Isn’t this adorable? Not sure my skills are up to this yet.
Potted Baby Groot – Crochet
Tag: craft
Finished Full Apron
Well, I’ve been a bit busy. I’m really enjoying sewing and can’t wait to move on up to something that can be worn out in public, though this is pretty dang close, even though it is an apron. So, let’s start with the basics:
This is the pattern I used:
I am not a girly girl in any way (my usual attire is a 3X White T-shirt and sweat pants, worn with Birkenstock shoes, of course). Hair? Makeup? Twice a year, at the most. So, to test myself, I chose apron E (center right) but decided to add the ruffle to the bottom. For some reason, I felt the ruffles over the shoulder would be a bit much. 🙂
This pattern was much less confusing than the bath robe I made. The only thing I had to learn, really, was machine gathering. See, I could never understand what they were saying when I read about how to do gathers on a sewing machine, so I decided to just do them by hand. Well, since these sewing projects are being done so I can learn how to make things properly, I decided to look again. Once again, You Tube to the rescue! Now, I had two comments on my Facebook wall about this. Both said they learned to machine gather by sewing three (not two) lines of basting. I will try that next time.
I did change one thing, though. There is no way I’m going to button and unbutton (or try to slip this thing on) the straps. So, I left them loose and just tied them around my neck (I still need to figure out how to make button holes on my machine, anyway).
And since I am not a girly girl, I decided to go all out and become one for the photos of this apron. I love this thing! The fabric I got from my hubby’s grandmother. She was a spit-fire of a woman and we miss her dearly. I think of her every day.
Macrame Belt
I started this project and, once realizing how long it was going to take me, my A.D.D. brain wouldn’t let me finish. BUT I wanted to share this with everyone because I love the way it looks and how it will turn out. The problem I had with it was the video. There are no written instructions and no audio describing what is being done. So, I ended up downloading the video to my computer (since, for some reason, my internet connection and/or You Tube have been buggers and decide not to cooperate a couple of times per day). Watching it on my computer allowed me to pause so I could count how many times to macrame this section or that one and how many times to repeat a sequence. I will post the notes I made once I am finished. Once you watch the video, if you see any errors with what I noted, please let me know.
First, here’s the video:
Now for the notes I’ve taken so far (for definitions and pictures of knots, check out this web page: http://www.stonebrashcreative.com/MacrameTutorial.html):
The following knots are used in this pattern:
For the flat area just after the buckle:
Lark’s Head Knot (for attaching your cord to the belt buckle)
Square Knots
Half Hitch
For the design:
Square Knots
And, my results so far (one thing I didn’t take into account when starting was the different weight of the yarns. The white yard is thinner, so I had to adjust by adding how many macrame stitches I did to maintain the proper look):
What is Art?
I’ve been making an inner journey. It’s a journey that I am willing to share the basics of, soon. This journey has led me to let go of so many of my doubts when it comes to exploring my abilities. That is now in the past.
Yesterday morning, I stumbled onto a set of You Tube videos. These videos were, “How to Paint a Sunflower in Watercolor”. Here’s the first video:
I sat there, watching, and thought, “I can do that. No, I will!” So, I grabbed my child’s art set, my sketch paper (you know, those large pads of paper that you can get in just about any store), and I started. No, first, I snagged a photo from my prolific photo-taking friend, Melana Hiatt (she takes some of the best photos). Then, I got started.
AND here’s my result. My first painting:
I love it! I made mistakes but they are lessons for what to do next time. I can’t wait to do another one (thinking maybe something about Montana). I loved the freedom of watercolors. You just put some paint on the brush and let the brush do its magic. So, what do you want to do? Don’t let anything stop you. If you love it, it’s art!
Cordage
So, I’m “THIS CLOSE” to finishing my woman cave (well, as finished as it can be until I can make some looms and such). The last thing I need to do is make some plant hangers so I have room on the desk. I have two skeins of some funky, fuzzy yarn and thought that would be fantastic, macramed into some plant hangers (yes, think 1970’s child here). My problem is this isn’t the strongest yarn. Although the pots aren’t huge and heavy, I don’t want to take the chance of them snapping and raining dirt all over my work. So, while trying to figure that out, I thought, “Well, I’ll just read up on card weaving.” That’s when I stumbled onto Lucets. Take a look at this:
That tool … aside from the sanding, I could whip one of those up really quick. What do you think about making cordage with that, THEN macrameing that into a plant hanger?
Then, I have a friend. She scares me sometimes. I hadn’t posted anything about lucets at all yesterday. That’s when she posts this:
http://www.historicum.eu/product/flettehjul-3045/
Of course, I don’t speak (nor read) Danish but did a search for “flettehjul”.
That’s when this page pops up (with a lucet on it)!
It’s all about cordage!
And, here’s how to use that handy little gadget:
I found this pattern for making the lucet forks:
http://lildog-blog.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/lucet-patterns.html?m=1
All I have to say is, thank goodness I’m not doing this to make money! They are ugly but they work! I used a Rotozip (because I couldn’t find the blades to my scroll saw) and boy oh boy, does that thing like to go everywhere! But they are sanded and I’m finally making my cordage. So, perhaps some time tomorrow, I can make my plant hangers?
Transferring Images to Wood
So, I’m on a major tangent (as I stated in my last post). The majority of wood carvings I have seen either employ hand drawing the designs onto wood (I’m not that good) or buying special transparent adhesive papers to just carve through. I figured there had to be a simpler (and more cost effective way) to transfer an image onto wood. So, I’ve been searching and found two options that may work.
This first one is for transferring inkjet printed images onto wood (and leaving it) as art. This one is the most cost efficient, if it would work for me (but I can see this being awesome for painted signs, artwork, putting onto furniture, etc.):
https://mountainmodernlife.com/diy-wood-sign-using-your-printer/
This second one, she is using for pyromancy (wood burning) but could be fantastic for power carving also! I just have to make sure (with both of these methods) that the wood is sanded smooth.
http://allthingsbelle.blogspot.com/2013/03/diy-tutorial-transfer-inkjet-image-to.html