Making miniature petit point pieces

The piece that started it all

Many moons ago, I posted about a mini petit point broach that I deconstructed and made a pattern from.  And then did nothing else with for a long time.


Well in my holiday crafting mode I decided to do something about it.  I had some 40 count silk gauze that I had bought last time (that means there are 40 threads in each direction per inch in the gauze).  I dug it out, printed off a copy of my pattern and got started.

The first step was to create a frame to hold the gauze.  When doing cross stitch, I never bothered doing this as the tension in the stitches balanced out in my hands.  On the other hand, petit point is like half cross stitches- that meant the thread will always be pulling in one diagonal direction.

Because my pattern was  40 stitches across, I knew that my finished piece would be one inch (2.5 cm) across so I marked a 2 inch (5 cm) square to cut out on a bit of scrap cardboard

To stop the card from folding or tearing, I folded the sides over a few times and glued them down in order to reinforce the sides.  Then I taped a 3 inch square of silk gauze into place and got started.

Stitching was fairly simple. If you have done cross stitch before, you can do this.  The biggest  challenge was, of course, the scale!  Strong light is your friend if you try this!  Some sort of hands-free magnifier would also be advisable, but the only one I had was 2-4X magnification and between the awkwardness of it and the low power, it was fairly useless.

 I ended up making my original colour version and I am planning on mounting it in the original fitting if I can. 

One other thing I tried since I was on a run, was to dye the silk gauze using alcohol ink (aka a sharpie).  It worked really great, and I got to test another cross stitch design I've not posted up here yet...  This one was interesting as I tried a bit of backstiching in a lighter cotton thread (the designs were done with a single thread of DMC cotton), and the mountain of Cori Celesti was made using glow-in-the-dark thread.  Although suspect only I will ever know that since such a small amount of thread doesn't glow significantly.

What do you think?

Little things during the holidays

Some of these have not been worth a full post so here's a round-up of the crafty things I've done over the last few months.

First some polymer clay toadstools.  This was a Pinterest inspiration and looked simple enough that my basic skills could manage.  Only suggestion I'd make if you wanted to DIY is to make the stalks around a toothpick or skewer to make it a bit easier to stick them into the pot.  This would not be as vital if they didn't apparently scream 'attack me!' to my neighbours cat who has shuffled them around and played with them as soon as I added them.  All I can say is that it's a good thing my neighbour's cat is cute and friendly!

Next is a pretty silver bracelet I got the kit for from the last Melbourne Craft Fair.  I love the three dimensional nature of it!

This little bag was another kit- it has a cool little pinch to open bendy clasp and the bag fabric is pretty (another Craft Fair purchase- the website for the shop is here).

And since one of my unfinished holiday projects was this post, here's another from these holidays.

It is a secret compartment keyring by Silkstone Designs.  It's yet another kit project that I bought on the last holiday that was on (camping down at Inverloch).  Doesn't everyone buy craft stuff as souvenirs?  Not that it was all smooth sailing on this one.  Can you spot the mistake in the example below?

I'd plug this one but the website listed on the back of the instructions is dead and I couldn't find any online.  The only thing I can suggest is that if you are in the area, swing by Coal Creek Historic Park and check out the obligatory little shop.  If you are in the area you should swing by anyway- I like old parks like that :D

Oh, and as always, I don't get kickbacks from anyone.  If I've linked to something it's because I bought it and liked it.  Not that I would be against plugging something for a fee- it's just the opportunity has never come up! Now it's back to the pile of half done stuff...

Last part of my wizard costume and the final pictures!

The last part of my costume for Nullus Anxiatas IVwas a bit of an afterthought- all wizards are well known for their pipe habits.  That meant I needed a tobacco pouch- but what to make it of?  Well I had felt and other things handy so this is a no cost* DIY 'leather' pouch.

Materials

• Felt
• Brown permanent markers (Sharpies or similar)
• Rubbing Alcohol (isopropanol)
• Rivets
• Wool (brown or whatever coloured cord you desire)
• Scissors

Method

Cut a circle out of the felt.  The finished pouch will be a little under half the size of the diameter of the circle.  My felt was approximately A4 in size so that dictated my pouch size.


Now go to work with those brown markers!  There is no right way to do this, just scribble and make random lines everywhere in all different shades.  Pay careful attention to the edges so you don't end up with plain areas (or alternatively, cut out the felt after scribbling).

You may be happy with this but I found it a bit fake looking at this stage so I tried something sneaky.  Permanent markers are alcohol inks.  This means that the dye will dissolve in a non-polar solvent which in non chemistry speak means alcohol.  Rubbing alcohol is isopropyl alcohol (C3H8O),a slightly bigger alcohol molecule to ethyl alcohol, the stuff people drink (C2H6O).  This means you could in theory use a high proof spirit like vodka but it's easier and cheaper to use rubbing alcohol!   I directly applied just enough to make the whole thing wet but not dripping (or it would take the pigment with the drips).

