scraps from show costumes and leftovers from my fabric pile. I've also dug through my miscellaneous craft box and added on feathers, pompoms, ribbons and other trims. 

I think these would be great for a birthday party or New Year's Eve celebration too! Maybe when the show is over I'll add them to my shop line up.

Finding a Hat for my Mega Melon

I love funky yet stylish hats and caps. Unfortunately, given the circumference of my over-sized melon, I've never been able to find any structured hats that fit my massive cranium. Good thing I've go the mad sewing skills to make my own.

Okay, okay I know that head size has nothing to do with intelligence.
But I do read A LOT. :)

I also really dig over-sized top hats and floppy hats with huge brims. If I only had the confidence to actually wear one out of the house.  (If you're wondering, yes, I often sew wearing a funky top hat.)

A few months ago I thought I'd try my hand at Zentangle and paint a pair of jeans. Unfortunately, it looked much better in my head. (My very, very large head.)

Never to let a good bit of fabric go to waste, I put it aside hoping inspiration would hit me. Then, a couple days ago while I was making caps out of old flannel shirts, it hit me. I would use that denim disaster to create a super funky, wide brimmed hat.

I chopped up the jeans and then stitched layer on top of layer to create this very unique hat. Then, because I felt it was still missing something. I pleated a scrap of red quilt binding and added it to the hat band.

Unfortunately (for me) the jeans I had done my painting experiment on only gave me enough material to make a small sized hat.  So, if you have a little head and are looking for a gorgeous, one of a kind, well made hat, send me a message. I'd love for this hat to adorn a fabulous fashionista!

Here are a few of the other hat designs I've been working on.

Cloche Hats.

The leopard print was a Snuggie, the black fleece a blanket. 

The red cloche is handmade from velvet I salvaged from a steamer trunk at a yard sale.

Fleece Ear-Flap (Hunter) Cap

Fleece fabric scraps from blankets were used to make this super cozy cap.

Pocket Cap

This super cute cap was made by recycling a quilted, flannel shirt with two chest pockets. The black band is a scrap of fleece left over from another project.

Sweater Beret

The sweater I used to make this beret had a HUGE coffee stain made by a klutz who couldn't walk and drink coffee at the same time. (Yup, you guessed it, Little Miss Big Head.) I attempted to cover the stain with an abstract, blue, green and purple plaid applique but it just wasn't doing it for me. So, to the chopping block it went and voila, we have this funky little beret. The head band was made from a scrap of red plaid left over after making my son a pair of pajama bottoms. I just love me a mixed up, pattern play of plaids.

Movie trailer parody of 'Reservoir Dogs'

With help from members of the Newfound Film Making Club I was able to put together the first version of my Re-Cyco Dogs. This is a shot for shot remake of the official 'Reservoir Dogs' trailer.

TIP: Want to watch both trailers at the same time? Start playing the Re-Cyco Dogs trailer and at 3 seconds hit play on the Reservoir Dogs Trailer.

Below is the video we based our parody on.

Below is our first version of Re-Cyco Dogs filmed on a green screen.

The lighting wasn't quite right creating issues with our movie software being able to swap the green screen for the gritty background I was looking for. We'll be doing a a re-shoot next week, but I wanted to get the green screen version out there so you could see what I've been working on. I crack up every time I see their little butts wiggling across the screen.

If you'd like your own set of custom made Re-Cyco Dogs, just shoot me a message.

Inspired by Quentin Tarantino's 'Reservoir Dogs'

The team of Re-Cyco Dogs has been fully assemble and ready to rock their first movie trailer parody.

My son Sam is an aspiring film maker and his favorite director is Quentin Tarantino. I started making these little guys and popped a collar and tie on one and bang, an idea was born. We decided to recreate one of the official "Reservoir Dogs" movie trailers using these cute guys.

But of course there are more than just dogs in the trailer so other characters were needed.

Joe and Nice Guy Eddie put the team together in the movie, but Sam thought they should be Bulldogs rather than Scotty Dogs like Mr. Pink, Mr. Yellow, Mr. Orange, Mr. Brown, Mr. White and Mr. Blue. I decided to use a left over log cabin quilt block of blues and purples to make Nice Dog Eddie to sort of match the windbreaker worn by Nice Guy Eddie played by Chris Penn in the movie.

Speaking of left overs. All the stuffed animals are hand sewn using recycled materials. That's why I call them the Re-Cyco Dogs.

There is a scene with Mr. Pink, played by Steve Buscemi, pulling a woman out of a car when he was running away from the cops. This scene was used in all the movie trailers. Below is a still shot from the movie. Below that is a photo of my version of Mr. Pink and a very surprised cat.

We also needed four police officers to complete the trailer. Three that chase Mr. Pink when he makes his getaway and the one officer, Marvin Nash, who is kidnapped by Michael Madsen's character, Mr. Blonde.

Given we were making a spoof on a Tarantino movie where the criminals have zero respect for the cops, I though the only fitting animal to make for those roles would be a pig. (Please know we mean no disrespect, we hold law enforcement officials in the highest regard.)

Here's my little handmade version of Mr. Blonde and police officer Marvin Nash with a quote from that iconic scene where he cuts his ear off. I stitched long strands of red thread for the blood where that little pig's ear should be. Now I've got "Stuck in the Middle with You" stuck in my head.

Sam is piecing together the video. He thinks it should play side by side with the real "Reservoir Dogs" movie trailer. He says it would make more sense to do it that way so the people who haven't seen the trailer or the movie will understand our spoof. I want to just run my version straight out without the real movie trailer. I figure, if you don't get it, you don't get it and you aren't a Tarantino fan anyhow so what does it matter.

So, what do you think. Run the official movie trailer side by side with our parody or not?

Thank you Quentin Tarantino for all you do.