fixing up the bone boi (anatomical skeleton reconstruction)

Oh boy, let's see if I remember how to do this!

With the world social distancing and all my market, roller derby, and travel plans cancelled, I've started slipping into old habits.  I do make things still, as, you know, my j.o.b.  

I guess.  

You can search  my artsy fartsy bizness name 'Pulp Anatomy' to see what I'm up to.  But without my ridiculously stuffed schedule of derby events between myself and the girl, who plays with a provincial travel team and on Team Canada (little heart baby makes good!), I haven't had an outlet for my general know-it-all-ness.

I remember blogs though.  Such a brilliant thing.  I do what I want and can turn off comments.  

Surprising, nothing has changed in formatting.  This feels very primitive.  Thank goodness because I am a matronly woman now and no longer have the ability to update my computer skills.

But I did need to update my skelly boi because he was looking a little worse for wear.  A whole lot of him just sort of fell off, Black Knight style.  Not very educational, unless he's demonstrating what happens to an extra for The Witcher.

I tried all sorts of adhesives but they couldn't take the weight of the plastics.  I've been keeping his fallen parts around in hopes I would one day find the time to put him back together.  Looks like, thanks to a pandemic, that day arrived!

What I used: wire (probably a 24 gauge, but tough), wire cut and bending tool, and what I call a hand drill, although I don't know what the people who know tools call it.

I use this little drill all the time for real animal skeleton reconstructions and with polymer clay sculpts to make the holes I need to put in supports.  For the skeleton articulations, I usually use a small brass rod instead of just wire, cut to a precise length and secured with adhesive.  It's nearly invisible and very strong when in place.  

Here is an example of an articulated rabbit skeleton I done did up last year.  Note the joints are secured with small brass rods and then a larger one for spine support in the middle.  The spine is threaded with a hard 12 gauge craft wire.

However, I needed some flex with this plastic anatomy model since it is molded plastic and I had to somehow maneuver through an already constructed rib cage.  I was also not concerned in anyway about roughly finished wire edges.  Obvious repairs add charm, right?  Like visible mending?

Off I go.  Without actually counting and accounting for all the parts.  (Foreshadowing?)

Using the hand drill (or whatever), I screw my way through the plastic (so much hard polymer, had to turn on The Witcher while drilling), and then threaded my bendy wire through the holes.  A simple operation except when Geralt was doing something violent or sexy, and then I had to stop and pay attention to the screen for a bit.

Twist ends to secure.

Here is the ribs.  One did not want to cooperate no matter how much I cursed at it.  I decided to leave it as a lesson to itself.  I could, however, later go in with an adhesive, maybe with a silicone, to force it into shape.  With the wire supports, it would probably hold up well.

For now, though, I've got my bone boi looking much more intact and conventionally educational.  And I got an entire Witcher episode inside me too, which is very satisfying.

But wait!  Half an arm missing?!

I know it's here... somewhere.  While I search, not very hard, I am contemplating making some sort of robotic substitute.  Or maybe a grass sword, a la Finn the Human style?

What do you think I should do with this opportunity?


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A little boot embellishment

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strapless fairy wings: a tutorial of sorts

Perhaps this comes naturally to some people but I had to seriously think my way through making five sets of fairy wings for girl child's Grimm play. Actually, it was even worse; I needed The Man to help me figure out how to attach the darn things.

The problem was two fold. First there was the wings, which couldn't be any old wings, given that this is for the theatre and not Halloween dress up (the difference I'm still a bit hazy on but have been assured that they are not the same). The five fairy girls, who are to float around the fairy godmother, are all wearing identical, beautiful, dance dresses.

That is girl child in her costume, looking very much like a urchin who has just stepped out of a rain shower. Seeing her all week in full make up and hair and now in this picture looking like a damp dishrag is creating a little cognitive dissonance in me but since the girl wakes up looking like this in last night's hair:

I think we can all agree she could use some freshening.

And, here are the wings:

You can see by the style of dress that we could not use straps to secure the wings to the fairies.  In fact, given that the fairies do cartwheels, dance and even lay down, having secure, durable yet flexible wings were the only thing that would work for eleven shows.  Also, the wings had to be quickly removable during the second act when the fairies would have to be in close proximity with other cast members without taking out some one's eye.

