Behind the scenes: a sneak peek at my process

A lot of what I make is directly tangible from the outset — the Wee Fabric Houses that I make from upcycled thrifted fabrics come together physically, piece at a time. On the other hand, the houses and puppets that I make from fabric custom-printed with my illustrations have quite a lengthy process behind them before there's anything physical.

I've been working away on some new house and puppet designs, but since it will be about a month before my latest fabric order arrives, I thought I'd share a bit about my process, and give you some sneak peeks on what's coming!

When I have an idea for a new project, I begin doing some preparatory sketches, and then move toward refining those drawings. Each piece for each puppet or house is drawn separately using template pieces that I created for myself, but if I've got a new house shape in mind, then I create a new pattern to work from. For instance, my Japanese Teahouse and Chickadee House use the same pattern (except of course for the hole/door in the side of the birdhouse!), but for my Gingerbread House, I changed the width of the house and the pitch of the roof, to suit what I was trying to achieve.

After I'm happy with my pencil drawings, I trace them with a marker-like pen, which gives me a looser, more expressive quality of linework. I then scan these tracings, and begin the process of colouring on the computer. Through a series of layers with various digital brushes, I build up tone and texture, often reworking areas repeatedly until I'm happy with how it's coming together. Each new house takes about a week and a half to finish illustrating, and each puppet about 4 days.

I then prepare my files for uploading to Spoonflower, fitting my pattern pieces as efficiently as possible (like Tetris pieces!) into the 42" by 36" yard dimensions. After submitting my order, I *patiently* wait the 3-4 weeks for my fabric order to arrive, then cut out all the pieces and sew them together into happy little puppets and houses, and voila!

Sketch for one of the sidewalls for a new Wee Fabric House: The Gnome Home!

Each Gnome Home will come with a wee Gnome stuffie.

Gnome after he's been digitally painted.

Sketch for the head of a new puppet: a raccoon!

Preparatory sketch for a new fox puppet. 

Finished cover for my new fox puppet kit (yes, kits!)

Sketches for a new Wee Fabric House: a barn, complete with farm animal finger puppets.

Some of the final pieces for the barn, laid out for printing.