Something unusual for discerning tastes

[Lothruin]

Ok, I'm pretty new here, and my craftiness is pretty specific, and sometimes pretty strange/obscure.  But, I do have one project I have a picture of.  I loved it, it turned out exactly like I wanted it to.  I warn you, it is odd.





These are, in case you couldn't tell, Pale Green Pants with Nobody Inside Them.  I made them for my little sister for her 25th birthday, out of a pair of 6mo pants my daughter had just outgrown.  I used a piece of aluminum wire in the waistband, and then soaked it in liquid porcelain.  I molded and shaped pieces of aluminum foil around plastic bags (for bulk) and stuffed them in until I had the shape right, then let them harden.  And this is what I got.

In case you wonder, the pale green pants with nobody inside them are from a story by Dr. Seuss called "What Was I Scared Of?," which was one of my sisters favorite stories when we were growing up.

I hadn't seen much in the way of sculptural pieces, so thought I'd add this in.

[divasteph]

i think those rock!!!

[second-hand-smoke]

way to go lothruin! these are the ABSOLUTE bomb! i LOVE dr. seuss - i painted my daughter room with all the characters from wocket in my pocket when she was little and she won't let me paint over them (thank god - lol)

[Allergic2preps]

those are soooooo cool!!!!!  I should try that sometime......lol

[firefly]

liquid porcelain?  what, where, how...?
those are funny and a bit spooky, but ultimately very neat!

[Lothruin]

I don't know where my mother got the liquid procelain, but in our town, there are only so many options.  It was either Michaels, Joann's, Hancocks or Hobby Lobby.  It is basically just a fabric stiffener, but can be used for mending porcelain as well, I think.  She used it to create these adorable tiny fabric ball gown  ornaments.  So we know it works great with tightly woven fabrics like satin, and loosely woven fabrics like tulle.  The pants were a cotten knit, and we had to water down the porcelain a little, because they sucked it right up and we didn't want to use the whole bottle.

They are spooky, but the story is about a pair of pale green pants with nobody inside them that follows this guy around and scares the bejeesus out of him, and then he decides to confront the pants and figures out they are as afraid of him as he is of them, and they become friends.  Ok, its Dr. Seuss, and when condensed like that sounds pretty strange, but I swear, its a great story when you're 8.  So, since the story is kinda spooly, so should be the pants, eh?  My sister has them hanging from a plant hook in her apartment so her cat doesn't kill them, which she says makes them extra spooky...

[Kallese]

I'm thinking wastebin for my office desk...



these.juist.rock.

[firehead4]

I actually showed a similar thread a while back...
http://www.craftster.org/yabbse/index.php?board=8;action=display;threadid=622;start=msg3198#msg3198

It's nice to know a craftster who has actually done it!!! Good job!

[Lothruin]

Oooh.  Hmm.  I didn't put anything on it once it was dry.  Maybe I should instruct my also-crafty sister to put a coat of gloss finish on them.  Of course, they do look more natural the way they are, but hmm...

[completelyobsessed]

These are great!  I love that book!

[marisa]

i can't think of anything creepier, but it's a wonderful gift!

[carpejugulum]

Lovely! Wouldn't it be great as a trash can or planter? I can see a cactus coming from those pants. *dirty mind!*

Great craft!

[Cherry Cola]

Could you do the same thing with mittens? That could make for some interesting decorations  

I may have to try this actually. The pants look great!

[AnnaMarie]

Very cool!!  I used to teach kindergarten and my kids LOVED that story--I had to read it every day!!  Sure wish I had seen those back then!!

[TinySoapyBubbles]

:)Those are really cute... I love DR Suess but I'm not familiar with that particular story. I'll have to look for it.
I made ornaments out of each of my necies & nephews baby socks.
I basted a ribbon around were the ankel would go, below the cuff & left a loop to hang it, then used the stiffy.
I think I'm gonn ahav eo to have MOm save some clothes to make baskets with.   It would be cute to use jeans as lilttle toy buns or xcraft supply holders!!

