Jasmine (Aladdin) – Amigurumi #53

I can show you the world,
Shining shimmering, plushy,
Tell me, Pika, now when did you last
finish a project?~ (8)

A whole new plushhhhhh~
A cute mini I never made,
But when I’m way down here,
It’s crystal clear,
that now I’m in a plushie world with you~

At long last, my Princess Jasmine plush has been completed! I call her Jasmini, for reasons you will see later in the blog. Though one reason is that she doesn’t have a mouth, and therefore she is speechless. Heh? HEH?!!!!??! 😀 (Click on “speechless” to get the joke, and enjoy a lovely song)

I used the same head, arms, and body shape as Ariel. Jasmine was a bit more of a challenge to make than Ariel, due to having those…what are they called? Oh, feet.

Pre-styled hair

She also needed a LOT more hair. Sadly to say that this final result doesn’t have the “volume” I was hoping for. Perhaps I should rub the lamp, and wish for a new way to make her hair thick and luxurious?

And yes, I am aware that I used the same skin tone for both characters. I consider these prototypes, hence they are not available in the shop. These two are good friends; they even take selfies together! Further research shows that these two often appear together, outside of their respective movies.

#disneyPrincess #damselsInSuccess

If I recall correctly, Jasmine was my first Disney princess. For my second Hallowe’en, at age 5, I dressed up as her. Mother Raichu even bought a dollar store hair extension to make my hair look super long. I wore the costume the following year to a Hallowe’en party, and kids asked “woah! Pika, is this really your hair?!”

That’s when I decided to grow my hair very long, “like a princess.” Sadly, having thick, naturally curly hair meant the Raichus would frequently chop it down once it got too long and tangled to manage. Years later, I would go to a whole new world; it gave me a new fantastic point of view. With no one to tell me no [you can’t have long hair,] or where to go [to get hair cut,] or say we’re only dreaming [of having long hair.] Okay, I’m done with that song.

On June 27, I finally saw the live action Aladdin! Naomi Scott was a good choice for Jasmine. The only thing I would change, was to make her hair look more cobra-like. If you look at animated Jasmine, her hair is in the silhouette of a cobra.

Here is a picture of me with Jasmini, wearing the Jasmine-themed romper I bought from Hot Topic. I’ve been excited to see the live action movie, since hearing that an old friend went to the same high school as Mena Massoud. Woo, Ontario represent! Also, Wash from Firefly, plays Iago the parrot? Huh. Guess we really couldn’t take the sky from him. Though technically, didn’t the sky take the Wash from us? Oops, Serenity spoiler.

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Anyway, when we went to see the new movie, I introduced Jasmini to bubble tea. She likes the papaya smoothie. For some reason, I think real Jasmine would have preferred mango.

Jasmini had the best seat in the house: in my hat! She enjoyed every second of the movie, and sang along whenever Jasmine was on screen. Well okay, she hummed along, due to not having a mouth. During the end of A Whole New World, the Mad Hatter leaned toward me. Jasmini booped his head.

Perhaps with another blog post, I will give a full review of the movie. I should re-watch the animated Aladdin at some point. I remember watching Return of Jafar, and I remember this song from the third installment. But oddly enough, I don’t remember the original “classic” that everyone raves about. Hopefully I will be able to rewatch the animated movie some time soon.

As a kid, I also liked Jasmine, because she looked the most like me. Growing up in Scarborough, Ontario during the late 90’s meant I was mostly surrounded by, well…. people who looked more like Ariel. And I never knew how to explain my heritage to people, since my parents were never clear on it, either. Now that I think about it, the best description of my heritage is similar to Jasmine’s: it’s an amalgamation of cities and cultures. Jasmine’s city of Agrabah is a made up city, that draws from Middle Eastern and Indian cultures. I was born here in Canada, my parents were born in another country, and our heritage is from another country. If that makes sense. Sometimes I recognize foods, words, and mannerisms in other cultures, that my parents taught me growing up. They aren’t the same, but they are similar. Jasmine’s outfit in the animated movie is different from what a Middle Eastern or Indian princess would wear during that time period, but it is inspired off outfits that real Harem women would have worn. And her hair was designed to imitate the towers of the Taj Mahal, which confused me about the cobra silhouette earlier. Point is, Jasmine is a lot of things. And so am I.

