I jazzed up some thrift store pants with a tiki stencil i made and some embroidery.
see

Hi. I wanted to show y'all the sewing basket i reconstructed for my sister for christmas. We agreed to exchange gifts with a sideshow-carnival theme.
Here's what it looked like before

and the ugly inside

And after ripping apart embrodering and stenciling and trying to figure out how to put it back together

and the inside

I'm kind of proud of it, although i would give myself more time to figure out how to put all back together if i did it again.

[4 conditions for swapping]

Hey guys this is my first time organizing a swap so i'm going to play exactly by the book. I want to keep it sorta small too so i'm limiting it to 16 people. I also made the sign-up and craft by dates slightly shorter than the average because that's how i prefer it. Please take this into consideration when signing up.

Swap name: Sideshow swap!
Craftster member who is organizing this swap:tantrum
Sign-up date range:from dec. 30th to Jan. 20  2006
Date to send item by:Feb. 15

Limited to a certain number of people? (optional):yes, 16
Non-U.S. participants allowed?yes

All ages allowed.
Organizer is aware of current list of "suspended traders"
list and will not allow those members to participate: YES

Organizer meets the 4 conditions for swapping and will make sure that every participant meets these conditions: YES

Details of swap:All things sideshow, carny, freak! related. You can make one large thing or several smaller. Let's put some thought and careful crafting into this.

...



If you want to participate, information to send to organizer:

QUESTIONNAIRE TO ANSWER:
Name of swap:
Craftster username
Email address
Your real name
Mailing address
Would you be willing to ship to an address outside of the US?
What interests you about sideshows?
Is there one area of expertise you like the most? I.E. Snake charmers, sword swallowers, fire-breathers/eaters,  trapeze artists, dancers, strongman, the bearded lady, human pincushions, pickled punks...
Any famous freak favorites? siamese twins Ang and Chang, or the hilton sisters, Zippy the pinhead, Coo-coo the bird girl, Jo-jo the dog face boy etc...
Do you have any favorite movies or books featuring a sideshow theme? like Freaks the movie or musical, Geek Love the book by Catherine Dunn(i think) or the HBO show Carnivale...
Anything inapropriate? I think this is sort of an important thing to consider as a lot of sideshow acts can be seen as exploitive. Most people are okay with burlesque dancers but how do you feel about sideshow personalities that were mentally and/or physically handicapped. In some instances these people were being used and gawked at for someone elses profit  but for others it was also a way to earn a steady living and be in a close knit group.
Anything else you'd like to add?



IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE, REMEMBER TO SEND YOUR INFO TO ORGANIZER VIA PRIVATE MESSAGE AND NOT TO REPLY WITH IT HERE.


Also remember to read the Swap Info Guide to find out how to ship your item and other details about participating in a swap.

AFTER PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED UP AND BEEN APPROVED, LIST THE PARTICIPANTS HERE AND WHO IS SENDING TO WHOM:

teamwang <---> monoped
twelvety<---> opiate_rose
ambear<---> lauralala
mattbot<--->chibiwakki
viciouskittie <---> tantrum

ready, set, craft! let's put some thought and effort into this. Remember to keep good communication and p.m. me with the delivery conformation number when you send.

Here is a Mark 5 diving helmet (the really oldschool kind) i stenciled for my bf.

it's kind more complicated than i would have liked but i'm just figuring gimp out.
edited because my finger slipped

kay, so here's the deal. My bf will be graduating from commercial dive school in a few months and when he starts work he'll be away, out in the ocean, for a month at a time. Boo. So i was thinking as a grad present i would like to have some pin-up photos taken, dressed as a mermaid.
I would like to find a fairly simple fishtail skirt pattern to modify. I'm an intermediate sew-er and i'm not confident enough to just wing it. Does anyone have any sugestions for a long fishtail pattern? And you should check out merfolktails.com, i can only aspire to those fine fins!
thanks kids, tantrum

I made this for my friend jenny who loves teen witch and has probably seen it at least 30 times.
Oh, wait... what's that below the stencil? Did Robin Lively, who plays Louise, sign that shirt to Jenny? Is Jenny going to pee her pants when i send this, and the picture i got with Robin Lively when she came to the midnight showing of Teen witch, to her?
My sources say yes.

Anyone for a round two? I was thinking more sideshow/ freak/ circus inspired crafts rather than  stuff fom the tv show. Although if anyone feels like making ruthie's snake charming pants i would love you forever. And i was thinking it would be best to wait till after the holidays. Guess i'm just testing the interest here.

After seeing the pitcher plant pda post i thought of course! a carnivorous plants craft  swap! Anyone else interested? Or is it to specific of a theme?

Has anyone found a good pattern for the military jacket thats so "hot" right now. I'd like to try to make one, the subtler kind not the ones that look like marching band coats, although those have their appeal too.  I suppose a modified peacoat is the best way to go. Any favorite patterns?

I got a whole in one of my favorite sweaters. So i fixed it. I might even like it better now.


I cut the swallow shap out of felt, covered the hole and embroidered.

 and a close up

I'm pretty proud, this is the longest embroidery project so far for me.