When you do this the dye will run everywhere over the felt, blurring your lines.  BUT it will also mean the ink will transfer to whatever you leave it sitting on, so this might be a good outside step!
The nice thing about this step is that it means the ink will partially go through to the other side and give it a nice effect.

Other side of felt after soaking in alcohol

I actually preferred the reverse side, so that's what I used for the outside.  To make the pouch, just place rivets around the edge.  The number will depend on size, just make sure you have an odd number so the cord will come out.

Then just add your cord (I used a twisted cord of the same wool I made my beard from) and it's ready to go.

Finished Pouch

And as promised, here's me in the costume- sadly the pouch isn't visible but the important thing about them is that YOU know that you have all the details!

Buggarup University's Professor of Cruel and Unusual Pedagogy

Holiday scarf update

School holidays again so I've been working on some old project including this crochet scarf.

I've also just gotten a new phone so this post is a double experiment - posting via the android blogger ap and using my phone to take and upload photos.

Sunset on the beach from my trip down to Inverloch

Edited to add on computer:  Well the photos are OK for quick shots but I'm not so sure about the app- there was no where to arrange the photos within the text.  Never mind the pain-in-the-neck factor of typing onto a phone.  Oh well.  Perhaps it can work for those times if I'm feeling particularly guilty for not updating the blog for a while! Or if I see something interesting out and about.

Anyone know of any other options to use with blogger?

A wizards staff on the cheap

I'm going to the next Australian Discworld Convention!  Yay!  And for a variety of reasons, I decided to be a wizard.  However, I was missing one of the most important elements- a staff.

Since there is very little call in my day to day life for a wizards staff, I had to aquire one.  And since I did not want to spend a lot of money, I wanted to DIY one.  Total cost I estimate (given I had many materials already) is around $10 in consumables and that could be less if you decide on a different knob (I did play with a few options before deciding on my final form).

Materials needed

• Thin sticks: NB  I used reeds I already had.  These are the home decor fancy reeds, about 1 metre long each, that I bought from the Reject Shop for a different project and I used 8-9 for my staff.  Cost- $6 (but were leftovers)

• Masking Tape (Cost- $2 only because I only had a little left on the roll I already had so I had to buy more!)
• Hot Glue Gun and glue (Cost- $10 for the gun but I've wanted one for a while so this was an excuse, $5 for the glue and I had some left)
• Paint (Cost- already had, otherwise two or three shades of brown and one of a metal colour.  I used a metalic copper pen)
• 1.25L soft drink bottle (Cost- nothing, pulled from recyling bin!)
• 'Knob' :  I used a oval rechargable light that shifts through different colours.  I bought it years ago so the cost was not a factor.  If you don't have or want to buy one though, then my alternate option I was initially going to go with was a cheap plastic Christmas bauble.
• Knife/scissors/paint brushes and other misc supplies

The only thing I had to specifically buy to finish this project was some replacement masking  and a hot glue gun that I wanted to get for general use anyway so I'm happy!  But enough of my frugal gloating, on with the method.





First step was to lay the sticks out.  Because individually they are relatively fragile, I used three or so bundled together for the length of the staff.  Since they were shorter than my final length, I staggered them so that all together they would lie on the floor to the length that I wanted.  Once I was happy there were no sections with multiple ends in the one place (which would create a weak point in my staff) I tapped them together with masking tape.  Easiest way to do this is to first tape around the sticks in several sections to hold the multiple reeds together, then work from one end to the other, spiralling around and along the length of the staff.

Continue adding tape.  Extra layers add strength and shape the piece so you end up with a slightly bumpy length that looks very much like a long stick.  The advantage though is that your masking tape/stick construct will be much lighter than an equivalent length of solid wood.

Next step is the carving.  This was very easy and rather fun- get your hot glue out and use the glue gun to make whatever mystic signs and symbols that take your fancy- I couldn't resist the urge to have my staff feature (among other things) a footnote!

Once you are happy, it's time to paint.  For the most realistic look, start with a medium brown and give the whole thing a solid coat of paint.  Once it is dry, go back with the darker brown and very roughly paint it.  You want missing gaps and streaks.  Finally, use a fine brush and with the light brown paint, paint thin lines or highlights.  To make these subtle, you may even wish to use a cloth to wipe away and smear out the lighter colour.

Once you are happy with the wood look, you can go onto your mystic signs (the hot glue bits).  I used a metallic copper coloured pen and I found the pen was really easy to use to apply to the raised hot glue bits.

Now you could stop here.  However, at least in the Discworld universe, it is a well known fact that wizard's staffs have a knob on the end*.  But how to put it on?  I was going to tape it on and incorporate it in the initial construction but then I came up with my light idea.  But there was a catch- I had to be able to take the light off to recharge it as needed so I couldn't permanently fix it.

So here is how to make a super simple and cheap knob holder (*snigger*).  I got a 1.25 litre soft drink bottle and cut the top off.  I then trimmed it to shape so that it would easily hold my light.  The top of my staff was happily smaller than the opening of the drink bottle so all I had to do was hot glue it into place.  Incidentally, yes, hot glue is now my new favourite costume creation tool.  To somewhat disguise the bottle origins, I then put more hot glue on the outside to cover and blur the screw top ridges.  Then the copper pen came out to paint the plastic and finish it off.

