Finally I made an About page. Complete with a very serious family portrait. It took weeks to find an opportunity for a family shoot because of short winter days and lack of friends who can navigate their way around my camera.
Making stuff, doodling, hugging trees and being suspicious of colour.
Friday, 21 June 2013
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Wool Felt Vases That Pack Flat
Floppy felt fail? No way. This baby is so stiff, it can take your eye out.
I used to shudder at mention of felt. It conjured up images of hordes of screaming children running around with safety scissors during some sort of a ghastly craft lesson and making a horrible multi-colour mess. Ughh colour. I've never really been a fan of craft felt, but I understand that it has its uses. Not unlike velcro. Ughh velcro.
However, I absolutely love the 100% merino wool felt in the Ponoko catalogue. I use it for the Chromatophobic coasters.
In its natural state the felt is quite soft, but it's easy to stiffen it with a 50/50 mixture of water and PVA glue. The cut pieces are impregnated with the magic potion by dipping them into the milky bath and then drying them thoroughly. It looks like you're making pretend french toast... Once dry the pieces completely stiff, and the shapes can be assembled into 3D forms.
In this instance the 3D forms are vases. In the centre of the vase is a glass test tube for the water and the plants you stole from your neighbours' garden.
However, I absolutely love the 100% merino wool felt in the Ponoko catalogue. I use it for the Chromatophobic coasters.
In its natural state the felt is quite soft, but it's easy to stiffen it with a 50/50 mixture of water and PVA glue. The cut pieces are impregnated with the magic potion by dipping them into the milky bath and then drying them thoroughly. It looks like you're making pretend french toast... Once dry the pieces completely stiff, and the shapes can be assembled into 3D forms.
In this instance the 3D forms are vases. In the centre of the vase is a glass test tube for the water and the plants you stole from your neighbours' garden.
 |
| Cut vase parts before assembly |
Monday, 3 June 2013
Baby Boots That Stay On
Society frowns upon using a staple gun to attach footwear to a baby.
Recently I made a pair of baby boots from a pattern that I bought. I am still recovering from the fact that I didn't make the pattern myself. The world is a mysterious place...
The boots were proudly presented to curious Zaika. Immediately it became apparent that without any adjustments the newly minted footwear was doomed to suffer the fate of The Baby Shoe, i.e fall off en route somewhere to blow away with the tumble weed into the wilderness.
I opened my baby manual to check whether using staple guns or nail guns to ensure a secure fit for an item of garment is an acceptable parenting practice. It is not. I put away my tool box.
To cut a short story even shorter, I sewed some elastic inside the boot. Use of elastic instead of nails is less likely to result in gangrene of lower extremities, provided the elastic is not too tight.
The elastic works perfectly. The boots are no more of a battle to put on than before, and they stay on even after intensive crawling, standing and shuffling. I call this hack a success.
The boots were proudly presented to curious Zaika. Immediately it became apparent that without any adjustments the newly minted footwear was doomed to suffer the fate of The Baby Shoe, i.e fall off en route somewhere to blow away with the tumble weed into the wilderness.
I opened my baby manual to check whether using staple guns or nail guns to ensure a secure fit for an item of garment is an acceptable parenting practice. It is not. I put away my tool box.
To cut a short story even shorter, I sewed some elastic inside the boot. Use of elastic instead of nails is less likely to result in gangrene of lower extremities, provided the elastic is not too tight.
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