Pope Sheep

Ok, so I know that I was meaning to post some more stuff last weekend, but I PROMISE I am not slacking....

I got a special order request and since according to the USPS website this has been delivered, I suppose that I can share some pictures now.

So, before we start, some explaining....

As most of you know, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Falling Skies, and I ADORE John Pope played by the incomprable Colin Cunningham.

As most of you ALSO know, I have been doing some cheating on you all and posting on ANOTHER Blog, well one of the readers of that blog found me etsy site, and one thing lead to another and she asked me if I can make a black sheep with pretty green eyes (Cause Colin has PRETTY GREEN EYES) for her.

I of course said HECK Yes!

So, I dug out some silky black faux fur that I had been saving for another project and some black wool felt and some green buttons for the eyes and got to work on Saturday.

And here is what I came up with.

Most of these picture are by yours truly so they pretty much suck (cell phone camera and all you know).

Isn't he just the cutest?  Close up shot, you can see the curly fur that I used.

Such a handsome profile, although my roommate did mention he is having a bit of a bad hair day in this picutre. :)

Who's cuter?  I think I'll pick Pope Sheep!

And as an added bonus to my first customer, he came complete with ID tag!

So there you have it. My first sale on Etsy.  Don't forget you all.  We have TWO coupons out there because I love Covert Affairs and Falling Skies and politics.  Use the coupon code Auggie4Prez for a discount or Pope4Prez for free shipping.

Also, special thanks to the folks at Afrah Med grill in Richardson, TX.  They rock and were nice enough to spread the word about the cutest sheep ever.  Use the Code Afrah for 10% off you purchase at the etsy store: laughingcoyotequilts.etsy.com.

Look for a very special, one day only sale on my birthday.  It's coming up soon, but I can't give out detail just yet.



New Item up on Etsy

That's right, we are slowly but surely building inventory ahead of the holidays.

Here's pictures of the newest item up on Etsy.  She's a super cute blonde haired/blue eyed rag doll with a Victorian inspired dress.



The Etsy site address is laughingcoyotequilts.etsy.com.

If you follow me on Twitter (laughing_coyote) you'll know about my coupons that I sent out yesterday ahead of the elections.  Use the coupon code AUGGIE4PREZ for 10% off or POPE4PREZ for free shipping on any item but the coupons end Nov 6th (election day).

More stuff up this weekend, I promise!  I almost have three baby dolls finished, and just found some cut out stick donkeys (more on THOSE later) so they should be done, photographed and listed by Sunday.

Also, keep checking back for more costumes featured this month as well.

The Well Dressed Pirate

Hi All,

Alright, I know I'm a couple of weeks late, but in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sept. 19th, awesome day) I have decided to post some pictures of my "infamous" Pirate costume.

Now, let me say that I'm a HUGE Pirate fan (Not the baseball team, more of a Cubbies fan), but I do love the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and my favorite ride at Disney is Pirates of the Caribbean, so it's only fitting that one of my favorite costumes is the pirate costume that I have been cobbling together for a few years now (OK, about 2 decades).

Now, you will notice that Ms. Matilda and I do not wear the same size.  I'm just $80 short of the money I need to take this workshop to make a shell to put over her that is more my size (reminder, the birthday is coming up at the end of the month... hint, hint).  So the costume will look a wee bit off kilter.  Sorry for that. :(

Alright, I'm going to start with Ms. Matilda with nothing on as a base.

OK, that's a little blurry, but the rest of the pictures should be pretty clear.

Anyway, so you start with Matilda standing in the corner of the sewing room, then you add the first layer.

Chemise and pants, now I'll be pointing out the stuff that I did NOT make.  I didn't make the shirt, but I did make the pants, and if you can't see the fabric (which is awesome) here's a close up.

Yup, if you can't have happy skulls and crossbones, why have skulls and crossbones at all?

Next we have some skirts, I'm a girl Pirate after all....

