What Do You Tink About That? Part II

(continuing the making of projects based on a challenge set by TinkersShop)For this second Tink Project, I decided to use the owl label. After toying with several different uses for it, I settled on making a book. While I was getting my undergrad degree, I took a bookbinding class twice, just because I enjoy it. However, it has been several years since I’ve pulled out my bookbinding supplies. I’ve been carefully toting my binder’s board and papers around with me from apartment to apartment in the meantime, though.

I knew I wanted to do a paper-covered book, the more easily to incorporate the owl label. While I was mulling over the various papers in my collection, trying to decide which would be best, I got what I think is a brilliant idea: to cover the boards with a print from an old catalog, with fiddly little lists of prices and old-fashioned drawings. As I don’t have any antique catalogs around (and probably wouldn’t use them to cover books even if I did), I turned to another hobby of mine, the Distributed Proofreaders. This site coordinates volunteers from around the world to scan, proof, and format books in the public domain, then submits the finished files to Project Gutenberg and other sites for free download to the masses. A while ago, I proofed several pages from an old Harrods catalog. So I went back, found some promising-looking original images, and pieced together an image large enough to cover the front and back of the book.
One of the reasons I have not done much bookbinding of late is that I learned to cut the cover boards using a heavy-duty guillotine-style paper cutter. It was quick, easy, and made perfectly-sized cover and spine pieces. However, although I could maybe still get into the bookbinding room on campus to use the board cutter, I thought I’d better cut the boards by hand at home. I used my big utility knife. It was neither easy nor fun, but I did get my two pieces cut. As I was making a link-stitch book, I did not need to cut a spine piece. I covered the boards with the paper I had printed, added the owl to the lower corner of the front, and placed them under my some heavy books to be pressed while they dried. (By the way, that book in the middle is my college chemistry book. There is a story behind the paper cover, but not one I will tell at this time).
In the meantime, I prepared the twelve signatures of paper by poking the sewing holes using the same template I had previously used to poke holes in the covers. It was approximately at this time that I discovered that the template I had decided to use was not quite the right size, resulting in holes too close to the edges. However, at this point I couldn’t change that, so I decided to just make the best of it.
The next morning, I pulled out some beautiful blue-green paper with gold dragonflies and carefully tore it, glued the pieces to the covers, and returned them to the textbooks to dry.
In the evening, I poked holes through the cover paper. I then cut and glued a purple paper to the insides of the cover. After this was dry, I re-poked the holes through the inside paper. The book was now ready to be sewn.
I decided to use a silver paper accordion-folded between signatures for a decorative spine. At this point, I honestly can’t remember whether this is a method one of my teachers demonstrated, or one I worked out on my own. Either way, it is an effect I like, and I have usually done it with metallic-colored papers. However, it does complicate the process somewhat, especially when one hasn’t sewn a book in several years…. Anyway, I cut a long strip of silver paper the same size as the pages. And then I discovered I did not have the right color thread. I wanted purple. The owl was telling me its book should be sewn with purple thread. It is a very demanding little owl, having already dictated all of the paper choices thus far. I had a little purple thread, but I knew it wasn’t enough. I had maroon. I had light blue. I had black. But no, it had to be purple. Fortunately, as I am once again a student, I was able to go to the art stockroom on campus (which only accepts payment by student card) and buy some purple waxed linen thread there. When I got home and settled down to sew, I realized how much I’d forgotten over the years. But finally, I remembered how to sew the first signature to the cover. After that, the rest was easier.
All the same, it took me two movies (Shrek and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) worth of time to complete the sewing. I definitely used to be faster. There are some minor details my teachers would have taken points off for, but I am delighted with the book, anyway. And the owl label seems to be pretty happy with his new home, too.

What Do You Tink About That? (Part I)

