I craft like I play music - by ear. I'm completely unschooled, yet I've got enough of a knack for it that I can kinda get away with it. Having recon'd enough t-shirts I'm venturing into the world of using real live commercial sewing patterns for the first time and feeling a SERIOUS case of The Dumb While stumbling around for online help I found this website:

http://www.sewingsupport.com

It's chock-full of lessons, tips, and techniques on every aspect of   EVERYTHING   you could possibly imagine to do with sewing!!!
Still very surprised I have never seen this link here on Crackster...
If you are spankin' new to sewing, OR experienced and looking for good advice on a specific technique do yourself a favor and give it a peek.

I've been on a potential bloomer kick (meaning I haven't made any, but I think I must ) and after only finding a scant handful of tut links around here I found this:

http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/needlework/Home-Economics/Chapter-V-How-To-Make-Bloomers.html

It is from the book "A Girl's Problems in Home Economics" c.1926, which appears to be a classroom text. It's so freakin' detailed you even get told to watch your sewing posture!

I don't know if I'll follow it to the letter, but it's a really great source for checking out construction...

Hope some fellow Cracksters enjoy it like I did

OK - I'm working on an 18" x 21" ribcage back FP stencil right now... It's big, it's gettin' fragile, and currently watching stuff on my 'pewter so I'm working on my lap. The damn thing keeps catching on things as I try and spin it for the cuts.

ENTER GLAD PRESS'N SEAL!!!



Umm... I was so excited by this that when I stopped for a smoke I jumped right on to post without searching first... I can't possibly be the first person to discover this amazing thing, but I had to squee!

Yay structural integrity!!! 

ok - back to work

I recently got back into making mail after a few years off for bad ergonomics - I got RSI like woah from making the rings... This took 2 sittings (about 4 hours total I think - I watched Hogfather to pass the time).

The pattern is a modified 'Idiot's Delight' (Birdcage, Byzantine, Fool's Dilemma, whatever) The rings are 18g 1/4" galvanized steel. I bought 2lb of rings from The Ring Lord (I'll provide a link if requested) to give the company a try. The rings are pretty nice (sawn, not pinchcut) and well priced enough to make me take up the craft again...
Love weavin' steel Friggin' HATE cuttin' rings
The ankh I've had for 20 years and I never take it off except to re-craft. The unseen (whoops) clasp was ripped off something else I never wore

Enough babble, here's the whole thing:


And a closeup:

so, i'm completely addicted to BPAL (http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/ - the best smells on the planet)
which is good because it's an addiction which blends nicely with crafting
storing and sorting imps (sample vials) is a very big concern in my life right now 
i found these great plastic ammo boxes at dick's sporting goods

but they look like... well, ammo boxes
i have a few other chicks i swap with and i want to do up a box for each of them
just looking for some more ideas for materials to use on the textured plastic
i can think of a few ways of attacking them, but i bet you folks around here will have a lot better ones!!!


***edited to add: MY 100th POST, WOOT!  ***

A request came my way for a 'BAG bag'...
As in a place to put plastic shopping bags, rather than stuffed in a kitchen drawer
   "which is by now built like a can o' snakes"
sez my friend who made the request...
Now this chick ain't no country geese and apple stencils kinda girl (which is why she's my friend ), she's a hellfire spewing, shotgun shootin', hoot 'n holler cowgirl and she specifically asked for a skully bag-bag...
So who am i to deny a request like that, I ask ya?
Off goes I to the interstupid to gather a few ideas and BANG! a-sewing I go...

I won't post a tut since many others have done it better, just google 'plastic bag holder'...
Mine is about 10"x20", 1/4" elastic at the bottom, 1" wide strap at the (open) top (some folk seem to like elastic at the top... I say just stuff the f'kers in there!). Seams on the bottom and side are double stitched for strength against stuffing Fabric is 'Badanna' from JoA's (which also makes a wicked bikini, imho! I NEED more!!! *rubs hands and cackles*)

So, in honor of Cowgirl Sin, I bring you the "Skully Bag-bag":


(Sorry about the reflective safety vest - that's another UFO. The focus? pic taken pre-coffee)

action shot:

1 60's Harmony Marquis banjo that I got for $25
+
1 Saturday with no responsibilities
=
1 freakin' awesome devil banjo!
Perfect for sitting by the campfire and harmonizing that favorite bluegrass gospel standard 'Number of the Beast'..., or maybe a clawhammer 'Ghouls Night Out'... YAY!




The resonator was removed, sanded, masked everywhere but the inside, and sprayed with Krylon flat black, 3 or 4 coats. The design itself was sized in Photoshop and cut into 4 'stencils'...

The image was transferred by rubbing the back of one of the graphics with white colored pencil and using a ball point pen and heavy pressure to create a sketch i could work over.
Paints were Liquitex Basics Matt.
Doing the eyes sucked.

---edited this am to add:
I dreamed about playing it ALL night... In my exhaustion last night I didn't fully express HOW FREAKIN' HAPPY this project made me!      
I've been rehab'ing this banjo from an absolute piece of crap for more than a year and this is the most satisfaction I've probably ever gotten from a project... EVER (and i make a lot of stuff)!
and:
the amber dots on pic #2 are xmas lights behind me, not weird crustys on the 'jo (for some reason this was really bothering me and i had to mention it)

TODAY AND TOMORROW (10/13 &10/14)
SO SO sorry I didn't post this sooner, but I totally spaced that it was happening until this am...

The Delaware Valley Opera Company is having a costume sale at the Hermitage Mansion to benefit their relocation fund.
Wedding/Bridesmaid/Prom dresses, boxes and boxes of fabric yardage and scraps (much vintage), hats, coats, gloves, jewelry and more!!!

I just scored two great vintage wedding dresses and a big bag of groovy vintage and satin scraps! The prices are awesome and there are some great finds!

For times, directions to the Hermitage Mansion, or for contact numbers and more info go to dvopera.org

I woke up this morning and decided I needed this!



Freezer paper stencil (via my inkjet) and speedball silkscreen ink with a sponge brush.
I'm pretty sure I got the stencil from stencilpunks...

The lines in person are actually really crisp for working on a 'beater. There's a teeny little blob in between the pinkies that you can't see in the pix, but smeg it - I'm happy!

A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
goes to everyone who's been posting about this wonderful freezer paper stuff - It's a whole new wonderful world for me 

This made me sooo late for work, but put me in a very bouncy mood 

It might not be done (and I'm not sure what I'll do with it next), I think I still want to play around with the skin tones some more - but I don't want to get fired, so I'm posting it as completed for now just so I can share.