Crafty Thread - what are you working on at the moment?

[Biddlybee]

I finished my skirt, and quite pleased with myself

 

[wayward bob]

very cute skirt, great fit

i love that cardi pattern too ruby, wish i could get away with wearing those colours, i'd have had to morph it into greyish blues/pinks/purples, or browny neutrals, and it just wouldn't have the same impact.

i've finally chosen/ordered dress and cardi patterns (2 girls to dress for a wedding), and bought yarn, so just waiting for the patterns to arrive. i should do the dresses first because if i screw that up i won't need the cardis, but knitting always feels like a more manageable stepwise project than sewing, where i feel i need to be properly organised before i start, so i'll go off half cocked as usual

 

[Flanflinger]

Model railway. Trying to recycle as much stuff as possible for the scenery.

 

[Biddlybee]

And finished my gloves...

but need to wash them, because the dye's running a bit.

 

[wayward bob]

ooh lovely gloves biddly, just in time for spring ... erm... but seriously, i'm in awe of your cablez.

how's everyone else getting on? i can't quite believe i've nearly finished my project - 2 cardis knitted, 2 dresses sewn, a couple of buttons and i'm done, wedding on saturday. chuffed

next step #1 finishing the star quilt i (apparently ) started 3 years ago
next step #2 cashmere baby blanket for yay-still-pregnant friend
next step #3 weaving off the warp on my loom so i can start a new project that's to end (eventually - at current rates i'm pencilling in 2015) as a tailored jacket.

what about you lot? eh?

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I've been framing pictures (well, buyingcheap frames, finding things I like to fit) and...here's the cunning bit....staple gunning (wooden) or glue gunning (metal & plastic) velcro to the backs of the frames and the walls so I don't have to keep straightening pictires

 

[yardbird]

I've been framing pictures (well, buyingcheap frames, finding things I like to fit) and...here's the cunning bit....staple gunning (wooden) or glue gunning (metal & plastic) velcro to the backs of the frames and the walls so I don't have to keep straightening pictires

Another useful urban household tip from Mrs Magpie.
I print them out and keep them in a folder for future reference

(Just imagine if Barry Bucknall had found velcro)

 

[wayward bob]

I've been framing pictures (well, buyingcheap frames, finding things I like to fit) and...here's the cunning bit....staple gunning (wooden) or glue gunning (metal & plastic) velcro to the backs of the frames and the walls so I don't have to keep straightening pictires

cunning

 

[Mrs Magpie]

But badly spelled...can't stop thinking of cigarettes ...displacement activity isn't working that well.....

 

[moose]

Rustled this up from some shrink plastic and old chain yesterday.

 

[wayward bob]

cute

 

[RubyToogood]

That is very cool. I've never come across shrink plastic before, looks interesting.

I bought an old circle skirt yesterday. Of course it has a teeny tiny waistband, but because it's so full I should just be able to take a couple of inches off the top to make it fit me. Well, this is the theory. I wish I could remember more about pi now...

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Another useful urban household tip from Mrs Magpie.
I print them out and keep them in a folder for future reference

(Just imagine if Barry Bucknall had found velcro)

You can use museum wax too:

http://www.museumwax.co.uk/

 

[moose]

That is very cool. I've never come across shrink plastic before, looks interesting.

It's fab! You can draw on it, too, quite roughly, or even print on a computer, and it shrinks to 1/7 of the size and sharpens up the drawing. There are lots of lovely things made from it on etsy etc.

shrink me!

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

I'm making a braided boot bracelet for a biker friend from black leather latigo lace.

The pirate concho on the lower-right of this page is the decoration:

http://www.eleathersupply.com/bikerconcho.shtml

 

[moose]

Pics when you've finished!

I love the winged star concho on that link.

 

[silver]

I'm making bunting for a friend's wedding, I've done 25m so far and prob have enough fabric to make another 50m

I'm also making a felt circles and buttons picture with embriodery round each of the circles, kind of difficult to explain

 

[wayward bob]

i'm making a vintage vogue dress. i'm dead excited cos i've made kids stuff before, but hardly anything for me, well nothing i'd actually want to wear. this dress has a million pieces and has a million steps that each take a week to do, but i've got the bodice mostly done and not only does it fit (after a bit of tweaking) but it looks like i might actually like it when it's done. yay me

 

[RubyToogood]

I bought an old circle skirt yesterday. Of course it has a teeny tiny waistband, but because it's so full I should just be able to take a couple of inches off the top to make it fit me. Well, this is the theory. I wish I could remember more about pi now...

Finally got round to this and am wearing it now. I needed to make it a bit longer after cutting it down, and did the following to add length at the top. The technique (suggested by someone on another forum) was quite simple in the end and just took me an evening with the sewing machine.