First, was to make the wings.  These wings are a cut out of a non-fraying polyester weave, secured to wire only along the top edge.  The material has just a bit of weight and it holds the shape well while allowing floaty, ethereal movement.  They look incredibly twinkly under theatre lights.

The base of the wing, as you can see, is a coat hanger.  To make a fairy wing base,

Duct tape worked well to tape the sharp end of the the bent hook end of the hanger and add a bit of strength to that post, which is important for securing the wings into position. 

To attach the wing, cut your desired shape of wing out times two and then either sew down a fold on the top portion of the wing to create a tube to slip over the wire frame or use a glue gun to secure the material.  I did both.

For rigging the wings to the dresses, I used a double ring looped around the base of the straps in the back.  The straps are attached in the middle of the back.  If you have your own dress or top where straps are not attached in the middle, you can sew on your double ring or, even better, a D-ring in the center.  The post of the wings are inserted down through the ring between the dress and the back.  A tight dress is best.

The wings are prevented from twisting or shifting by a couple of small lanyard hooks that hook directly to the wire arms of the wings. 

And there you have it, fairy wings, attached without straps.  Times five.

dress to steampunk skirt reconstruction TUTORIAL

May two thousand seven is when when I wrote my first tutorials for this blog.  I feel weird about this little realization that six years later I'm still here.  I've kept this blog longer than any home I've ever lived in.  Wowzers.  Six and a half years, still here telling people what to do.

Should I shut up?  Maybe.  But one more tutorial first.

Before

After

 

So my little girl isn't so little anymore.  Four years have passed since I made her this Revolutions Frock (on the left - which you can find the pattern for here if you are so inclined).  You'd think I would make her some new clothes. 

But no.  Haha.  Poor kid.

The dress was in great shape still, except for a blown out snap on the top and, of course, being much too small for girl child.  Girl child had asked me THE DAY BEFORE the big Thanksgiving dinner to make her a new dress.  Bahahaha!  Girl child has a sense of humour.  I am apparently still a bit of a sucker, however, and decided that while I didn't have time for a whole new dress, I could probably reconstruct one of her old dressed into something. And I happen to have an idea that I've been ruminating on for awhile.  

Steampunk is a bit of theme running through out house lately.  The musical production of Alice in Wonderland girl child is cast in has a steampunk theme.  The Man has always been in love with the idea of technology taken in new and fantastic directions, long before steampunk was ever a 'thing'.  We even are planning a steampunk party for next month for the derby orphans we know.  Thus, we are declaring this skirt to be 'steampunk'.  Even if the rest of girl child's wardrobe has some catching up to do.

The idea of this skirt is that it can be left down in the usual manner, or gathered up by attaching the hooks sewn into the skirt.  In my skirt, the waistband has four rings attached and the skirt contains four rings with hooks attached near the bottom of the skirt. 

This is, probably, the first time I am making something for girl child that genuinely reflects the fact that she isn't an adorable little preschooler anymore and now a fully grown tween with attendant attitude, thank you.  Her daily wear is no longer puff sleeves and twirl skirts.  I am probably going to get kicked out of the sewing mom club for saying this but it is sort of exciting to start getting into more adult styled clothing for her.

 Actually, I can't wait for her to go through her punk stage.  I'm pretty sure it's not really punk to have your mom sew your clothes for you, but, honestly, kids these days don't really know how to do it anyways, so I feel it's best to intervene with girl child nonetheless.

Steampunk skirt from dress reconstruction tutorial

Materials
- dress to reconstruct or skirt
- lanyard or lobster claw hooks
- rings (I used split rings)
- ribbon to hold rings
- fabric for waistband
- zipper

To convert a dress into a skirt, simply cut off the skirt portion right below the waist.

Before

My skirt is a circle skirt and was a bit tricky to measure and size for a waistband.  To fit the girl, I had to slightly gather up the skirt waistband.  Not much more gather than ease on a sleeve, but you may have to gather a bit to have yours fit properly.   

Using the girl child's waist measurement, I cut four rectangles of fabric (cutting two rectangles using the measurement would of been fine but I was using scraps and could not get an entire waistband out of one piece of fabric.) 

Of the four rectangles, two are for the outside of the band to equal waist measurement plus seam allowance on the sides, two for the band lining of the same dimensions.

My waistband was four inches wide.  This would of been great for an adult, but in retrospect, I think two inches would of been a better width. 

Below is my waistband and lining, sewn into two long strips.  The zipper will attach on the open side of the waist band.