A fellow seller on Etsy, TinkersShop put forth a challenge for those daring enough to accept it: use three vintage pharmacy labels, provided by her, in our own creations to be completed by October 2. I thought this sounded intriguing, and had an idea in mind, so I signed up. I received my labels and sadly neglected them for several weeks. This week, living by a very strict to-do list, I have finally carved out niches of time in which to work on the “Tink Projects”.
My first project was using the purple “Belgique” label. The elements of the label that particularly caught my eye were the scroll saying “Machelan (Brabant) Belgique” and the little circles with faces. The references to Belgium made this label a natural for my first idea—a pair of lace bobbins with the label decoupaged onto the handles. Belgium is famous for its bobbin lace, including one particular style, Bruges Flower Lace.
I started by turning a pair of cherry bobbins. The thistletop and neck were turned normally. For the handle, I wanted a smooth recess in which to place the paper. I did not do any decorative cuts, other than a little shaping of the area between the neck and the recess, as well as the end. For once, I did try to copy myself and make a matching pair. Although they are not quite identical (they never are), I surprised myself by liking the second one more! Usually when I am trying too hard to match, the copy is not as pretty. (The one on the right is the second one.)
Next, I cut the portions of the label that I wanted to use. I cut them to fit in the recess, but with excess length to roll up. I then rolled the papers on without adhesive to test the look and fit, and trimmed again as necessary. Then, I applied Mod-Podge to the back of the papers and carefully rolled them tightly on to the bobbins, also being careful not to smear the wood.
Afterward, I applied a couple of coats of the Mod-Podge to the paper (and a very small amount to the wood along the edges) to seal and provide a glossy finish. Then I carefully propped them up to dry. Yes, my drying rack is a cookie cooling rack.
The next morning I applied tung oil to the wood, this time being careful not to smudge the oil onto the paper. After the regular finishing and spangling procedure, the bobbins were ready to list for sale, submit to Tink, and just generally show off!

A Sharp-Witted T-Shirt

I make myself a new t-shirt every year for my birthday. I also make other shirts occasionally during the year as inspired. Before you begin the birthday greetings, let me reassure you that this blog entry is about the second type of shirt—the ones I make just because I feel like it. My first shirt, and most popular so far, was my 25th birthday shirt. I altered an image of Marilyn Monroe and added the text “Quarter of a century…makes a girl think!” (from "Some Like It Hot"). So far, I’ve mostly used the same format: picture in the middle, with text arched over and below the image. Well, I decided to do something a little different this time.

A while ago, when I was feeling somewhat artistic, I decided to do a small art panel based on a line from Much Ado About Nothing—a portion of Benedick’s epithet on Beatrice: “She speaks poignards, and every word stings.” I just used the first half of that, and illustrated it literally, using a photograph of myself that I have altered extensively, and adding in poignards (daggers) that I drew in SolidWorks and positioned in several angles. In the original art panel, I printed the words on a contrasting color of paper and decoupaged it on.
For my shirt, I used the same base image—the close-up of my face with the daggers spewing from my lips. However, on a white t-shirt, it seemed better to put a border around the image. On the art panel, the edges of the image were clearly defined, but an added border seemed advisable for the shirt. I’ve gotten into the habit of composing my t-shirt images in Word for some reason, so I just added the border there. I used a solid black border with a purple glow for the fun of it. I did toy around with adding the wording in as part of the printed image, but didn’t like how it looked. So I just printed the image as is on iron-on transfer paper, trimmed close to the border, and ironed it on, centered and just below the neckline.
Although the instructions for the transfer paper say that the paper can be peeled off while the transfer is hot for a matte finish, I have only encountered problems doing that. So I waited for it to cool, the removed the paper backing.
In order to mimic the decoupaged paper words, I pulled out some of my printer fabric. I prepared the words in Photoshop, so that I could also add in some color in the background. I printed the words first on paper to check the size against the main image, then printed the fabric. Using a hot, dry iron, I set the ink on the fabric, then cut out the word rectangles and removed the paper backing.
Next, I applied Fray Check to all edges of the rectangles. I toyed around with different ideas on how to affix the words to the shirt, but finally decided to depart from the decoupage look of the original and embrace the fabric. I used bright purple thread to completely contrast the yellowish fabric and hand-stitched the words on. I intentionally made the stitches uneven, because I like the look. And although I did not refer to my pictures of the original panel for placement of the words, I did place the “poignard” rectangle over the edge boundary, similar to how I recall positioning it in the original.
Because I love this image, I made a second art panel using it. I believe I used a different paper for the words, and although the same components are used (well, a different wood was used for the backing panel), I consider this second panel to be an original as well. It’s Number 2 in a series of similar works, I guess.

A Sharp-Witted Woman, No. 2 is available on Etsy!

As for my shirt, I’m mostly happy with how it turned out. Because I wanted the red lips, I did use color ink when printing it. However, as I have found in the past, the color ink tends to make the blacks and grays in the image a little yellow-greenish. I usually use black ink only when printing t-shirt transfers for that reason. Also, there was a trail of wheel marks from the printer. I need to figure out a way to clean and prevent that, but they only show up when I use the transfer paper; regular paper and printer fabric are fine. As this shirt is for my own use, though, I wasn’t too bothered. By the way, if you choose to try making shirts using iron-on transfers, remember to follow the washing instructions carefully. I have messed up other shirts before by being too lazy and running them through the drier before they can handle it. It is safest to wash the shirt, then hang it to dry several times—even longer than recommended in the instructions—before attempting to dry it in the clothes drier. It will stick to itself and ruin the image if you are not careful.

