wayward bob
i ate all your bees
belts could be good for straps/fastenings too :thumbs : though tougher to sew...
Crafty Thread - what are you working on at the moment?
- Thread starter radio_atomica
- Start date
I'm jealous. There was a woman blacksmith at Glynllyfon when we lived in Wales. We bought a couple of things from her and she also made wolfie a silver ring. I'd love to do blacksmithing but never got a chance to try it and I don't think my arms are strong enough nowI'm going to ask my folks for a day-long taster course in blacksmithing for my birthday. I'll report back
Yuwipi Woman
Whack-A-Mole Queen
I'm jealous. There was a woman blacksmith at Glynllyfon when we lived in Wales. We bought a couple of things from her and she also made wolfie a silver ring. I'd love to do blacksmithing but never got a chance to try it and I don't think my arms are strong enough now
I know a lady blacksmith. She does look particularly good in a tank top.
friendofdorothy
Solidarity against neoliberalism!
It's more that I can't do much at all using my left arm, lifting and bending would be a problem.
I'd like a nice poker when you get cracking 
Boudicca
Seaside Queen
play clothes!
That's made me think about shorts for some reason, maybe short culotte type ones. I probably have enough fabric to make everyone on the crafty thread a pair....
moose
like some cat from Japan
I think I'll knock 'em out with my flapping bingo wings.
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
nearly there: electric blanket :thumbs :
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wobbly
love the colour.Finally got around to pressing the tie dyed skirt enough to get the creases from dyeing out of it.
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madamme and i are investigating dyes atm with the plan to do some batik, cause i bought a tool to do this about 15 years ago and never got round to using it and she found it yesterday. i had a go at school. so i can remember the basics. and i like anything that will keep her attention for 15 mins.
i just hope she will go for the idea of making a wall hanging or something else simple. cause sewing is one of the few crafty things i've tried that i'm crap at.
Thanks - tropical green on white cotton overdyed with emerald green, I dislike how limited the machine dye range is.
I hope your daughter enjoys the batik. She could always do it on a cheap (pure cotton) T shirt or similar thin made of cotton if you want to avoid sewing.
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
i use procion mx for tie-dye. its a cold water cotton dye, a'll you need is soda ash as a fixative and there's a million colours. it's cheapest to buy on ebay if you're only using small quantities.
eg: Procion MX dye kit six colours and fixative
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wobbly
yep, i was planning to go for the cold water dyes. and that looks a bit better than the deals i found. interesting seller as well. really shouldn't be off to look at their website. but i really hope they do a shaded wool pack like the shaded cotton pack on ebay.
it's odd considering how often i've played with doing tie dye and seen the kids do it and stuff. but i've always avoided fibre reactive dyes because the descriptor always seemed more complex than acid dying. and i suppose it is compared to arsing about with food colouring and vinegar, or kool aid. but not compared to actual pots of acid dyes. and it's certainly a lot less potentially icky than homebrewing ecig liquids. and i've got loads of fibery stuff that it will dye so i can make sure i exhaust the dyes.
just so odd what we get mental blocks on.
but she also founf the really cheap charity shop handbag i hated and has butchered it for the strap and reinforced base to make her bag. and run off with the glue gun again.
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Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Question for crafty folk, whats your experience been of doing pottery (if you do it?) I'd be interested in taking it up but it seems like it'd be a lot of trouble to take up long term with faffing around with access to a kiln and such.
scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
I used to do a lot of pottery at the city farm with my daughter, and the session there is pretty cheap - some can be ludicrously expensive. I think classes or drop-in workshops like that are the way to go if you can find one cheap enough. You could add to the amount you can get done by doing some of the non-wheel work at home. The clay itself is pretty cheap, but you do have to make sure it doesn't dry out. Glazes can be expensive; cheap ones look cheap and ruin all your hard work, and personally I find glazing way harder than than sculpting.
Most places with a kiln will fire stuff for you for a price depending on the size and type of item. Some maker spaces have them as well as dedicated pottery places.
It's a very satisfying craft and you can make some unique gifts out of it - it's not that hard to make something that looks OK, despite what sitcoms tell you. We used to make, say, an olive bowl, and decorate it with multiple things particular to the person, like a tiny guitar, book and cat.
