The Present

Fresh iron-on paper did indeed solve the problem, and Joanne's birthday present was finished yesterday morning before the party.

I gave her a roller derby teddy bear. (Yes, my sister plays roller derby). The Build a Bear Workshop in the Tucson Mall had most of what I needed. They even had rollers that could be added to the bottom of any shoe to turn it into a skate (which was the real sticking point) and little red bear panties (because let's face is, if the bear's going to play roller derby, they're going to end up in the air sooner or later).

What they didn't have was an appropriate skirt, which is how I ended up sewing a black, A-line teddy bear skirt by hand. It actually came out fairly well, despite a couple of screwed up stitches and the fact that I didn't bother binding the edges, etc. I used two of the pirate stickers--a skull in a pirate hat--on the outsides of the roller skates. And the iron-on was to get her team logo (she plays for the Surly Gurlies, a pirate-themed team) onto the T-shirt. I found exactly one graphic of their merchandise shirt online, and Nina did me the great favor of applying her mad Photoshop skillz to it so it was a little less pixelated than it otherwise would have been.

Joanne was just delighted. I wish I'd had a camera for the look on her face.