#third hand

Praising the Third Hand (it's what I don't actually call the friends I still have) for Thanksgiving. Been a rough one, but they've been there for me. @shuunnico @silviawinterart @ilovekimpossiblealot

The stencil design is available on Redbubble.

Oc-tober: Hobbies with the Bounty Hunters

Talent with the Main Trio

Power with the Anarchists

OC Explanation: This story has ALOT of characters and story beats, but for the sake of sticking to Oc-Tober and making my life less painful lol, Im focusing on only these three groups and who they are. Tbh I already got halfway through the entire story they’re from but.... Im soooooooo exhausted?? Id much rather just do blurbs focusing on the characters and who they are as people than on the plot plz. So here:

In a magical world where young girls get transported to live happily as whatever they want to be, troubles begin to bubble.

The main trio are a Tsarina, a Ballerina and a Fishergirl. 

The Tsarina is quick to take on responsibilities, enjoys being in charge, and has a motherly attitude. Though she usually has too much on her plate, she always manages to work things out, and it’s led to her being a bit too confident that things will work in her favor. She’s been mighty lucky after all. Still, she’s a hardworker, and loves doting on Ballerina and Fisher by fussing over them when they’re hurt and buying them trinkets or treats whenever they stop at a merchant’s store. Ballerina gets embarrassed by this and waves her off, Fisher doesn’t mind.

The Ballerina doesn’t mind helping Tsarina or others when they need it, but unlike both her teammates, she’s not as quick to jump into it. She’s, to put it bluntly, more selfish and self-serving. She has a headstrong personality, she enjoys being the center of attention, and she’s quick to hold a grudge when people treat her wrong. She started out joining the quest just to get out of a Manor full of crybabies, but the more time she spent with Tsarina and Fisher the closer she grew. By the time they’re on their third adventure, she realized she can’t just leave them like she originally planned. They’re nice to her.; Tsarina always validates her and Fisher takes her side in everything. They’re friends. She begrudgingly stays and sees things through.

The Fishergirl is the youngest and smallest. She’s quick and clever, but trusting and eager to please. She’s like Tsarina, she loves helping others, but she prefers taking orders. She can’t really think for herself.... yet. She gets babied a lot by Tsarina and even Ballerina. They always treat her first, and block her from any big damage or danger. Along the way, Fisher will learn to form her own opinions, and trust her own gut. 

The Bounty Hunters consist of the Bounty Boss, Second Hand (pointy hat) and Right Hand (Big braids). 

Before Bounty Boss came to be boss, Second Hand was in charge. She hated it. She was good at what she did, but she’s lazy as heck. Right Hand watched as Second Hand squirmed under the weight of responsibilities, laughing to herself. She would tease Second Hand but never help. She found it too amusing. Then the hot-headed Boss came in with a batch of newbies, and she challenged Second Hand to a duel for the position. Naturally, Second Hand made herself lose. Bounty Boss beamed at her new title. Right Hand found her adorable. Over time, she learned the ropes, and to Second Hand’s surprise, became an actually good boss. With the help of Right Hand’s patient assistance and Second Hand’s already big reputation, Boss became respected and renown. She was effective at hunting people down.... too effective. The cases got slimmer and the adventures are fizzling out. Bounty Boss is getting restless to get back into action!

The Anarchists should actually include more girls but uh, I’m focusing on these two cuz they’re my main. 

In this world that is meant to bring every girl’s fantasy into reality, there is a single Bride. A Bride... with no groom. What an oversight on whoever is in charge. Ever since she was brought in, she’s sent letter after letter of complaint. But the Capital never sends her the responses she wants. No answer as to why she’s here, no way to get her the groom she wants, and always told at the end of each reply, to just live life as best she can. The Bride is done playing nice. If she can’t get what she wants because of the system, she is going to BREAK IT. 

And the first to join her cause is... surprisingly, the Mailman. 

The Mailman loves her job. She loves meeting all the people in her route, hearing about what’s going on between them, seeing the joy she can bring with a package. It’s a mundane job, but it’s one she loves. Then came the Bride. She always dreaded bringing her her letters from the Capital. They only ever frustrated the Bride more. When the Bride opened up on what they were about (over tea, she was very courteous to the Mailman and always served her a drink afterwards. The Mailman is flattered), the Mailman fully realized that... her situation truly is unfair. The Mailman loves her job, and she’s seen so many others like her that enjoy their life here but, if there’s people like the Bride who can’t have what they want... there needs to be a change. The Mailman of course agrees to join. She leaves behind her job, and becomes the co-conspirator of the Anarchist movement. And the more they do and the more they fight others, they closer these two will get. The Mailman is the first to realize how deep her loyalty will go. But ultimately, she knows how this should all end. 

The Bride is looking for a groom.  

A third hand or sewing clamp is a really nice tool to have if you do a lot of hand sewing!  I first ran across this tool when I was really big into kimonos and interested in sewing my own wafuku.  Others had said that hand sewing produces a far superior drape when you’re working with silk, versus machine sewing.  As someone who has thought “pffft, I’m under a time crunch and I really need this kimono done and it’s just a bunch of straight lines anyway,” and then proceeded use a sewing machine to turn a beautiful antique karinui into something that looked like a saggy trashbag, I agree.  :I   The worst part is that I already owned a third hand and it would have made my hand sewing very fast, I just refused to use it.

The third hand pretty much does what its name implies - it give you a third point of attachment to place tension on fabric so you can sew faster.  Part of the third hand screws onto your table or working surface, and the other one gently clamps onto the fabric.  The one I own is below, and it looks like you can buy them new for around $15.  (There’s also this totally sweet Victorian vintage one that looks awesome?? I don’t know how well it grabs the fabric though.)

So yeah, just an extra grabby hand so you can baste and sew quickly:

And it’s also AMAZING for seam ripping quickly.  Both of these gifs weren’t sped up, that’s how fast I’m actually moving.

This is the artwork for one of the songs me and my band (Nostalgia Cage) recorded a few months back titled “Third Hand.” I took hundreds of black and white photographs to create a balance of man/nature/machine that I felt captured the intended aesthetic and subject matter of the song. Obviously inspired by reading Stelarc’s essay, Third Hand. :) 

I’m trying to catch up on my tumblr posts in the next few days, lol, it’s been a while!

Stelarc, “Third Hand”