Zap! I Made You An Umbrella!

Tessie hid for quite a while after I threatened to change her into an umbrella yesterday.....In fact, she was still hiding this morning when I went to get her for the final photo of this project.

No. I didn't make her an umbrella. I made her an umbrella. I started with a couple of index cards, some fabric to cover, trim, a cone finding and a piece of copper wire.

First I made a pattern that was curved at the bottom and just a slight S curve on each side of a triangle. The wider and longer you make the pattern, the larger the umbrella.

This one is permanently open. Nothing fancy. As Tessie said, she needs it now. It is still raining buckets outside.

The center example in the first photo is the shape to cut the fabric, so that it will go around the piece smoothly. The last one is how it looks glued.I did seven pieces just the same. Then I curved the bottom downwards and the top point upwards on each piece. After that it was simply a matter of sticking all of the sides together in a circle.

Here you see two of the panels glued together on the left and five glued together on the right.

Yes, you can see a bit of glue sticking out between the two on the left. That's OK. It will be covered with trim after everything is glued together.I cut panels the same size as the index card to glue to the inside. I will cover the seams in there also.

For the handle, I cut a piece of copper wire and curled it in a cone shape on one end and a hook shape on the other. You could use a thin piece of wood and get really fancy, but keep in mind, I had Tessie tugging at me and whining about getting rained on.

I did manage to get some trim on the outside before she grabbed it.

I told her that she was going to have to pose on the back porch for the final photo....

She got the strangest look on her face and replied, "But it's raining out there! I will melt!!!".

I told her that statement was just a myth. Witches don't melt in the rain, or in the bathtub, or washing dishes.... Then I shoved her out the door and closed it.
She ran and stood under the porch swing. She hopped from one foot to the other and whinged,"It's cold! My feet are turning blue! My fingers are numb."

I timed it. she was out there for all of 23.5 seconds. I took photos through the window in the back door...

Then I let her back in the house.

She threw the umbrella at me and stomped away. She is now rummaging through my yarn stash. She wants a sweater and leg warmers to match....

She hasn't learned yet. If she gets those, I will have to shove her out the back door again when it snows to see if they are thick enough to keep her warm in freezing weather....

This time I am going to warn her ahead of time. It will save me a lot of knitting if she opts to stay inside where it's nice and warm...

See you tomorrow.