I was really upset recently when I tried to mould some pottery again and my hands were too messed up to do anything at all with it. I wanted to make a gargoyle for one of my drainpipes.
Most places with a kiln will fire stuff for you for a price depending on the size and type of item. Some maker spaces have them as well as dedicated pottery places.
It's a very satisfying craft and you can make some unique gifts out of it - it's not that hard to make something that looks OK, despite what sitcoms tell you. We used to make, say, an olive bowl, and decorate it with multiple things particular to the person, like a tiny guitar, book and cat.
I was really upset recently when I tried to mould some pottery again and my hands were too messed up to do anything at all with it.
I wanted to make a gargoyle for one of my drainpipes.I enrolled on a pottery course, somehow forgetting the crucial fact that I absolutely cannot bear the feel of plaster, clay, earth on my hands. I wear gloves all the time at work (gardening) but this is not really on when potting. It was deeply upsetting as I really couldn't overcome the hands thing at all. I managed a few tiles and slab pots (with gloves) but since, as a utilitarian at heart, I particularly wanted to make useful things such as bowls and mugs, it was a depressing experience.
Biddlybee
making knots with sticks
Kids pinafore dresses or dungarees
Skirts would also work.
I'm going to try and make a kids sunhat tomorrow.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Boudicca
Seaside Queen
Dungarees would be cool. Can I send you a piece of curtain?Kids pinafore dresses or dungarees
Skirts would also work.
I'm going to try and make a kids sunhat tomorrow.
Boudicca
Seaside Queen
I just bought a second hand set of aluminium tables and chairs for the garden, with the intention of painting them turquoise. They were painted dark green with a coat of 'chalk paint' on top. Which turned out not to be your posh Annie Sloan, but something which washed off with water. 
After 10 minutes with a bucket of water and a scrubbing brush, I thought 'time to break out the pressure washer'. This did indeed remove the chalk, but also half (but not all) the green paint underneath. I am soaked, my garden is a mess and my chairs are not yet turquoise.
After 10 minutes with a bucket of water and a scrubbing brush, I thought 'time to break out the pressure washer'. This did indeed remove the chalk, but also half (but not all) the green paint underneath. I am soaked, my garden is a mess and my chairs are not yet turquoise.
heinous seamus
Perfect in an empty room
Kiln access is the sticking point for me too at the minute.
The town I'm from has quite a big pottery tradition dating back to 1800 or so... I have a whimsical ambition to open the first pottery since the last one closed down 50+ years ago
Biddlybee
making knots with sticks
Would love to say yes, but the dungaree pattern I have only goes up to 2 (ish), and I don't know how to size up patterns. Will see if there's a simple pattern online and let you know
ION I didn't start the hat, but had a dinosaur crafting session instead
Bag for my girl's birthday:
Taggy dinos for some imminent newborns:
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
zomg if all goes to plan i might be in my new studio next month. AND it would be bigger/quieter than the one i first saw going legit 
<squeeeeee>
going legit <squeeeeee>
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
hehe
I just registered as self employed/sole trader today. I haven't registered the studio name as I share it with a friend who wants to stay under the radar. The rent and rates and utilities are all in my name anyway but as I've never kept proper accounts or been officially self employed before I'm a bit
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
it'll be fiiiiiine 
was talking about it over tea. i said i'll be a proper artist, kid1 said "i'm pretty sure you're already an artist mum. you're wearing dungarees"
was talking about it over tea. i said i'll be a proper artist, kid1 said "i'm pretty sure you're already an artist mum. you're wearing dungarees"
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
how's it going with the studio setup Shirl ? terms at my place seem pretty good - all rates, electricity (within reason), rubbish organised/paid for. wifi's patchy but they're happy to wire in connections (my space is a corner of a shed, basically )
i've changed my plans just cos the space is still tight. plan now is for office/storage space, for bookbinding, product photography and shop space. but i'll have to keep some of my messier workshop stuff at home. i have 24 hour access to the print workshops, so at least i'll be able to spread out and/or dry for bigger projects
)i've changed my plans just cos the space is still tight. plan now is for office/storage space, for bookbinding, product photography and shop space. but i'll have to keep some of my messier workshop stuff at home. i have 24 hour access to the print workshops, so at least i'll be able to spread out and/or dry for bigger projects
