One Crafty Broad: Ms. Flutterby

Okay, y'all. Back to Sam the Dragon. This little dude has been part of my life for the last decade, and he's been hangin' with The Hubbs since the 1980's.

The comic strip is totally adorable and suitable for all ages, so check it out. Maybe even bookmark it (hint, hint). It updates with new content every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

The main cast of characters includes Sam the Dragon, Corny the Unicorn, Zen the Fish and Ms. Flutterby. You've all met Sam, Corny and Zen already, so I think it's about time we introduce the muscle: Ms. Flutterby.

Now, I've done plenty of amigurumi plushes in the past, but I decided to get majorly picky about Ms. Flutterby. I didn't want her to look like any other crochet doll, and I put a lot of thought into how certain things would work. Her hair, for instance, is different from anything I've ever done:

Her head and body are all one continuous piece, no sewing involved, and her arms are movable thanks to the way they've been attached (hint: safety eyes ain't just for makin' pretty faces, y'all). A little hand-embroidering on the mouth and bodice of her dress to add some sweet little details.

And, of course, she has to wear panties. It wouldn't be proper for a lady to go commando, after all. Oh, and can't forget the ballet flats and crown! A girl needs her accessories. And it never hurts to have Leroy Jethro Gibbs behind you.

Next, her skirt:

The wings...that was interesting. Here's a hint as to how I tackled this particular obstacle: pipe cleaners. I bent and twisted them into the shape I wanted and crocheted around it, smooshing the stitches very close together to cover the green pipe cleaner so it wouldn't show through the pretty blue wings.

Then I basically went nuts with a needle and the yarn, making a kind of spider webby pattern to fill in the wings. Reinforcing the center so they wouldn't pull apart was a bit of a bulky job, and I think I'll be modifying that process for future Flutterbys. Once that was done, I attached the wings to her back and voila! Instant fairy.