1. I cut the waistband down to where I wanted it (I needed to take off FAR less than I thought, so to anyone else doing this I'd recommend doing it in really small increments eg 1cm, and try it on each time).
2. I got a bit of very stretchy fabric of the same colour and made a ring of it that fitted tightly round the stomach and hips (just a straight tube, twice the height wanted).
3. I sewed one edge of this to the waist edge, right sides together.
4. I finished these two edges together with zigzag and clipped the edge so that it would lie flat.
5. I folded the band over to the inside, folded a small hem under and sewed this to the waist edge on the inside.

I also had to unpick the zip and pocket before starting, and sew the side seams back up. I might put the pocket back in now though. I never need a zip to get things on and off.

When sewing the stretchy band to the non-stretchy waist edge, you need to mark the halfway point, quarter way etc, and match those up, pinning them together, to make sure that the stretch is evenly distributed.

NB to anyone not understanding the concept, a circle skirt is literally just a circle (sometimes a half or quarter circle) with a circular hole for the waist. Therefore when you take a bit off the waist the hole is bigger and fits a bigger waist.

Will to try to take a pic a bit later...

 

[wayward bob]

i want to get into more of this; altering and refashioning old stuff. i have to say i've got greater confidence after the fitting stage of my current project, a dress for kid1 (my dress is nearly done but i've realised i've hemmed it an inch or two too long, and after all the work i've put into it i want it to be just so, so i need to find a stretch of time to unpick and resew the hem).

the dress will be an alice in wonderland costume, adapted from a 60s pattern. unfortunately the pattern is a totally different shape from kid1, so i spent a looong time basting, fitting, rebasting etc. i had to hack and tweak so much i reckon i could turn a skirt into a shirt in a similar fashion now

look forward to seeing your skirt ruby.

 

[Melinda]

Hello, I thought I'd slip quietly onto this thread and ask for some badly need help!

Ive liberated a large, ugly rectangular coffee table from a neighbour's skip. It is completely hideous atm, black metal and plastic and covered in plaster/ gypsum bonding (he rested his plastering gear on it while doing up his kitchen).

I think it is rescuable (!) and I'd like to mosaic the top for use in my garden.

Presuming it can be cleaned up- what next?
Ive been checking out some youtube videos, but there is just so much unhelpful crap to wade through.

Is border edging always necessary?

Designs- I liked this photo and I'd like something garden related.



Tiles- as Im a first timer should I stick to shop bought mosaic tiles, or can I use broken bathroom tiles/ crockery?

Will regular tile grout and adhesive be ok?

Thanks for your time crafty folk!

 

[Melinda]

Another tile related question.

I picked up some pictures painted on ceramic tiles in Jerusalem the other week and have other north African ones.

I'd like to mount them in garden- How would I go about that?

I wouldnt want them attached directly to the house wall, but could I mount them on some hardwood first?

 

[wayward bob]

how did you get on with your tiles melinda? i've done nothing along those lines apart from laying some old fireplace tiles as part of our garden paving but sadly that doesn't qualify me to answer any of your questions!

what's everyone up to atm? i seem to have been knitting the same cardi forever, although i'm nearly onto the last sleeve so it shouldn't be that much longer. i gave myself until mid-august to finish the cardi and a dress to go with it, but school holidays eats away nearly all my making time so i'm not massively optimistic. the dress is a bit of a scary undertaking (vintage pattern, vintage fabric) and i don't want to mess it up by rushing so i might try something a bit more forgiving instead.

i've nearly finished a waistcoat i promised a friend. i still have to topstich (fine) and do buttonholes (i fucking hate buttonholes and i just know i'm going to fuck them up and ruin the whole thing). it seemed like such a simple proposition but it's also taken months. i spread myself too thin. i'm also working on a quilt project, a fabric printing project and trying to sketch every day for my portfolio.

and you?

 

[moose]

Hello, I thought I'd slip quietly onto this thread and ask for some badly need help!

Ive liberated a large, ugly rectangular coffee table from a neighbour's skip. It is completely hideous atm, black metal and plastic and covered in plaster/ gypsum bonding (he rested his plastering gear on it while doing up his kitchen).

I think it is rescuable (!) and I'd like to mosaic the top for use in my garden.

Presuming it can be cleaned up- what next?
Ive been checking out some youtube videos, but there is just so much unhelpful crap to wade through.

Is border edging always necessary?

Designs- I liked this photo and I'd like something garden related.



Tiles- as Im a first timer should I stick to shop bought mosaic tiles, or can I use broken bathroom tiles/ crockery?

Will regular tile grout and adhesive be ok?

Thanks for your time crafty folk!

Sorry, only just seen this! Do you still need assistance?

