Making Transparent Background of Crochet Doily in Photoshop

I've been working on making graphics for junk journaling. I like to take photos of crochet doilies and lace I see at antique stores and thought I'd try making transparent pngs of them to use as clip art for backgrounds and such. I could also print them as is with a white background.

So here is the image I'm going to start with:

I'd normally use the Quick Selection Tool to remove objects from backgrounds but there would be too much to fix here with all the holes.

Instead, I'll be making the selection via Color Range. Go to Select > Color Range and use the dropper to select the color of the doily (or of the background color but it wasn't as effective for me in this photo) in the Selection box.

I kept clicking on the doily until it got as dark as possible in the Selection box and then adjusted the Fuzziness so it'd increase the range of colors selected. Then I checked Invert so it would select the background instead of the doily. Click OK.

As you can see, the selection is not perfect. It still has bits of the background but that can be easily removed. But first!! Make sure the layer is not locked and then use the delete/backspace key to remove the selected background. I made a new layer below it and filled it with a dark color so I could see everything easier.

Then use the Eraser Tool with a small brush size with 100% hardness to remove the leftovers. 

I also removed the tag but not the string that was tied onto the crochet since it blends in anyway.

And here is the transparent image!~

I like to keep the image at a large size since it's easier to size down for projects rather than have Photoshop try to resample everything. 

Gingermelon Li'l Luvs Unicorn Doll

 

I've wanted to make Gingermelon's patterns for so many years and decided to start with the Li'l Luvs Unicorn pattern.

I had some leftover purple unicorn fabric by Timeless Treasures that I got from fabric.com (before it moved to Amazon?!) years ago and thought it'd be funny to make a dress with it for a unicorn.

I also had various laces from Laces on TaoBao (that I mostly bought for sweet lolita sewing) and scrap yarns (handspun or from Michaels).

Instead of embroidering the eyes, I wanted to try lashes. I stitched on some 18mm mink lashes that I cut in half. I would've tried gluing but I didn't have any around but I think stitching it into place may be more secure.

I didn't plan out the colors for the mane. I just knew I wanted to use the pink/orangey handspun yarn for some texture and then I just grabbed random worsted weight yarns I had around.

I really like this pattern as it's not too simple. It has more pattern pieces than a basic flat pattern but it's not complicated. There are only a few darts to sew and most of the pieces are sewn with the right sides out using blanket stitch.

I'm already starting another with purple felt!

Unicorn Embroidery

I finally got this punch needle kit out that I got from Michaels like a year ago. I think I bought the wrong type of needle for it because it was difficult to push the needle through the fabric and the thread would come undone every time. The punch needle stuff was sold out in stores for so long so I decided to embroider it instead.

 I did a loop stitch for the body, satin stitch for the blush, and back stitch for everything else. I used some metallic gold thread to add more details. I also used some of the felt flowers from the kit along with some nail art rhinestones and sequins.

I did a leaf stitch to make some little wings.

I wanted the mane to be more pastel-y so I only used the lighter colors from the yarn included and then added in some leftover handspun yarn I had around and some Teeswater locks. 

To cover the bottom, I crocheted some flowers out of #10 cotton thread and a 1.5mm hook.

And then I painted the background with some watercolors.

Faerie Court Seraphine Cosplay (2023 Halloween Costume)

One of my favorite Seraphine skins. I got the costume and wig from Role Cosplay. The wig doesn't match 100% but I was planning on customizing it later. 

The costume doesn't include the faerie wings or the mic (which I didn't really have enough time or money to buy) so I used my small pink fancy forest sprite wings from BryingRaven and figured the mic wasn't necessary for Halloween.

The fabric quality is just okay, the prints are nice though. 

The bodice fabric is thick and it has a side zipper which can be difficult to zip sometimes. I was afraid the pants wouldn't fit but they're actually very stretchy. I wore black shorts underneath them.

Unfortunately, all the pieces with wire easily get misshapen with any movement so the skirt would often get crumbled up and the headpiece would fall over. I was thinking about modifying those pieces later to add more stability.

Another issue is that the larger sizes are basically just wider and don't have added length so if you have DD+ cup, the skirt is barely going to cover your butt.

Either way, I think it was worth buying since my attempts at DIY-ing those gradients would have probably turned out bad.

Fairy Queen Coat

I've had the Fairy Queen Coat pattern in my queue for years but kept putting it off for other projects. Plus when it was first released, it only had 1 or 2 sizes and it didn't seem like the pattern was actually tested or tech edited so people kept finding mistakes. But it got updated and now it goes up to size 3XL.

(I finished it back in March, just never got around to taking photos.)

I tried to use up yarn I already have so I chose this lavender acrylic yarn. Otherwise, I would have gone with cotton. I ran out of yarn so my "coat" is much shorter and I modified the sleeves. My notes are on Ravelry.