Don't have a close up of this fabric, but it's a rayon (I KNOW, icky, but I love how it hangs) fabric.  It's like a dupioni, in that it changes color slightly depending on the angle you look at it, and like I said it's very nice and silky feeling with out that silk price. This is also one of the oldest pieces of the costume. I made it back when I was in college, and there are a couple of issues with it in that it's a bit narrow in the hem, and bit tight at the waist (I've gained some weight over the years) and it's a bit long (I trip over it if I'm not careful).  The length though in away adds to the costume, you might notice a notch on the hem of the skirt, well that skirt has been drug through fields and tripped on and caught on boots and everything else and the hem is a bit tore up, but that just makes it look a bit more authentic.

This skirt is one of my favorite skirts (and since I LIVE in jeans and pants that's saying a lot.  This is a plain yellow broadcloth skirt. It has it's own name, the Compass Skirt.  If you notice you can see three knots, one in the middle of the hem and one one each side, there are actually four in all, making the cardinal points of a compass.

And yes, it's a wee bit short, good thing that I have a longer skirt under it.

One last skirt!  This one is a three tier skirt that I did not make.  You can't see on this picture, but there are some rips and tears on this one as well.

Enough with skirts, all proper female pirates have to have a good bodice.  Here's mine.

This is where you can totally tell that Matilda and I are not the same size.  OK, I did not make this bodice.  I don't make corsets or bodices, so this I picked up at... TRF? I think (Texas Renaissance Festival for those of you that are not from Texas).  It's been a few years.  I like it because it's reversible. The other side is blue, but I like the brown when I'm doing the pirate persona.

So, I don't have a cool leather swashbuckling belt (I do have a cool leather belt for my court dress, but not the pirate costume).  I actually couldn't find any of my belts two years ago when I was getting ready to volunteer at the Dallas Zoo's Halloween Nights and my roommate came up with an awesome idea, use an old curtain tie back.  I think it looks very luxurious.

Remember how I mentioned that the red skirt was too long? Well, here's what a good (or bad) Pirate wench does to fix that.  She hikes her skirts up and tucks them into her belt.

And here's that it looks like from the side.

Now for the fun stuff, ACCESSORIES!  So a pirate wouldn't be cool unless they had a way to protect themselves, first off:

Start with a knife tucked up so you won't necessarily see it, especially if you are wearing something over it.



Add a couple of pistols (these are from a costume store, so are totally safe for around the kiddos, you can even see the orange "Safety" tip on the one to your left, Matilda's right).  I want to get some reproductions guns eventually, but I need to plunder a few more ships.

Who says shawls are for fancy ladies? (Please note, I almost forgot this piece, that's why the coat is laying on the floor for a moment, had to go back and put it on).  And the plus side of the hip shawls? It hides the knife at your back for the most part! I didn't make the shawl, not really sure where I picked it up at, but I actually have two of them somehow!

What does the Well Dressed Pirate wear when it's cold out side? A Fabulous coat of course!  This is the newest finished part of this outfit and one of my favorite bits.  Much like Jack Sparrow, my compasses don't work either, but at least I have a map, actually quite a few maps.

Here are some close ups.

This is an awesome Robert Kaufman which I picked up, something like 5 years or more ago, so unfortunately it is no longer available.

And look at these FANCY buttons! Fit for a Captain for sure.  I believe that these are JHB International buttons but I can't find them at this second on the website.

Side note: I did find that JHB has AWESOME Steampunk buttons, I must check these lovely things out soon!

Last couple of things, including a sword and something for those cold nights on watch in the crow's nest.  Picked these up at at costume shop, the sword two years ago, the fingerless mitts last year (for the roommate, but I don't know that she's going to do the pirate thing again this year).

Last but not least, what is a pirate with out an awesome hat?  Jack has his, and Barbarossa's is grand in the extreme.  Here's mine from The Hat People at Scarborough (they don't make this any more in wool).

I usually wear this on top of a head scarf, but since Matilda doesn't have a head......

And here are some detailed shots.

I love cameos, and what could be better than combining that with Pirates!  I got this beauty on EBay.