And here it is!  Now I realise it isn't a perfect disguise- if I spent more time and added more glue I could make it look more realistic and natural.  Alternatively, wrapping string or wire around the join would also improve the look but I suspect with the time I have left and the other elements I need to do, this might be enough for me.

Here's the finished staff- it's approximately the same height as me and, although surprisingly bendy, it is able to stand up under it's own weight while not being very heavy.

Next on the list is the beard and hat.  And robes.  And working out what to wear under the robes.  Oh my...



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* And there is a well known country folk song that celebrates this fact

A bit of a dye-lema

OK, apparently dyeing causes an irresistible urge to pun when making blog posts!  Fortunately for you I've finished for the present and here is the result of those experiments.  My previous post showed my colour experiments with some mini melusine samples.

Well I decided to go with a blue green system but to tweak the colours a little to brighten them up.  I gathered my supplies and set up my base of operations, supervised by my neighbour's cat (you can just see her legs at the top of shot.

All I had to do was paint in each block.  Nice and simple.

Four and a half hours later, one major disaster when one of the dyes tipped over onto the shawl and having to remix both the light green and blue stocks and I was very happy to take this photo because it meant I was done!

It's now wrapped up and bagged in some black plastic bags to let it heat set in the car.  Typically to my luck so far, the weather has become a little cooler (now I want a 40+ C day, there's none to be seen on the forecast!).  Still, it could've been much worse and I'm cautiously pleased with the results. I won't be 100% sure of results until I give it a wash and see that the dye has properly set!

I'm dyeing, I'm dyeing...

A while ago a friend put me onto The AntiCraft! website which has a whole range of craft projects that vary in type and complexity.  And I found Melusine, a lovely hand dyed shawl that not only was my first 'hey, you can dye knitting after knitting' but also went on to explain 'and here is how'.  Since one important part is being able to heat set the dye but they pointed out that placing the material in a black plastic bag and placing it into a hot car, and since I live in Australia (which is known for hot!) it seemed providential!

So a knitting I went.  I had some 2 ply wool/silk yarn in my stash that was waiting for inspiration so it seemed povidential.  But since I have never dyed anything before and since it took a long time to make the shawl, I thought it prudent to make a few mini versions to experiment with.  And here's my dye results.

The first I tried was a blue green version.  The colours set incredibly well but were a little darker than I think I like so if I go with this for the big one, I'll cut back on the black dye.  Particularly for the greens


I also didn't have any paint brushes handy so I used cotton buds.  These allowed for great control of the dying, but it took much longer than I thought it would.  When sitting on concrete outside hunched over a small scarf, this is Not A Good Thing.

The long time and the weather meant I had a break before doing the next one- I was NOT going to sit outside on a 40+º C day.  Today was cooler (bliss!) so I set up for number 2.

This one was inspired by one I saw on Ravelry.  However, I had a number of technical issues that made this a challenge.  First was that for some strange reason the yellow and red dyes did not dissolve nicely the way that the two green and two blue stocks I had despite them all coming from the same company (Jaccard Acid Dyes) and using the same method (chemistry is strange!).  The yellow didn't dissolve well which was annoying but not the end of the world.  The red though, was just strange.

Initially it was fine- placed the powder into warm water.  Dissolved the lot, no problems.  Then the stock cooled.  Except it didn't just cool, it partially set.  Think jelly made up with a bit too much water.  The resulting mix was very viscous, sludgy and a bit lumpy.  Couple this with the bright red colour and the result does have a disturbing resemblance to prop blood from CSI or something similar

It also was a pain to measure out into the working mixture since it was so incredibly viscous.  I ended up with the scientific measure of 'a gloop' and stirring like crazy to try and get it mixed into the mix with limited success.

And to top it all off there is a big splodge where the fabric slipped when wrapping it in gladwrap for heat setting the dye- so a big dark bit was in contact with a yellow bit.  You can see the resulting splodge on the left hand side in the photo above.  *sigh*

Still, it could all be worse- this all could've happened on my big shawl!  Weather is warming up again next week so I'll see if I can get this done before it's too hot and/or I have to go back to work.

Shrinkies... kindof.

I saw an interesting pin on Pinterest that suggested that plastic containers that looked to be that found from the supermarket bakery items would be used to make Shrinkies.  Sadly, I broke rule one on Pinterest (that rule that seems to be rather common to break if Pinstrosity is any guide!)- I didn't read the original link.  So instead of cool shrinkie stuff, I've got a bit of a disaster instead.  D'oh!

See after the fact I realised that I used Type 1 plastic while shrinkie plastic is actually type 6.  Type 1 plastic it turns out does shrink a bit but also curls up randomly and turns white after heading.  And even my Chinese take out container I used in desperation (bottom right) turned out not to shrink at all.

An investigation of my fridge and cupboards for type 6 plastic was futile, so it looks like if I do decide I want to play with some shrinkie ideas I'll have to splash out for sheets instead.  Oh well!