Eggs, a Dragon and New Plastic Tabs

I received a generous sample box of plastic tabs from the Beadery the other day, and here are my first attempts using them. I made eggs.  I will post a more in-depth product review when I get the chance.  But, first I wanted to share my latest shaping experiment.  Also, wanted to show off the adorable baby dragon my 13 year old niece made for us.  She made it all on her own with no pattern!  He's made with white polar fleece and burgundy felt.  Isn't he cute!



Since Easter is just about here, I though eggs were a good first project to test the plastic tabs.  I had an ulterior motive here, too.  :)  We have an annual Harry Potter themed birthday party for my daughter and my sister whose birthdays are days apart.  And, this years theme will be Goblet of Fire.  That means Dragons!  And, more importantly, Dragon Eggs!



Among the multitude of colors, from pastels to neon, available in the box of tabs, there happened to be some really nice green tabs in the Camo Mix.  It's cool that the green tabs are slightly off in color in what looks like three different shades of green.  I thought I'd work on my egg shape with those before attempting any more colorful patterned eggs for Easter. I wanted to get the location of the tabs in the increased/decreased shape down before planning what I can do with the pattern for the Easter eggs.   First, I tried dark green weaving material for the darker green egg, but I think it was too dark.  This egg ended up 15 tabs around and 3.5" tall.  Then, I tried a color of green closer to the tabs for the larger one that is 18 tabs around and 5.5" tall.  I made this one open in two pieces. I think a color just a little darker than the tabs would be better to make them stand out more as scales.



The smallest pink/white eggs was my last attempt, so far.   It is only 12 tabs around and 3" tall.  The small tightly curved shape of a small egg would prove to be a challenge for the unbendable plastic tabs.  I pushed them to the limit to get the egg shape.  I used white and hot pink weaving material with white, light pink and neon pink tabs graduating from top to bottom.

I still think I need to make one a bit larger for the dragon.  I may cannibalize the two green eggs to make a larger one.  Ideally though, I would like to make a golden dragon eggs using gold single hole metal tabs, if I can find any.  I will be trying to make some more colorful Easter eggs if I have time.  You should be seeing me attempt some projects with the colorful plastic tabs, and possibly incorporating them into my usual tabistry work for some added color.  Look for the product review sometime in the next week or so.  And, I'm still editing tutorial when I can!  Sorry, I'm so slow.

Can Tab Daisy Basket, or Bowl, for Spring

I was working on a tutorial for making the small pink flower basket I posted about a couple years ago, when I decided to make another one.  But, I wanted to try some new things with this one.



This one is larger with 12 petals instead of only 6.  I also opted to leave off the handle, so it's more of a bowl than a basket.  I was experimenting with the shape of the petals, too.  I closed the openings in the tips off this time.  And, the front row of 6 are slightly wider than the back row.



Though I could easily add a handle, I kinda liked it without.  It should be perfect for putting dyed Easter eggs in, but I may use something like this to put loose tabs and material for working, especially when I'm teaching others.



The two rows of petals overlap due to the way they are woven together.  And, the natural tendency for the tab weave to curl creates the nice flared bloom.



When I was turning it over for the pics, I noticed it kinda looks like a tree stump, huh?  It even has the appearance of rings where the rows of tabs are woven together.  This might make a cute pedestal for other items.



The daughter likes it turned inside out.  When I was tying off the ends, she said it looked like a lotus blossom.  Guess it kinda does.  Maybe with another row around the bottom.



I'm working on getting the tutorials done for the top hats and at least one basket tutorial.  But, I've got another big costume project to share very soon.  It's going to include a new design for a corset.  Can't wait to get pics ready of that!  Until then, be Can-TAB-ulous!

A tisket..a tasket...I made a pretty basket!! :D

I managed to make the daughter an Easter basket this year.  It took me a couple days to construct.  I normally like to buy the baskets 2nd hand.  You can usually get a nicer basket than what's available new in the stores around here.  And, they are pretty easy to paint and spruce up.  We also reuse the grass and any plastic eggs we get from school and such.  But, this year I decided to make her a basket with can tabs.



I've been wanting to make a tabistry basket for a looong time, but just never got around to it til now.  This basket is supposed to look like a flower with petals for sides.  (Didn't make the bunny, and had to use plain plastic eggs I found in the daughters room.)  The basket is pretty small at about 9 inches tall and 7 inches wide. 



I used polar fleece on the entire basket using a similar weave to the last corset I posted for the sides.  I think ribbon would probably be a better choice for this type of project.  Is kinda odd to have a fuzzy basket.  :)



The yellow bottom was an attempt to make the center of a flower like a daisy.  And, I was inspired on the handle by jewelry items one of our tabistry group member had posted in our facebook group.  It's worked really well for a nice sturdy narrow handle.



I tied a small flower, which is based on my favors, on the handle that I made from the scraps for polar fleece. 



I wrapped the darker pink around the end tabs to cover them.  I'm liking how it turned out softer than other edge treatments I've tried.  I think I might make some more of the flowers at a later date.  They's be cute on a headband or something.

 

If I had more time, I'd make some other sizes of basket.  There are so many ideas to try.  Just wish I could get things done faster.  But, alas, I must keep reminding myself I'm only human and have limits.  :(

On other projects, I'm still plugging away on the corset tutorial.  I've got some new pics that should work better, but I'd like to get a few more.  And, I've been a bad girl and started another corset that I'd like to get finished.  And, want to rework a couple other projects that I've put off. 

Have a Happy Easter!