With right sides together, sew the top of the waistband together.  Turn right sides out and press the lining behind the front of the waistband. 

The waistband can then be divided into four equal sections on the bottom edge where rings on ribbons will be stitched.  I marked my ring locations with pins.

Waistband folded in half. 

To put in the rings that line the waistband (which the hooks will hang from to gather up the skirt), cut a length of ribbon for each hook about two inches long. 

Each ribbon is folded in half with the ring caught at the fold.  Pin the raw edge of each ribbon with ring at its marked position to the front side (right side) of the waistband.  Sew closed the bottom of the waistband.  Double back stitch over every ribbon for strength.

Finish the bottom edge of the waistband.

 To attach the waistband, first split one side seam from the top of the skirt about two inches down.  This is where the zipper will be placed after the waistband is attached.

To attach the waistband, align the raw edges of the waistband with the raw edges of skirt's top edge, right sides together, placing the open edges of the waistband against the two inch opening in the side seam.  Stitch from the side seam opening all around to the other side, keeping mind not to catch the ribbon or rings up in your sewing machine.  Fold open the waist band and press. 

Install the zipper on the open side of the waistband.   

To mark the locations of the bottom rings with attached hooks, fold the bottom edges of the skirt into into four equal parts.  Note the bottom edge of the skirt directly below the waistband rings and measure up about five inches (or where desired.  The exact distance we chose was decided by having girl child try on the skirt and picking up the bottom into gathers to determine exactly where we would like them.) 

Mark each position for a ring and hook with a safety pin.

Prepare your hook and ring combo by first attaching the hook on the ring.  Cut a ribbon about two and a half inches long for each ring.  Catching a ring in the ribbon, fold the ribbon in half and stitch the edges closed.  Gently sear the raw edge of the ribbon with an open flame (lighter or match) to seal the ribbon and prevent fraying.  Flip the ribbon inside out so that the raw edges and seam are on the inside of the ribbon loop.



With the seam on the ribbon to the top, pin ribbons with rings onto skirt in marked locations.  Stitch ribbon to skirt, sewing over the ribbon several times for strength.

With your skirt on, you can let it drape naturally or hook the rings together for gathers.

After.

The next time I do this skirt, I would like to add more hooks and rings for even more gathers.  Plus I'd like to use some pretty lobster claw hooks instead of the lanyard hooks, but we were making do with what we happen to have around here.  Of course, the whole thing is crying for some sort of petticoat or striped tights.  I would also like to get some pictures that aren't in a bathroom at the hall where we had our family Thanksgiving dinner, but I won't get too picky on that point.  I'm just pleased the girl child is still willing to pose for me.

How to PDF your handmade pattern

There seems to be quite a few talented people making their own patterns at home and wanting to share them with the world.  I've been asked what steps I take to convert a paper pattern into a PDF or ePattern.  As you may or may not know, I have been making PDF patterns for several years and have found a method that works fairly well for me.  I would like to share it with you here to help out any budding home businesses share their patterns online.

I make no claims to how other people create PDF files for their sewing patterns, but this is the process I use. Before I get into specifics, I want to describe in general what the process looks like. A full pattern is broken down into printer paper sized chunks which are scanned into a computer and made into a PDF file. The PDF file is then printed by another user and the pattern pieces are reassembled (much like a puzzle) into the full pattern. The method I use here is the easiest and least tech savvy way I could come up with in order to make the PDF patterns accessible to as many people as possible without the use of any more equipment than a computer and printer. It also works well for me because I did not have to learn any special drafting or editing programs. Which means if I can do it, you can too.

To start, I create my pattern on paper and hand draw the lines as neatly as I can using permanent marker.

In the olden days, to add text to the pattern pieces, I would print off the name of the pattern, sizes and other pertinent information on a separate piece of paper, then cut and glue in my printed labels. Very much like traditional zines were put together. Now I use a photo editing program to label the pieces after they have been scanned into the computer.

In addition to text, I also like to give some sort of indication of real life dimensions. I put a box that measures 1” square, so that anyone printing off the pattern can measure the box and know if the print is properly sized. To put in the 1" box I have used three different methods over time. One is using a printed square (the ultra sophisticated print, cut, glue zine method).  A variation is to glue in a 1” square of coloured paper, on which text can later be added with an editing program. I have also created the square entirely in the editing program.

