Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Tutorial (Almost) Tuesday: Lovely Lace Jellyfish




You will need:

supplies
  • doilies. I trimmed mine from an old crocheted lace place mat.
  • Lace of several widths for jelly underskirting and tentacles!
  • (Man, do I love a craft with tentacles!)
  • Mod Podge or slightly thinned white glue
  • 36 gauge wire ( Thinnest available.)
  • doily colored thread.
tools
  • Cutting instruments for wire and thread and lace.
  • Paint brush
  • Curved circular containers to use for molds.


1) Trim doilies for the jelly domes to the ideal size for you. Mine are small. 2-3 inches. But I think this would work to make much larger Jellies. Just select your lacy underbits to match the scale of your doily.

2)Find molds for your doilies that will give you the curvature you prefer. I used an old jelly mold and a margarita glass.


3) Generously coat one side of your doily with Mod Podge or thinned glue.


4) Place in molds and allow to dry.


5) Make a rosette (gather lace and sew into a spiral). Stitch into place in the center of the doily.
You may want a thimble for this part.



6) Cut lace and wire to double the length that you would like to use for your tentacles. I cut 2 of each, both the same length.

7) Weave the wire into the lace using a "running stitch". To finish fold the wire end and end of lace over and pinch to crimp the wire.

8) I folded the wired tentacles in half, but unevenly, so they would be staggered, and stitched
into the center of the rosette.


9) Fluff up your jelly and string him up for hanging.


additional note: I used two different widths for the tentacle lace to make the 4 tentacles feel like more. Also.. if you were clever and used only cotton lace these could be dyed! I'd love to see someone try that!
Please let me know if you make some. I'd love to check them out!

And for Inspirado?


Welcome to Team Jelly... No Hearts. No Brains. No Blood.

Squishily Yours,
Betty

20 comments:

Corvus said...

Fantastic! I'm going to have to give that one a try.

ambika said...

This is so clever and lovely. I have some rescued lace I'll have to try this with.

Anonymous said...

ahhh wonderful tut ^_^

hey bettty darling :)


do you think you could help get the word out about my shop a little

i need some more traffic

and since you get so many more ppl on your blog than mine :)


www.simplyhibiscus.etsy.com

Unknown said...

Absolutely amazing and the jellies are divine!

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Oh how beautiful! Perfect too, I'm hoping to finally do a sealife Christmas tree this year! Thanks SO much! I'll be linking as well.

Shelley Noble said...

Vaowow! I love seeing how you made these Bitter Betty! And that amazing clip shows me how they show look underwater! I can't believe that so many jellies were just under the surface like that!? Mind blower.

Thank you so much again!

Samantha said...

These are just adorable!

Wolfie said...

thank you for a fun and easy project with lots of potential. thanks also for the video, I love watching jellyfish.

Anonymous said...

Adorable! I'm moving and getting a loft bed; I think a few of these little fellows will find their way into the cave for sure. Beautifully done!

Design Cracker said...

I just love your talent and mind for coming up with such an amazing idea. I love it and always enjoy what you post. I like Rachaels idea about a sea themed Christmas tree. Thanks so much.
Deborah

Anonymous said...

I love this! Thanks for sharing. I'd make it for my 4 yr old great nephew who loves jelly fish but it looks a little bit girly and he already likes to play princess and loves the color pink....so i don't want to add to him getting picked on. but still this is SO creative. maybe if i use something less lacy for the top part it would look less girly.... hmmmm, off to think it over..... anyway THANKS FOR SHARING! Great idea!

You can call me Betty, or Bethany, or Beth ...Just don't call me late for dinner. said...

To Anonymous:
Your great nephew sounds just great to me...I've known a couple male preschool princess players in my day.

But you could get a similar effect with a fabric dome and some yarn braid tentacles. The lace just looks like the real jellies though!

Anonymous said...

Lovely and instructive post. I have never made lace, but it recently inspired (my) series of intimate abstract paintings. Your readers might be interested in the series I am writing—A History of Lace in Seven Portraits—for Venetian Red.

It begins here http://venetianred.net/2009/06/24/a-history-of-lace-in-seven-paintings-series-prologue/

Liz

Deb (Two Cheeky Monkeys) said...

Thanks! My 4yo is obssessed with jellyfish!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic...I just may try and make one up for the office - I think it'd be cute hanging in my cubicle... :)
Thank you so much for posting!

sevil said...

thanks for tutorial,publish your writing at my blog.

Henriette L. said...

Si mignonne votre petite méduse !
Plus fréquentable que celles du film !

Visty said...

Oooh! Victorian jellyfish! I haven't been here in a while and I forgot how much I liked your blog.

Anonymous said...

Great story you got here. I'd like to read more about this theme.
By the way look at the design I've made myself A level escorts

cat said...

LOVE this. so creative.

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