Silk. Lots and lots of beautiful silk!

A few weeks ago, I found out that an enthusiastic trader on Etsy had some skeins of silk laceweight yarn she was clearing out of her abundant yarn collection. Since I like silk, I’ve been curious about working with yarn, and I was wondering just how thin laceweight yarn is, I traded a keyring pen for a skein of blue silk yarn.
Since I like to experiment on new types of thread by making longer pieces of lace, I needed to make a new pricking. After a bit of debating with myself, I decided to draw it out at a scale that would give me 8 pins per inch along the straight sides. I had thought to make scalloped edges, similar to the edges on the variegated thread bookmark I made a few months ago, but decided to simplify it with straight edges. The center of the strip is a simple honeycomb ground. The triangles along the edges are half-stitch, and along each edge two pairs of passives are worked in whole stitch to give a sturdy woven edge.

After drawing out the design, I scanned it in to my computer and printed out two copies. I carefully cut and taped the strips to align the design. Cheating a little, I did not mount the printouts on a stiff backing, and I did not pre-prick the holes. The reason I made the pattern so long is that I wanted to try working it on a roller pillow I bought on ebay a few years ago. I pinned the paper strip to the center of the roller, then wound about a yard of yarn onto each of 32 bobbins (16 pair). I started the lace at a point, similar to the bookmarks I’ve made, and worked it as normal.
For the most part, working with the laceweight yarn was no different than with thread. However, it was not an even thickness, and the thicker slubs had to be worked with carefully. They tended to get stuck in the whole stitch edges. The lace was a little looser than usual, due to the large scale at which I drew the pattern.
When working on a roller pillow, you work an inch or so at a time, then turn the roller back a bit to expose the next section to work. You take the pins from the back to use in the lace at the front as it is being made. I found that I liked this, because it left me with not as many pins to take out and the end when I’ve finished! However, there are some thing I don’t like about this roller pillow. I can’t push the pins all the way down, like I do on my cookie pillow. The slope on the roller is a little too steep, and the apron—the part where the bobbins lay—is awfully thick, making it a little awkward to position when working. As this is the only roller pillow I’ve ever used, I don’t know whether this is normal. I plan to make a new roller pillow myself, so I’ll try to eliminate at least a couple of those issues.

I started to run out of yarn on a couple of bobbins before I quite reached the end of the 17 ½” long pattern, but what I had was long enough for what I wanted, so I finished off at a point similar to the beginning. Because the lace was fairly loose, as I mentioned earlier, I laid the strip out flat and treated it with spray starch. I didn’t iron the lace, but let it air dry. That worked wonders!
It wasn’t until I was partway through making the strip of lace that I finally decided what to do with it. I often wear my hair pulled back by a sash, since it’s too short to pull back in a ponytail. Since I have quite a bit of undyed silk chiffon left over from a rather nice dress I made a couple of years ago, I decided to make a silk hair sash on which to mount the silk lace.

Originally, I’d thought to make a long, skinny sash, barely wider than the lace. But the first piece I pulled out of my bag of leftover silk was a roughly rectangular piece the full 44” width of the fabric, with the barely noticeable selvages still present. That gave me a new idea. I sewed the long edges together in a French seam and pressed it in the middle of the long strip.

Folding it in quarters, I marked the center, then marked the center of the lace and sewed it in the middle of the sash. I decided to leave the ends open so that, when tied, it would give the effect of a regular scarf. When I was taking pictures of it, I played around with folding it in long thirds the width of the lace, and laying flat like a head scarf. I even tied the folded sash around the neck of my wig head for another variation!


The next time I use this yarn, and probably for any other laceweight yarn, I’ll still use the eight pins per inch scale, since that works well with the unevenness, but I’ll add extra twists as necessary to make the lace a little tighter. Even doing that, though, I’ll probably still need to starch the lace. Which reminds me, I need to get some more starch because I finished off my current can on this!

Happy Easter!

Don't bother telling me the title of this entry is two weeks late. That said, I grew up with two older sisters. I was the queen of hand-me-downs. My mother even says that I helped my sisters pick out their clothes because I knew I'd end up with them eventually. But my mom always made sure that, even though the bulk of my wardrobe was previously-worn, I got a few new things of my own every year. At the beginning of the school year, I'd get to pick out a few new things (including the all-important first-day-of-school outfit, which I usually also wore on the also important Picture Day). I would also get a new dress for Christmas and another for Easter. These, combined with whichever clothes in the big bags in the basement happened to fit, gave me quite a nice assortment of school clothes and church dresses to wear all year long.

