Steampunk Cat Mask Tutorial

Photo by Bruce Medic Photo at BruceMedicPhoto.com

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I made this fun cat mask for a Steampunk tea party at the Geek Bar in Chicago. Here's a tutorial for making your own!

You will need:

Craftfoam

Hot glue

Mod podge mold 

Gesso

Acrylic paint

Acrylic sealant

Pattern - I used the cat mask pattern from Chris Huebert
A LOT of patience

Optional: worbla/thermalpastics

Let's get started:

print out the pattern

you can absolutely make your own if you are good with pattern drafting!

Trace it onto craft foam, twice.

Cut out the foam (cat helper optional)

Optional: trace the pattern onto worbla and cut out the pieces

Optional: Heat and wrap the warbla around the foam.

Match and glue the pieces together

Worbla sticks to itself when heated, you can use contact cement or hotglue if you are only using foam

Start shaping the mask to head.

The eye hole were a bit small for me, so I enlarged it a bit.

All the mask pieces together.

Add ears.

Embellish as you like.

I used a mod podge hot glue mold for the cogs but you can also cut them out of cardboard.

The lens was from a pair of reading glasses from the dollar store.

Prime with gesso. Lens covered in painter's tape.

Prime again with black acrylic paint then start on first layer with a dry brush.

I used bronze for the main colour and gold for the embellishments.

Seal it with a clear acrylic sealant (I used satin) and we are done!

Photo by Bruce Medic Photo - BruceMedicPhoto.com

Here's a tutorial on how to make the steampunk book box (I used it as a clutch)

Super Soft Winter Hat!

I've wanted to knit with the Noro Shiraito yarn for some time now. This super-duper-soft yarn is made with an angora and cashmere blend. It's a bit pricey ($30/skein) normally but I managed to grab the last skein that was on sale at the local yarn shop last week.

Naturally, instead of applying for jobs, I sat at home and knit this hat. At first, I felt like a clumsy moose because the yarn kept on breaking. I had to experiment with the tension quite a bit so the brim of the hat came out a little wonky.

Here's how I made the hat:

I used a US 3 circular needle and the entire skein, about 195 yrd. It was knit in the round. Final size of the hat is about 22" circumference and 10" in height

First, the yarn is offer for cat approval. As you can see here, Lady is showing nonchalance, the cat way of saying she approves, maybe, quite probably.

Hat brim - CO 108. Start with rounds of knit stitch (I did 3). Then a couple rows of K3 P1 until the end. (I did 15). Purl one round when you are done with the brim.

Hat Body - Start with rows of k1 rounds and add the wavy lace pattern to create the wavy bar when you see fit. I did 10 rounds of k1, wavy lace rounds, 6 rounds of k1, wavy lace rounds, then another 10 rounds of k1.

To do the wavy lace pattern:

1. P1 to the end

2. k1 to the end

3. K2tog 6 times, (YO K1) 6 times to the end.

4. P1 to the end

Hat crown - At this point, you can really use any kind of decrease you like for hats.

I did:

 k2tog 6 times, and k1 6 times to the end of round

K1 to end for 2 rounds

k2tog 4 times, k1 4 times to the end of round

k1 to end for 1 round

K2tog to the end of the round.

Thread tail through the stitches and close the hat

Add a pompom if you have left over yarn.

I didn't block the hat because I'm not very experienced with cashmere/angora and don't want to risk the yarn breaking in the process.

Divine Soraka Staff Tutorial

I've been playing League of Legends (free to play) for a while now and I mainly play supports. Even though I do not main Soraka, I believe she is still the most iconic support champion.

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I made some slight alterations to the original design.

Reference Picture.

Pretty acrylic gems!

Ribbon wrapped grip.

Material list:

I ordered most of my materials online. I am sure you can find cheaper prices at local stores. I also listed the price so you can have an estimate of how much you should budget for a project this big.

Wonderflex (half jumbo sheet) - $34

heat gun - $16

Mop handle - $5

Expanding foam -$6

Utility knife - $9

Papermache – $7

Painter’s tape - $4

nail polish - $4

Acrylic paint - $25

Brushes - $5

Model magic - $5

Model builder - $25

Easy cast epoxy - $14 

Mold release - $12

Let's get started!

Wooden mop handle (cheaper than dowels) and cardboard

*I recommend PVC pipes for a lighter prop

Cut the cardboard base into desired shape

Layer with expanding foam (tutorial video here - by Kamui Cosplay)

Carve expanding foam (this is half the mess, I cleaned the floor once already)

Lots of caves in the foam, which is normal.

Layer with painter's tape to cover the holes on the surface and give the next layer something to grip onto

Layer with strips of newspaper and wallpaper paste (tutorial video here)

My cat smoothed on a layer of paper mache for me. I also started priming the wood part with gesso.

The paper mache dried with very bumpy surface (I mistakenly used quick-dry kind) and needs to be sanded. It's a bit cold outside for me to do sanding right now, so stay tuned for more progress when it gets warmer!

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I almost gave up this project due to some unexpected hardship. Thanks to a good friend (who transported this staff for me over 700 miles!) I was able to finish it.

Sanded a little bit by hand. I would recommend a mouse/handheld sander for the job but I live in a small apartment with almost no ventilation, so that was not going to work.

Heat up small pieces of wonderflex and cover the staff. 

I used wonderflext because it is a bit cheaper than worbla.

There will still be a lot of seams like this.

Heat up the seams and flatten them out with any cylindrical object (beer bottles work too)

You can also use a dremel to sand out the lines but good ventilation is needed.

Seams flattened out.

Drew a basic design of the details.

I didn't like the original design, so there's a bit of improvisation.

Heat up small strips of wonderflex and roll it up.

Place the details on the staff as marked

(or not, I don't like to follow directions, even my own)

Prime with at least 5-6 layers of gesso after all the details are attached.

(The pink stuff are placeholder for gems)

Prime with black paint.

First layer of paint

Second layer of painting and accentuating details with black shadows.

Cat is helping.

Seal paint with a layer of satin acrylic spray.

You can also use glossy acrylic spray if you'd like a more metallic staff.

Wrap the handle with some brown ribbons. Cat helper optional.

Cast some acrylic gems for the socket

(sorry I did not take enough pictures of a full tutorial for this part)

Paint it using this technique.

And we are done!