The hat from the side.

Most of these feathers I got from Milliner Supply Company in Downtown Dallas.  Unfortunately they are no longer in business.

So, there you are, the well dressed pirate.  If you want to see ME in this costume, you'll have to wait.  I might be volunteering again at Halloween Nights at Dallas Zoo (if so I'll be there the 25th and 26th) and I will for sure by at Texas Renaissance Festival on the 28th (going for my birthday). If you can find me, feel free to take a picture, but for right now, I don't have any in costume.  After Halloween.... we'll see.

Oh and by the by, don't forget that I have an Etsy's shop. Drop on by some time and please, buy something.

So much done, so little pictures

Hi all!

Ok, so I'll be doing a few posts over the next few days since I still have to show all of my projects that I've finished for myself in the past few weeks, but in the mean time, here's what I've been up to....

Or at least what I've been up to in the last week or so.

First off, I'm still contributing to the Falling Skies Blog. If you look at the side bar where stuff is categorized look for "Author Tammy" and you'll find my stuff.

Second, my inventory at Etsy is growing by leaps and bounds, head on over and check out the latest stuff I've got posted. Pictures below for the newest item up for sale then back to the update for all my blog buddies.

So today we went and took glass blowing classes with Aaron Tate at Marrs Art Studio here in Dallas. He had a Groupon a few months back, and since Tracy has always wanted to try it out, we decided it would be a great way to celebrate her getting through her EKG class (more on that later).

I'll post some pictures tomorrow when we are able to pick up our finished projects.  Good Night for now.

What to look forward to in the near future

Alrighty folks.  I know I've been busy posting to other blogs, but I PROMISE I have been working on stuff.

And I'm going to prove it very shotly.

I'm going to start this off by giving you some information on some of my more creative things that I've done in the last few years.

You want to know what it took to make this Rennisance inspired court dress:

Well, I'll be more than happy to let you know, and give you some awesome detailed pictures of all that stitching.


What about that pirate costume of mine (which I can't find a picture of right now to save my life).  Did I finally get Matilda's favorite coat finished?



Well, I've got news for you, and since things have been slow at my real job, I'll be able to post some stuff really, really soon.

Oh, and that Civil War dress? Where am I with this:



Well we'll let you know real soon (which is going to be the first major multi-part project we will be featuring as we finish all of the stuff that goes with this).

And am I EVER going to have more stuff up on Etsy?

Well, we'll let you know soon. So stay tuned!

Stuff I've been working on....

So my life does not totally revolve around sewing (shocking huh?).  I also have some outside interests so while I am trying to get some photos made of some of my current projects, I thought I would share with you some of the other stuff I've been working on.

As some of you might know, I have another blog here at Blogspot.  You can find it over at
The Blue Phoenix Inn it's a blog of my current DragonLance Campaign.  It's mostly just to remind the characters from week to week (or sometime more) what is going on.  It's pretty interesting, and I hope to fill in some gaps here soon so you don't have to be a complete insider to enjoy it.

Speaking of gaming.  I stumbled on this project thanks to Reaper Miniatures  and decided to help this guy out.  He's looking for stories from GameMasters all over the world to make into a possible book.  Have a look at his website here and look for my article (currently on the front page) or look for the post entitled "One on One.... with Tammy".

Anyone that knows me knows that I really, really like Falling Skies.  I have been helping out some here and there with some articles (as of right now I have two articles posted, and two more on the way) The blog is located here.

So, that's it for right now.  I've got some stuff ready to be put up here, just need to get pictures taken of them.

Quick update! Etsy site is OPEN!

Ok, folks, I have finally done it, I've broke down and asked my roommate to take some pictures and I've put up for sale 6 of the cutest sheep ever!

Head on over to my Etsy site at Laughing Coyote Quilts & Mercantile and have a look!

They wanna go home with yooooooou.

I'll be sweet and loving if you just take me home.

Don't make me beg, I don't got a mouth. :(

Look! It's (almost) a sewing room!