Okay, back to your clean, ready to go pattern pieces.
Any large piece needs to be broken down into components small enough to fit on standard 8” x 11” printer paper.

I use a pencil to mark my patterns into a grid, with each square measuring approximately 6” x 9”. The size of each piece is smaller than a regular piece of paper to ensure that the pieces will be in the printable area of most home printers.

Note the 1" boxes on each pattern piece.

Before I cut my grided pattern pieces, I make some sort of mark on the dividing lines between the pieces that will help me put the pattern back together again. I’ve used arrows, lines, and even stuck stickers over the line. When the pattern is cut, the marks can be lined up exactly to provide a double check to correct pattern piece assembly.

The line markers are greatly over-emphasized in the above illustration. A couple of small perpendicular lines on each cut will be sufficient.

I also give each sub-sectioned piece a distinct identity, usually indicated with letter of the alphabet, which aids in creating a legend to pattern reassembly.

Once the pattern is physically cut along the penciled lines, each individual bite sized piece can be scanned into your computer.

To ensure that your scan comes through in real-life size - something I like to do whenever working with a new scanner or printer - print off  a copy of the pieces and compare to the originals to the print.
As you may have noticed above, patterns themselves do not lend themselves to exact griding and sometimes I end up with some odd shaped pieces, much smaller than the optimal size for printer paper. In such situations, I will put more than one pattern piece in a single scan to save printer paper.

With the scanned pieces in the computer, any edits, line erasures and text additions can be done with a photo or drawing editor. My own computer came equipped with Photoshop Elements 8.0, so that is what I use. There are many, many different programs available, ones that probably more suited to the task, but generally I’ve found that almost anyone is adequate for the small amounts of text to add.

My only recommendation is to make sure that the program does not resize your scans (or undo your formatting), destroying the integrity of the sizing. Once you’ve done an edit, save the edit under a different name (in a jpeg format) and print it off using the ‘actual size’, ‘no scaling’ or ‘100% scaling’ option on your printer. This just ensures that the actual size is printed and not a scaled down version. Compare the edited piece to the original (or use the 1” square marker) to see if any program settings need tweaked or changed.

Assuming you’ve gotten to the point where all your pieces are scanned in, edited (with additional text and whatever else you need) and the pattern is all ready to go, it is time to PDF the pages. A PDF is a way to format your document so that it can be read by all computers.  You need a program to change your regular computer files (jpegs, .docx, etc.) into PDF format.

(I am excluding specific information on the making of instructions from this tutorial but a brief foray into the process may be helpful at this point. I create my instruction using Microsoft Word and good ol’ Microsoft Paint for illustrations. I know the designers out there are cringing, but it’s better to go with what you know to create clear and concise instructions that are easy to understand then to get caught up in a technical stage show. If it works, it works. A technology created ten years ago is still incredibly powerful and the bonus part is that I actually know how to use it so that I can make something now, not three months from now after finding the time to learn a whole new program [which will be considered obsolete in six months anyway].

In addition to your pattern instructions, you will also want to detail how to reassemble your pattern pieces. I like to put in the actual pieces in a miniature format [by inserting the jpeg file in a text box, for the Microsoft Word users] to create a legend.

I am a visual person and use a lot of illustrations to reinforce my text. Sometimes text alone will do, however. To find the best way to present your pattern piece reassembly instructions, try printing out the pieces and giving it to a friend to puzzle together. Talk her through the process and write down what you say to her. This will give you a great start to writing clear instructions.)

Each pattern piece file and the instruction file can be turned into separate PDF files using a free online program such as PDF 995. This is my favorite one, and I use it in preference to the temperamental one supplied with my computer. There are, like editing programs, many PDFing programs out there, so have a look or use the one you are most familiar with.

The next step is to merge or compile your separate PDF files to create one big PDF file containing the all the instructions and pattern pieces. I have used a number of different programs but my favorite right now is I<3PDF.  Just select the merge option, upload your files and save a copy to your computer.

Print the whole thing one last time to see that all the formatting is accurate and it looks pretty. To share your pattern, either for free through your blog or for sale online, you can either email the complete PDF file or use a digital storage online that provides a link to gain instant access to the file. I do both, depending on the size of the finished file. The online data storage program I use is DigitalBucket, but like anything else, look around and see what will work best for you.

And that is how I do it.  Feel free to ask any questions about this processes and if you know of great PDF programs (no cost is best!), either to PDF or merge, please share in the comments below.