Also like Jasmine, I have felt pressure to do things a certain way because “it’s tradition.” Jasmine was supposed to marry a prince, because she was a princess and it was tradition for her to continue the royal bloodline. But she chose Aladdin/Prince Ali, not only for what he could give her materially, but because he helped her achieve the life of freedom she always longed for. For my family, it is against tradition to move out before getting married, and it was unheard of to fall in love with someone of a different culture. But then I met the Mad Hatter, and he helped encourage me to pursue my dreams. That ultimately gave me the courage to move out and pursue my own independence. Now I’m looking forward to my final year of college, and hope that one day I can create movies that inspire people, just like how Jasmine inspired me. All it took was a little going against the norm.

Who was your favourite Disney princess? Have you seen the new Aladdin movie? Comment below!

Pika, so happy~

Ariel (Little Mermaid) – Amigurumi #45

Look at this plush, isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you say that this project’s complete?
Wouldn’t you think I’m the girl… the girl who makes, everything? (8)

This is Ariel from The Little Mermaid. She’s pretty cute, if I do say so myself! I chose this combination of red and green, because they contrasted each other and really stood out. She looks pretty close to the original design, so I’d say this was a success.

The body and head shapes were easy. The hair was the hardest part. I felt discouraged at first, because the hair fibers looked much shorter once they were brushed out. I broke a few of the strands too, resulting in a waste of yarn in general. Sigh…

After some brushing and work with the hair straightener, the hair finally started to come together. I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn to make this hair, which is not recommended. The final product looks nice, and didn’t take much head to get it nice and smooth. (The iron was only 350 degrees) However, you can’t give this plush to a kid who likes to brush and style doll hair. The fibers of Super Saver get snagged in toy brushes, such as the ones that come with Barbie dolls. I had to pin up her hair while I sewed on the seashell bra and tail frill. Taking out the bobby pin after finishing the doll was very satisfying. It was like taking down your girl friend’s hair after doing her makeup, and asking her what she thinks.

Admittedly, I didn’t watch Little Mermaid all the way through until about 3 years ago! As a kid, I became a fan the same way some people become fans of Overwatch: through fan osmosis. In grade 1, I owned a two-piece outfit decorated with Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian. It looked like a pyjama set. Around this time, someone gave me a volume of the Little Mermaid TV series. I remember one episode where Ariel brought home a baby whale and hid it in her room, only for the whale to sneak out and interrupt one of the concerts in the palace. When everything falls into chaos, Sebastian says, “and dat, my friends, is what is meant by ‘bringing down de house.'” My dad told me ‘bringing down the house’ meant to annoy everyone. I took his word for it, because that’s exactly what the whale did.

Until Rapunzel came along in Tangled, Ariel was one of my most identifiable Disney princesses. Despite her father’s warnings, she risked everything to experience walking on land for the first time…even if it was primarily motivated by a guy she liked. I’m not saying that you should always disobey your parents; sometimes you have to think for yourself and make your own decisions in life. Sure, our parents love us and want what’s best for us. But what’s best for us, and what makes us happy, doesn’t always go hand-in-hand. When was the last time you heard a story of a person who did everything they were told, never took risks, and never thought for themselves? I worked with people who were Ariel’s age at my old job, and many of them lamented that they wanted to study art or learn a trade, but their parents were making them go to University. Having been in their situation at one point, all I could say is, “go with what your parents are saying for now. But as soon as you get the opportunity to do what you want, take it.” (I suppose this advice would better relate to Moana, another plush I hope to make)