=)  Happy crafting

Julie ... off to shovel  

[veruca_petunia]

oh my god that is so cool. i love that story. i make sure that all of the kids i tutor are well versed in dr. suess - i just read that story for like, the 15th time last week. i love it i love it i love it!

[kategirl]

I remember that book!  those pants are cool.  it sounds like it was a really great present for your sis!  I love stuff that's way personal like that.

[Lothruin]

Thanks.  Yeah, and since it was her 25th birthday, I made her card to go with it that said, on the front "As the clock rolls over on your quarter century, you should ask yourself," and on the inside it said, "What was I scared of?" (the title of the story) and had the entire story reprinted in full on the left inside of the card.  She got the card first, of course, and read it and it made her laugh, and I had given her a cookbook too, so she was totally caught unawares when she opened the package with the pants in it.  

[Local Girl Denise]

If I made them would they be hard enough for me to put a plant inside?

[Lothruin]

Mine weren't.  And you'd probably not want to plant directly in them. But other types of fabric stiffener might do better.  Earlier in this thread, a link was posted for a similar thread that gives instructions on how to make a planter-type thing out of overalls.  That might help you out.

[selkie]

Our local nursery sells kids overalls, in a sitting position, that could probably be reproduced in the same way - I have a pair of Carharrt overalls my brother got for my son when he was little - I'll have to keep my eyes open for the stiffenener.
The overalls for sale looked highly glossy, so I'm betting they had a finish. that and because they were sitting, you could put the plant in its container onto whatever surface your overalls were sitting on.
Hope that makes some sense.

[thecynthesizer]

Those are definately neat.  If I were your sister, I would write things I'm scared of on sticky notes and put them on the pants, as a reminder to not let those things scare me.

[mixi]

this is hiiiiiiiilarious!!!!  and such a cool present, one that really says "i know you too well" and also "i thot of you."  wish someone made me a present inspired by "where the wild things are" (my favorite childhood english book) or "the bear with music in his belly" (translation of my favorite portuguese book - i come from a bilingual family..)

[jloveg]

OH  FABULOUS!!!!!!  I  need to know  is teh  liquid  porcilin  water resistant???

[benji3]

They are so cool! I love personal presents that are like inside jokes. Oh and they did this on a kids show in the Uk a while back, except they stuffed jeans with newspaper and painted them with loads of layers of pva.

[craftygem]

my daughter loves that story!  lol this rocks!

[acidalbatross]

i heart these like theres no tomorrow!!

[lollipop is candy/garbage]

Wow I never knew liquid porcelain existed.  This opens a whole new world of art to me thanks for the post.  What a wonderful piece!!!

[SevsOnlyGirl]

I made 2 pairs of the overall containers for Mother's Day a few years back, for the 2 grandma's.  I used my son's outgrown overalls and tennis shoes.  I just soaked them in liquid starch and then stuffed them with plastic bags and seated them the way I wanted them.  It did take a long time to dry.  But then we painted them black and put hints of bronze spraypaint in the creases and pockets and such.  Both grandma's have them sitting on little chairs with plants in them.

[Lothruin]

Wow!  Sorry I totally ignored this thread coming back up again, but I think I'd lost track of it over the course of Craftster's many reorganizations.  Anyway, thanks for the compliments, folks! 

In case you're still wondering, jloveg, I don't think my application of the liquid porcelain is waterproof.  But that's probably mostly the nature of the pants themselves and the way we had to put them together.  The rather experimental way this project was completed actually made an item that still retains a great deal of natural look.  Some of the things my mother has made with the liquid porcelain are very porcelain-finished, but the pants sort of soaked the stuff up and they still look like cotton, which actually adds to the coolness of that particular project.  I suspect that once the porcelain is dry, if you've used it more like it should be used, it's probably waterproof in so far as porcelain usually is.  (It's porous, though...)  If you stiffen it with whatever and then finish it with a waterproof paint or varnish, I imagine it would be waterproof.