Good luck to all the pattern makers!  I look forward to hearing about how it goes :)

simple wool covered chair

When I was pregnant with Smootch, I kept hearing about a thing called 'nesting'.  Apparently this is a stage when a woman near the end of her pregnancy will suddenly feel compelled to prepare her home environment for her anticipated newborn.  I was told I would know when I'm nesting because I would suddenly begin cleaning like possessed madwoman or organizing long neglected photo albums or laying sod.  The urge to nest, I was warned, is completely undeniable and it's best to capitalize on this manic energy because I will not have any after the baby arrives.

Well, they were right about not having any energy post-baby, but I never did have that urge to nest.  No burst of energy for me, unless you count late night slurpee raids at the corner store.  I've always felt a little left out, and embarrassed because my photo albums are still empty and stacked under growing piles of loose photos.

Which is why it pleases me enormously that I've recently begun taking a genuine interest in the way my house is decorated.  Which isn't to say that I have mad energy to burn - oh, would that ever be wonderful! - but that I am actually, really real, taking the initiative and trying to perk the place up a bit.  It feels like I'm nesting now, though, without the energy.  Or time.  And three and a half years too late from my last pregnancy.  But, hey, something is better than nothing, yes?

Of course, with the taking on of the mega home decorating project, my immediate reaction is to bury myself alive in decorating books and becoming entirely overwhelmed with the possibilities.  And then I freeze, dreading the amount of work involved in it all.  I am quite good at biting off way more than I can handle and then procrastinating until the whole thing gets pushed aside by life happening.

Lucky for me, I have next to no money to decorate anything, so my choices are quite a bit slimmed down.  Also, my tastes are currently running towards minimalist, which also helps keep the vision within my budget.  To prevent the inertia of not starting, I decided I would tackle a small project, something I could start and finish in under an hour.  Get that initial happy feeling from a job well done and use that to spring board myself into something more involved.

So, here we go with the first of several tutorials for the frugal, green, busy, minimalist decorators here:

I am starting my decorating journey with a stack of second hand blankets I picked up at thrift stores recently.  Most of the blankets are in neutrals tones, heavy on texture, and of natural fibres.  All of them cost under seven dollars each.  Pictured below is a cotton bed sheet, a king size raw linen duvet, a cotton bedspread, a patchwork quite, two flannel blankets and two rough wool blankets.

In the basement of our new house I had found an abandoned vinyl covered chair.  It was still pretty sturdy and I thought that I would work well in our unheated front porch.  Though the vinyl was in good shape, despite a few paint splatters, the look of the chair was uninspiring and I thought recovering it would be a good way to make the first cut in my pile of blankets and avoid the procrastination that big new projects tends to bring out in me.
.

With a bit effort on Birdie's part,

the chair cleaned up quite nicely.

Taking the seat off by unscrewing it from the bottom, I laid it down on the wool blanket and cut a piece just a bit bigger.  There was a paper covering on the bottom that was in terrible shape and I removed that first.  The vinyl I left on because it was still entirely intact and provides a waterproof surface to protect the foam underneath.  If I had pulled it off, however, I would of added more padding to the chair to make it more comfy.

With a stapler, I pulled the blanket tight around the edges and secured in place.  The picture below is with just a few staples.  The finished seat has over a hundred staples in it and the excess blanket trimmed.

The seat was then reattached to the chair with screws.

For the top, I made a very simple slip cover to go over the vinyl backing.  Recovering the back would of actually been quite labour intense, but the slip cover took only fifteen minutes to create and looks just as neat as a recovering would of.

This slip cover is just a rectangle.  I measured the width,

length,

and depth.

To cut the blanket, I used the length times two plus the depth for one side of a rectangle.  The other side was the width plus half the depth plus a seam allowance.

Folding it all in half (right sides together) and sewing the sides closed completed the cover.  Since I used wool, I did not need to hem the bottom, but most other materials will need a hem and extra fabric for it will need to be taken into account before any fabric is cut.

With the slip cover turned right side out and dropped over the back, the chair is finished.  Given some time and inspiration in the future, perhaps after the snow falls and I'm feeling the need for colour, I may do some decorative stitching or applique on the back.  For right now, however, I've got a whole lot of more things to recover, curtain and paint, so I'll just enjoy the simplicity of the design and natural covering.