Crochet Food
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009And a new obsessio begins.. amigurmi.
Archive for the ‘crafting’ Category
busy getting things made
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008I’ve been neglecting this site because I’ve been busy loving on our little bundle of joy (she’s 6 weeks already!) and sewing when I get free time. I have some posts in the works, so hold tight — well, not too tight, it’ll probably be a couple weeks (being honest here) — and I should have some detail heavy posts about fabric dying and baby shower gifts galore!
Crafting Away
Sunday, December 16th, 2007| www.flickr.com
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I’ve been busy working on a secret santa gift the past couple days. Today I made the following two craft items:
- Cloth Tissue Holder: This was a pretty straight forward craft. I altered it a bit to add the finished edge I wanted and will post a pic as soon as I get some taken and uploaded.
- Cloth Snap Box: I made this out of some fun flannel that I had laying around. Instead of stitching and turning, I just put some decorative thread in my overlock machine and serged around the edges. I finally got to use my snap press machine to add plastic snaps and it seems like a nice enough toy/box for a little boy.
On Friday, I made four other gifts for the exchange:
- Cloth Grocery Sack: This was a bit different than a cloth shopping bag — instead of the paper-bag shape, this is modeled off a plastic bag and whips up right quick. This sewed up really fast and I might make a couple more just to keep in the car for when I leave my bag of cloth bags at home or for when I just need one bag.
- Bean Frog: This was made mostly just for fun, I wanted to add some sort of fun whimsical items and this pattern was super easy. I used some leftover toile from a previous curtain project and paired it with some wild, metallic gold dot fabric. It seems that this project really inspired Chris somehow and he spent part of today working on some machine tool plushies. While sewing this up, I tried a new suggestion I just learned — draw the pattern on the fabric and sew along the line drawn, then cut it out. This worked really well and I’ll probably try that again on other smaller items.
- Hot Cocoa Mix: I mixed up a batch of this hot cocoa mix and poured it into two caning jars. One is for us to try and the other is for my secret santa gift. She said that she likes dark chocolate so I hope she’ll enjoy this. I was hoping that we’d get to test it out before mailing this out, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. I’m just gonna have to trust Alton Brown for now.
- Socks Turned Hand Warmers: I need to get a tutorial up on how to make these. This was my third pair and I changed several of the steps, making it much faster this time around.
All in all, it seems like it’ll be a nice little gift and now I’ve practiced several of the items that I’ll probably be making for some other people for Christmas too.
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fire barrel art
Sunday, May 1st, 2005I needed an [art] project for the spring [Playa del Fuego]. I thought that a [burn barrel] would be a good start. I’ve been seeing more people bringing their own burn barrels and ever since [Kathleen|Kathleen Ellis] made hers, I’ve been dying to make mine. And so, began the quest for my very own.
First, I need materials:
- 1 steel 55-gallon drum
- 1 plasma torch
Finding a barrel can be tricky. Ask around on local email lists, [burner] list, or [freecycle]. Also, check around your local industrial areas, sometimes they’ll set them out by the road to be taken away by those who want them. Keep in mind that you’ll gonna be putting a whole lot of flames on the inside and out, so pay attention to what it had in it. I lucked out and found one down by the workshop I could use. However, if you’ve got an extra $50-60, buy a brand new one, you’ll thank me when it comes time for cutting and it’ll last longer.
A friend up the street had a plasma torch I could borrow. An amazing thing, a plasma torch is. It just uses a little air and electricity (well, a lot of electricity) and cuts right through the metal. It takes a little while to get used to the way it handles, but it didn’t take long to complete the design–
oh yeah, design. Well, I made several and decided against them when I got over to Bill’s house. And then, once I got the plasma torch going, I realized that it was pointless planning too much detail and better to just go with the [air]flow. I wanted stars (what a surprise) and nature and the design just worked out in the end.
Process: use the plasma torch to cut your design. My barrel was covered in a fine layer of rust, so the cuts were not perfectly smooth. In the few areas that were rust free, the plasma torch slid through them effortlessly–a new barrel would make intricate designs easier. Pay careful attention to what you’re cutting, you don’t want to accidently cut the wrong part and end up with a giant hole. Make sure there is enough vents toward the bottom so that the fire gets enough oxygen. And, I learned that they provide convenient access to lighting the fire too.
Final suggestion: practice using the torch on scrap metal before cutting your barrel. also, understand your design and how the lines work, you really don’t want to cut across the wrong line and lose the entire thing.
Images show the barrel that was used, some of the finer detail lit with fire, and the two main designs with and without fire.
magnets
Friday, January 17th, 2003Magnets everywhere. I found online directions and bought the glass marbles, magnets, and silicone sealer. It took me 4 stores to get those 3 items, I suggest anyone just plan on finding the silicone at the hardware store and save a few trips. Although, I read that another popular adhesive in craft stores is the same thing. I’ll have to go look up which one they were talking about. My seven-year-old daughter helped make all of them. She could actually make these all by herself if she wanted to.
photos added 02.17.2003
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