Zzzzz…

Ariel’s decision wasn’t perfect; she got what she wanted, but at the cost of her voice. But she still made the best of what she had. Because she couldn’t speak, she could only listen to Eric. Even though it was mostly shown in montage, you could see that she enjoyed every minute of those three days on land. Well, two, if you include the day Ursula appears in human form. In the end, Eric saved her from Ursula, because he loved her. And he wouldn’t have realized he loved her, if she hadn’t risked everything to be with him… Many critics say that Disney princesses are sexist, but I think it’s about how you look at it. Some see Ariel as a story of “go ahead and make stupid mistakes. Your boyfriend will save you in the end.” I see it as, Ariel took that risk to ultimately become happy.

Late night snack

In the darker, original version of the tale, the little mermaid does not live happily ever after with the prince. However, she does have a happy ending: she is granted a chance to gain eternal happiness, by only doing good deeds for the next 300 years. I think the moral of The Little Mermaid remains the same: there is no pleasure, without pain.

Do you have gadgets and gizmos aplenty? Or whozits and whatsits galore? Which Disney character should be next? Comment below!

Pika, so happy~

Chibi Doll Base – Amigurumi #26

Last week’s post was postponed due to extended work on this project. Today’s blog was delayed because I was gathering pictures of our subject. Excuses aside, I present to you… Mini M!

Mini M is all ready to go to his new home.

Mini M is all dressed and ready to go to his new home.

Quick facts about this plushie

This is made from my improvised standard chibi base, using a big head and chunky body. The ribbon was suggested by Shoony, instead of wrapping the doll in tissue. His hair is sewn in strands using brown yarn. Yes, it was time consuming. Yes, it was worth every second. Eyes are made from scratch, not safety eyes.

The pattern is a change up from my original pattern that tried to make things look more realistic. See here, with a Mini Shoony doll made circa 2011.

Penguin Shoony doesn't approve

Penguin Shoony doesn’t approve

Perhaps I’ll remade this Shoony doll with the new pattern. Forget the “Draw This Again” meme, I’ll doing the “Make This Again” meme. 😛

But who is M, you ask? He’s one of Huggie Buddy’s roommates. And last Wednesday, M and I had one of the best days of this boring summer. We went for lunch, had froyo, watched the movie Stealth, and found a secluded area in the park that had couches. I also got a gigantic mosquito bite on the back of my leg. Woo…

Today, we had an adventure. M has been very kind to me, so it didn’t feel right to go over empty handed. And so I made the journey with Mini M and a bunch of homemade peanut butter cups.

Riding in Pika's Bag, to his new home.

Riding in Pika’s Bag, to his new home.

You can probably tell his eye is a bit messed up. While trying to make simple paint dots, the squeeze tube suddenly decided, “hey, know what this tiny squeeze needs? LOTS of paint!” BOOM! Gigantic blob of black paint. At first, I tried to fix it by scooping up the paint and duplicate stitching over the stained area. Then I tried painting it with a bit of white paint. Both… barely worked. M seemed happy nonetheless.

Famished from the journey

Famished from the journey

And yes, M was responsible for the hungry hungry Deku in the last post. 😛

Mini M always repays his debts.

Mini M always repays his debts.

Today was a day of movies and general cuddles. Hey, anyone else out there notice that Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a really long movie? Well, you don’t miss much by the end. John Cleese can call my mother a hamster any day. XP What a lovely day, sans the lactose intolerant tummy aches endured by yours truly. (You just HAD to get cheesecake bits on yours, huh, Pika? D: ) M was truly a sweetheart to cut our walk short just to take me to the nearby restaurant for the washroom. >_<;;; Here’s our selfie to commemorate the good parts of the day!

IMG_20150808_103109789

Pika introduces Mini M

I can’t wait to see M again! ^w^

Have you made something you want to retry? What other characters would you like made using this pattern? Comment below!

Pika, so happy~