Friday, October 15, 2010

how to make cat ears for halloween costume

i made these for a costume a while back, and in the spirit of halloween (my fav celebration ever!) im posting instructions on how to make these simple and easy kitty ears!

WHAT I USED:
1 black hair band
2 pieces of 18 gauge wire, 7" long
black furry material
black thread

TOOLS:
wire cutters
sewing kit
scissors
marker (metallic or white works great)

TO MAKE THE FRAME:
 
1. Take the wires, and bend each in half. Open it up to a acute triangle, and using your hands to work with the shape, make it into a cone with curved sides.

2. Lay out the wires on a flat surface, and place the headband on top of it for spacing purposes. i suggest about 1-2 inches between the ears, and 3-4 inches extended from the headband. Using your marker, indicate on the wire and on the hairband where the two meets.

3.  At the marked spots, bend each end of wire around the headband, once or twice to secure. Adjust the wire so its in the middle of the width of the hairband. Repeat for each wire end. 

4. Use the wire cutter to cut off any excess wire, and give a couple of good squeezes on the wire & hairband to secure it in place. Now you have the frame ready!

THE FABRIC PART:

1. Take the furry black fabric, and cut out it into 2 4x8 pieces

2.  Fold each piece in half, with the furry side facing in, and backside facing out

3.  Put the ear frames and hairband between the fabric sandwich, open side up. Align it so the hairband matches the bottom edge of the fabric square

4. With your metallic marker outline the ears, using the wired frame as a guide. Generously mark outside the wires, so to leave room for sewing.

5.  Using your scissors, cut along your markings. You should have a 2 petal shaped fabric pieces when they're opened up. We're now ready to assemble!

PUTTING IT TOGETHER!

1.  Sandwich the wire frame in the middle of the petal, with the fuzzy side of the fabric facing out.
2.  Adjust and tug so that the bottom of the fabric is against the hairband, and all fabric is covering the wire. Match up the triangles on both side so that they are flushed against each other.

3.  Using black thread, sew along the edges of the ears, making sure its covering the wire completely. Sometimes it may be helpful in securing the fabric to put a couple of stitches on the inside of the wire.

4.  At the base of the ears, make a couple of wide stitches around the hairband in a spiral pattern. Feel free to go over the stitches with another set in the opposite direction.

TADA! now you have a some awesome handmade cat ears for Halloween!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

RAW: On Fire



Back in August, I participated in one of the first shows I've done all year. It was the week right after my freelance design gig ended with me deciding that graphic designing in the corporate world just isn't for me. Thus I kind of see this show as me living into the new life im creating for myself.

The show was produced by an organization called RAW, and the venue was at a swanky place in downtown LA called Elevate. This night featured 5 of us artists, involved a fashion show, and even had a awesome show with a breakdancing crew called B-Bots. In this show I displayed one of my older pieces from last year, the "I Think It Turned Black" Munny, which came out of my art storage for the first time in a while. I also for the very first time debuted a couple of my newer pieces, including the Budweiser Munny i named Bud, and my various 12x12 Black Pink & White canvases. Some of the art is available for sale at superpao.etsy.com, but here are some pics from the show!




The floating stands you see here were of my own concoction. I think I'll write a tutorial on that soon, and also hanging art on the damn glass. What a puzzle and so not what I needed to worry about with an upcoming show. REGARDLESS, the show turned out great, and I'm glad I done it.

Also, one of the cool artists that also showed that night was Ben, check out his work here.