Category: Just for fun

Sew Help Me….

If you can sew, and are one of my hundreds of lurkers…I implore you to speak up…I NEED your wisdom.

We are considering the purchase of a sewing machine that doesn’t break the bank, but is sturdy enough to handle outdoor upholstery fabric.  I’m ready to get some proper cushions made for the outdoor furniture and I’m too cheap to pay for that again.

I had cushions made for outdoor furniture at the last house and I was so disturbed by the expense that I swore I’d never do it again (well, unless the lottery comes in to play).  I used the least expensive upholsterer in town and it was still a king’s ransom….AND they have to be replaced every few years.  DIY time.

Many online suggest getting vintage machines…we used to have one of those Singers that came with the wooden platform/desk thingy.  Ugly as furniture + takes up a TON of room = after about a decade, we sold it.  Since all we ever used it for was sewing straight lines…it was great.  We’d like to advance to zippers and maybe button holes this time.

I’ve been cruising some of the sewing blogs, which intimidate me, I must say…I know nothing, really.

Maybe if I sport the nightvision goggles…I’ll be all sewing knowing?

Photo by Makezine blog

Just Listen to the Bubbas

Now if all those finger pointers at British Petroleum would listen to these guys, then we might get somewhere.

The most amazing thing about this video is that my mother sent it to me….I don’t know who hijacked her computer enabling the complex maneuver of forwarding a video, but I guess I’d better call and make sure she’s OK.

I’m in.  Human/Animal hair works as well and Matter of Trust has been trying to get the word out on that as well.

Crafty Time Update

So, I promised an update on how our pottery class ended up after such a disastrous start.  I was a little paranoid walking into class on week two, but our teacher announced “…this week’s class is all about hand building…” and his wife would be taking the lead.  Phew!  The CC had been waiting for this.  He didn’t care for the wheel and all he wanted was to start the hand building.  I enjoyed the hand building as well, not to mention the kinder, gentler instruction.  As the weeks went on, I still battled with the wheel, but ended up tossing out more than I produced.  The CC, on the other hand, became the prolific teachers pet.

At the first hand building class, our teacher came over and told him..”I think that’s the best pinch pot I’ve ever seen…”  Gag…right?  It was quite funny driving home together after the second class…here we were…the flunkie and the golden child….what a pair.

As we all got to know each other a little better over the next few weeks, I came to realize…yes, my teacher can be quite an ass when he wants to, but he also has a decent side, and in learning how much he hates his day job, etc..I started to forgive him for his previous nastiness….chalked it up to bad timing.  At our 5th class or so, he even came over to me on the wheel AND HELPED ME!  When I saw him coming, I had this icky, dreadful feeling …things had been going so much better and I didn’t want anything to ruin it…but he was NICE this time and really tried to be a teacher.  Makes all the difference.

The CC honestly earned his golden child title….he made some awesome stuff.  I plan to take a second class in the fall…I’d love to get some more time on the wheel with full visual capacity.  (I was an idiot to have my surgery only 2 weeks into class.  It took me 8 weeks to get my vision to up 20/16 and that was frustrating and unexpected to say the least.)

Here’s a small sampling of what I managed to accomplish…not great, but I really look forward to improving and getting past the basic bowl on the wheel.

A couple of hand built bowls.

We made a set of 4 of these espresso cups for my Dad’s birthday…I think he really dug them….his were in the dark brown clay on the left with my fancy fish scale mat.

OK…now for the good stuff…the Crafty Counterpart’s fabulous slab creations:

Yep…sake boxes, soy dishes and a platter…here’s a close up of the feet etc….

Then there’s this…which we’ve used for olives already….

OK…here’s where I get a bit sappy….I was feeling really down about my eyes one afternoon while he was busy building away at his masterpieces, and he made me 2 mushrooms for my collection to cheer me up.  I mean…c’mon..how lucky am I?

So all is well that ends well.  I look forward to getting back on the wheel, and maybe spending a bit more time on the hand building since you can be quite productive by working at home.  I hope the CC will join me since the man obviously has a gift…