It’s not often that a patterns leaves me scratching my head. And when it does, I’m often not sure if the problem is the pattern, or me over-thinking it. In this case I was making a teeny-tiny zipper pouch, a free pattern available on Craftsy. The pattern instructions don’t have much in the way of […]
Read MoreI had identified two main sources for the problem with keeping the dress where it was supposed to be: the fabric’s tendency to relax, and lack of a support structure. The first thing I did was add a stay-tape, something I first ran into in corsetry: inch-wide twill tape, in this case fitted snugly right under the […]
Read MoreJust recently I bumped into a huge weakness of the mock-up: you do not wear them all day. If you sew garments, at some point or another you will come across the advice to always make a mock-up. Also called a muslin, calico, or toile, it’s a test version of the garment that lets you fine tune […]
Read MoreThere is something just a little bit insane about cosplay¹. We—the fans—look at something that usually exists only in a 2D world and decide “I am going to replicate that. In my spare time. On a budget. And I am going to make it awesome.” Crazy, right? Add to that the fact that many of us—probably most […]
Read MoreAfter watching Donna Kato’s video on image transfers I decided to give it another shot. The key seems to be to use a really really light touch once you start getting close to the clay. I had some moderate success this time around. This oroborus only smudged on one edge, with is doing pretty good. However these […]
Read MoreThese jellyfish charms are super cute and I’ve been eager to try this out for a while. The biggest change I made is that the tentacles and the top (body?) of mine are separate, allowing for some movement. But do you notice that one at the end? That blue one that looks a little lonely?
Read MoreI’ve come across numerous tutorials describing how to transfer toner images to polymer clay using only water or rubbing alcohol. It’s probably the most frequently cited technique I’ve found, even more common than the liquid clay technique. So of course I’ve tried it—and I must be missing something. The first thing I learned—which I’ve only […]
Read MoreI can’t do much hand knitting. So when I wanted to make my own socks, I went looking to see if there was any way to knit socks on the machine. Many of the tutorials I found require a machine with a ribber, which I would love to own but don’t. This technique has some […]
Read MoreIt probably says something about the kind of household I live in that the notion of making my own shoes didn’t seem that strange or extreme to me. I mean, hell, we have a whole book on the subject, and the internet is full of tutorials and ideas and even patterns. But out there in […]
Read More…Because sometimes I really do try to Do All the Things. I’m perfectly happy to buy commercial or pre-made items for most things. But when I can’t find what I need, am not happy with the options available, or know I could make a better or cheaper version, then my next thought is “how can […]
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