I've tried, with varying amounts of success, to follow the tradition over the years. I do generally start every school year (when I'm in school) with a new outfit, and I frequently make myself a new winter dress in time for Christmas and a spring-summer type dress for Easter. This year, I decided I wanted an Easter dress. I had all the fabric by the Friday before Easter, so my plan was to wash it at my parents' house (the fabric is all 100% cotton, so pre-washing is a very good idea), then cut it out and maybe even start sewing while the rest of my laundry was being washed. I did get the fabric (and the rest of my clothes) washed, but a combination of other things coming up and my inherent laziness prevented the project from going any further that day.

Finally this weekend I ironed all the fabric--four different pieces--and started cutting out. I decided to use one of my favorite patterns (the one from which I previously cannibalized a sleeve piece) but with, as usual, some changes.
The v-shaped neckline is somewhat precariously low in its plunge. I wanted to fill it in a bit, but am not a fan of the dicky look. While brainstorming different options, I realized that the crossed-over bodice and wide midriff faux-sash reminded me of a kimono and obi. Since I had been wanting a dress out of a Japanese-type print anyway, I knew what I could do to raise the neckline a little. Kimonos are worn with several other light robes underneath, with the layers arranged to show neatly at the neckline. Therefore, my plan was to mimic this look.

I selected a purple fabric with a Japanese-style floral print reminiscent of the decorative washi papers I've used to cover boxes and eggs. In addition, I got two plain purple fabrics, one a light purple and the other a pinkish purple, and some white cotton.
As I was cutting out the pattern pieces, I primarily followed View C, which has the sleeves I wanted and is all one fabric. However, I cut the midriff section and tie ends out of the light purple. I mostly sewed the dress according to the pattern directions, with two exceptions: before overlapping the bodice pieces and basting, I cut (well, tore, actually) strips of the pinkish-
purple, folded and ironed them, and zig-zagged the unfinished edges, then sewed them along the front panel edges with 1/4" showing. This was done in order to add a contrast color, highlight the crossed-over nature of the bodice, and begin filling in the neckline.
1 5/8" from the top of the piece, I slanted the strip down to meet the shoulder seam which would be sewn at 5/8" from the top.

Also, although the pattern directs to lap the right side over the left, I switched it to left over right, after checking several images of Japanese women in kimono to see which way is correct for that look.

From this point, I proceeded as normal. After the dress was complete, I cut (well, tore, again, since that's the easiest way I know to get woven cotton into even strips when I don't have a pattern piece) strips of the light purple and white. I measured and placed the light purple so that a bare 1/8" would be exposed, and also tapered it toward the shoulder line in placing. The white was exposed 3/8", and also carried around the back of the neck.
These changes resulted in the point of the neckline being raised a full 1 1/4", while looking intentional and designed-in (dickies always look a little last-minute and unthought to me, which is why I wanted to avoid that solution). Also, the layered neckline allowed me to use a fabric that is really a little to yellow for my skin tone, because the final white layer is more flattering to me. he end result is a fun dress that I have made my own--and that I can bow in safely!
Oh, and I also used leftover fabric to make a head sash. In these pictures, I've tucked up the tied ends.

Rubber ducky, you're the one!

The April EtsyFAST challenge theme is "Just Ducky". I felt like going with a rather literal interpretation of the theme and work out a small motif shaped like the stereotypical bath toy. I decided the best way to go was to make a simple braid outline, similar to the one I used for the heart earrings, but with a plaited filling rather than a torchon-type ground.