My thoughts - for a beginner, bought tiles are better. Don't have to be expensive mosaic tiles, could just be end-of-line bargain coloured ones you smash up into smaller pieces. The benefit over using broken crockery is the uniformity of thickness and flatness which is important for a table top so your wine glasses don't fall over. If you were doing a flower pot or something, I'd use crockery.

You'll need waterproof adhesive and grout if it's going to be left outside in the garden. Finished thing will need a week or two to cure before you can expose it to too much wet.

No, you don't always need a border edging, but it gives a neater finish and means you won't snag your clothing/body parts on any rough edges. This might be where you use a single row of proper mosaic tiles.

 

[RubyToogood]

the dress is a bit of a scary undertaking (vintage pattern, vintage fabric) and i don't want to mess it up by rushing so i might try something a bit more forgiving instead.

Could you do a toile in some less important fabric first?

i've nearly finished a waistcoat i promised a friend. i still have to topstich (fine) and do buttonholes (i fucking hate buttonholes and i just know i'm going to fuck them up and ruin the whole thing).

You can't do them on the machine? Mine does quite a good job of buttonholes.

I've just finished crocheting a baby blanket for a friend's imminent baby:

I thought I'd done it far too small but then it grew loads after I washed it. The hole is for a carseat strap.

Also bought a black maxi dress which had rows of rather brash sequins on, which I took off and replaced with braid (crap phone pic attached). I was a bit worried about how sewing flat braid onto curved edges (eg round the armholes) would work but actually it was fine and strangely has improved the fit of the dress. Really happy with it, has turned a nice dress into a lovely one.

 

[zenie]

Love these, I'm thinking I may decoupage the top of my cupboard with old manuscript as I have quite a lot of it...

Any tips?

I like getting stuff other people have thrown out tbh. (I got the BF to help me carry the new cupboard upstairs, it needs new hinges, and knobs, and a paint job but it's solid wood so I wasn't gonna walk past it, especially when I know 'we' have the tools to do it up and make it look nice. The royal 'we' there )

Got some knobs pink ceramic hearts, very cute

Have to move the cat as the cupboard's her sun lounger

Rustled this up from some shrink plastic and old chain yesterday.

Well done!!!

i'm making a vintage vogue dress. i'm dead excited cos i've made kids stuff before, but hardly anything for me, well nothing i'd actually want to wear. this dress has a million pieces and has a million steps that each take a week to do, but i've got the bodice mostly done and not only does it fit (after a bit of tweaking) but it looks like i might actually like it when it's done. yay me

Sounds purty, how's it going?

 

[Biddlybee]

Lovely blanket Rubes... i can't believe how quick you turn things round! Will be nice to see the dress on you.

and you?

I'm a bit restless at the mo with crafty stuff. Haven't got any of things done that I wanted finished for the summer, and have got into the habit of starting lots of projects and working on them slowly rather than concentrating on one

At the mo... still finishing afghan stylee blanket (two sides of the border to go, then sewing all the ends in); very slowly knitting a lace cardy; making a bag for my ma; and got a few other things to start

 

[Melinda]

how did you get on with your tiles melinda? i've done nothing along those lines apart from laying some old fireplace tiles as part of our garden paving but sadly that doesn't qualify me to answer any of your questions!

Sorry, only just seen this! Do you still need assistance?

My thoughts - for a beginner, bought tiles are better. Don't have to be expensive mosaic tiles, could just be end-of-line bargain coloured ones you smash up into smaller pieces. The benefit over using broken crockery is the uniformity of thickness and flatness which is important for a table top so your wine glasses don't fall over. If you were doing a flower pot or something, I'd use crockery.

You'll need waterproof adhesive and grout if it's going to be left outside in the garden. Finished thing will need a week or two to cure before you can expose it to too much wet.

No, you don't always need a border edging, but it gives a neater finish and means you won't snag your clothing/body parts on any rough edges. This might be where you use a single row of proper mosaic tiles.

Its in the shed I got all excited and joined a craft forum, but then got a bit daunted. I did recently make and decorate a wall sconce in green glass mosaics for my sister's new garden though it was in kit form.

Thank you both for the advice and encouragement! Ive got the waterproof grout and adhesive, and I'm still collecting tiles. We found a box of whole and chipped Victorian floral tiles; it was stuffed up inside a fireplace which we recently opened up. However, they do seem a bit too lovely for my amateur attentions.

 

[RubyToogood]

Lovely blanket Rubes... i can't believe how quick you turn things round!

I was a bit startled at how fast I got it done myself. If my Ravelry notes are right, it took me less than two weeks! Crochet really is a hell of a lot faster than knitting. Also I've started to realise that doing a little bit whenever you possibly can makes things go much quicker.

The pattern incidentally was from here, which gives a really good blow by blow account of how to do it for total crochet beginners: http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html

 

[Biddlybee]

*page bookmarked*

Crochet is on my list of things to learn, but need to make a dent in all these other projects first