Sooo, after much procrastination, I have finally almost maybe finished the dang sewing room.  Just have a few odds and ends to organize, and .... well, I'll let you see the little issue in a moment.  Shall we have a little tour?

Ok, so here's is the view as you walk into the room, as you can see, there's still a few things here and there that need to be sorted out, but it looks a HECK of alot better than it did.

So, ever sewing room should have an ironing board, and this one is no exception.  Mine is on this spiffy over the door contraption that doubles as a place to hand stuff.

Here we have an EXCELLENT example of re-purposing.  The white cabinet on the left has been a towel hamper/medicine chest, and a clothes storage cabinet.  Now it's holding the over flow of my fabric.  The book shelf on the right is a new addition because I realized the built in shelves weren't big enough for my collection of crafty books.  On top of the bookshelf are some quilting squares, and a dress that I've been meaning to finish for a while with a few other unfinished project that I dug up while going through all the stuff in the room.

Here we have a several things, here that I need to find a better place for, but for those of you that are looking for a design board in your room, you might notice the space that is above the bookshelf and the baskets of yarn (and BOTH of those baskets are full of yarn).  I have hung a piece of polyester quilt batting that should do the trick.

Half of the bookshelves of DOOM with some of my collection of books.  Below that is a built in that supposed to be a desk, but I have found it's a great place to store sewing machines that you aren't using at the moment (sorry, forgot to take a picture of that).  Below that is storage for things that I don't use all the time like my lightbox and quilt batting (I love sewing but I'm SLOW).

If you've read the blog before, you'll have probably seen a shot similar to this.  It's the book case of fabric.... Oooooooh, and next to it is another re-purposed piece of furniture, this hold all the little odds and ends stuff like scissors and pens and such.

And what Dressing Matilda blog post would be complete without a picture of the gal herself? (Ok, a lot of them, actually looking back at things).  Behind her is the other bookshelf.  The drawers underneath the bookshelf house the pattern collection (which I sometimes think is larger than the fabric collection).

Various quilty stuff is hung up on the accessible, but out of the way.

Look, more fabric.  This one in a curio like cabinet that matches the book shelf.  Eventually there will be things that are moved out of here, and I'll put some of the little doo-dads (buttons, snaps) etc here, but for now, it's almost all fabric all the time.  Next to it is yet again a re-purposed cabinet (waste not, want not) that used to be a free standing pantry. The top of it has some of my pirate collection (actually it's sort of all over the place in here, but you can see it best in this picture.

This is the cabinet opened, we've got lace, and ribbon, and all sorts of trim in there.  And a few works in progress.  You can also see the top of the dress I've been working on (more about that later).

Here is my dress top, like I said, ready for the skirt that I am still working on.  My problem? Well, I don't have a proper set of hoops so until I get those done, I can't figure out how long the skirt needs to be so,  well you get the point.  This is the closet in the room, my sewing room used to be a bedroom, so of course I had to figure out what to do with it......

Lucky for us we have a LOT of costumes, so it's getting put to good use.  Underpinning and accessories in the drawers and hanging thingie and clothes hanging up.

Ok, not the best picture, but you can see what else we have used the closet for, those are bolts of fabric, anything that is over, oh four yards or so.  And they go all the way across the closet and there are a few bolts going back the other way.

So, here we have my bulletin/inspiration board, and some more things I have to finish up.  Like making clothes for all those poor rag dolls so they can go up on Etsy, and getting photos done of the poor sheep in the top plastic box so they can go to home too.

So, you might notice that there is one thing missing from the sewing room.  A sewing machine.  Well, here is where it's SUPPOSED to go.....

However, the sewing machine is right now out in the front room? Why? Well, you'll notice the TV in the closet picture above? I love watching TV while I sew, but I don't have a DVD player or anything to go with the TV in the closet, so until I can get around to getting one of those (or break down and get a wireless DVR) I'm designing in the sewing room and sewing in the front room.  Sigh.

Hope you've enjoyed the tour.  Look for more detailed information on the dress (and that pirate coat) soon!