The first difficulty I encountered was how to create the narrow, tapered shape needed for a beak. I remembered a design I once saw, which used a leaf-shaped tally for a bird's beak. I made the drawing for the pricking based on this idea, and added in a spot for a small seed bead to be worked in, representing the duck's eye.
Next, I scanned the drawing in to my computer and mirrored the image so that I can make a ducky facing whichever direction I like. After printing the design, I cut it down to a square. I prepared the pricking by using clear contact paper to stick the printed design onto a slighlty larger square cut from a file folder. Finally, I used a pin to poke holes in all the designated spots.
For working the lace, I decided on a very bright yellow cotton sewing-weight thread. I also got some bright orange cotton thread for the beak, and tiny size 15 black seed beads for the eyes.
Now, a tally is worked using only two pairs of bobbins. Each bobbin is used singly as one is woven back and forth, forming a small, dense shape. So in order to make the beak a different color from the rest of the lace, I started by hanging in the two pairs of yellow-wound bobbins as usual, but instead of using one of them to weave the beak, I hung in a single orange-wrapped bobbin as well. I used the two center bobbins as one. The method I learned for making tallies includes tying the worker thread around one of the others at the beginning and end anyway, so that made a convenient way to bring the contrast thread in and out.
After working the beak and removing the single orange bobbin, I added in more bobbins for a total of seven pairs and worked in cloth stitch to the eye. I incorporated the bead using my amazingly helpful teeny teeny tiny 0.4 mm crochet hook, then worked on around, completing the head in straightforward cloth stitch. For the body, I used a simple braid: cloth stitch with twists setting off the outside edge. As I worked it, i found a few spots where I preferred the pins to be place closer in. So I poked new holes and moved the pins. After completing the body and discarding most of the threads, I kept two pairs to form one side of the plaited filling, and added in two more pairs for the other half.
I plaited the filling pairs a little, worked the pairs through each other at the crossing, and continued on to a couple of picots. After another crossing and finishing off, the ducky was done!
But I wasn't completely satisfied with my little duck. The contrast beak was fantastic, but the way I added the additional pairs in left a gap. Also, the plaited filling didn't seem quite stable, due in part to the fact that I have not yet fully mastered right-hand picots, I expect.
So for the next ducky, I started with three pairs, with each pair used as a single thread in the tally when woven with the orange. This made the transition from the beak to the head much more smooth, but does make the beak tally a little wider. Since rubber duckies don't usually have sharp beaks, that didn't bother me. For the filling, I skipped the picots altogether, and just sewed the plaits to pinholes to make the shape. Happy with this one, I went on and made another the same way, and made them into a slightly silly pair of earrings!

I have an idea for using the same pricking to make some more realistically-colored ducks, so stay tuned for an update when I complete them!

Spangled Midland does not refer to bellybutton rings.

I've mentioned before that I make lace bobbins. I made a couple of pairs last week, so I'll share step-by-step how I do it. If you happen to have wood lathe experience, you probably have the skills to do this, too. But there is no need to follow the same steps as I do...this is what works well for me, but I will probably continue to refine my process.

As I discussed before, the elements of a Spangled Midland style lace bobbin are:

1. the thistle top, so named for its shape, and which provides a useful location for the special knot used to hold the thread at a given length, yet easily unwind additional thread.
2. the neck, onto which the reserve of thread is wound
3. the handle, which is used for manipulating the thread and generally has decorative cuts
4. the spangle, which provides weight for maintaining tension, keeps the bobbin from rolling, and is pretty.

In this example, I turned the bobbin out of a 3/8" diameter birch dowel. I like using dowels because it saves a whole lot of time compared to roughing from square stock. However, I've only found a fairly small selection of hardwood dowels, so beyond birch, oak, walnut, and cherry, I use pen blanks.
As shown above, I set up about a 6" length in a headstock drill chuck, supported at the tailstock end by a 60 degree cone point live center. I start with cutting the thistle top at the tailstock end. First I cut the angled top,
followed by a simple bead to form the bottom of the thistle shape.
Then, in several passes I cut a narrow neck about 1" long.
After marking off the final length (total length should be 4" to 4 1/2", but should be the same for both bobbins in the pair), I cut a decorative design in the handle. I don't plan it ahead of time, but just follow the whim of the moment. Likewise, I don't try to make both bobbins of a pair match...the second one never looks as good, and the pairs generally don't stay together through the lacemaking process, anyway. However, I do use the first bobbin as a reference for the second, so that the dimensions of the thistle top, neck, and length, will be about the same.

I sand the bobbin with strips of sandpaper, starting with whichever grit seems necessary based on the cleanness of the cuts, and progress down to very fine grit. The neck and thistle top in particular need to be very smooth, so that the thread will unwind smoothly. Finally, to cut off the bobbin, I use a skew chisel to cut down to a narrow point and finally part it off. I've tried using parting chisels for this, but the skew just seems to work better and give a better looking end.
I use tung oil to finish the bobbins. Then, I drill a small hole at the end of the bobbin for the spangle. I cut a few inches of brass wire and thread it through the hole, leaving the bobbin hanging in the middle of the wire. (the spangling pictures are taken using a cherry bobbin I had on hand, because I didn't think to take pictures while I was spangling the birch pair.)
Next I slide on beads symetrically on either side, finishing with one large bead. I do not use plastic beads, as they don't seem to give enough weight.
I cut the wire on one side, near the last bead. With a pair of pliers, I form a small loop. Then I pull the other end of the wire snugly through the loop, cut off near the loop, and form another loop, linking them together.

With the pliers, I pinch the loops flat, then pull the large bead over the connection. And then the bobbin is complete and ready to use!
And here is the cherry pair I made last week: