14
votes
Accepted
My grandma's fingers are becoming too old for knitting. What alternatives are there?
If she has rheumatic arthritis, the best thing she could do is continuing knitting and crocheting for short periods. Many movements that are done during physio therapy for arthritis of the hand are ...
Elmy♦
- 13.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Reviving wool from possible moth damage
A quick hack would be to roughen up the bare patches with an old toothbrush or the coarse side of a Velcro strip. Try to treat only the bare patches like this, and be extra careful at the edges ...
Elmy♦
- 13.8k
8
votes
Making a rubber duck swim in a tabletop pond
This honestly started as a fun idea, but it might actually work to integrate a magnetic stirrer into the pond.
Image source
Magnetic stirrers are usually used in a lab to (you guessed it) stir ...
Elmy♦
- 13.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Is there a way to unclump dryer lint?
I think what you need to do is carding the lint.
Carding is a process used in spinning fibers like cotton or wool and it disentangles the fibers and arranges them (mostly) in one direction.
(Image ...
Elmy♦
- 13.8k
7
votes
How to keep Craft matchsticks from splitting while cutting?
I've used wood from popsicle sticks and wooden coffee stirrers for model making. Matchsticks might be more fragile, but what I used would be a starting point.
My usual tool is a razor saw, like Chris ...
- 581
7
votes
How do I get or make large glitter paper sheets for origami stars?
Actual glitter paper relies on bonding glitter to paper (or card) and it always sheds, whether bought or home made. You may be able to spray coat it and reduce the shedding, but you won't stop it ...
- 6,959
6
votes
Accepted
How I can calculate the hand position on a clock background?
If you have a compass, the drawing kind, not the magnetic kind, you can create the intermediate locations for the hours.
https://youtu.be/2Vshz0kqZh4
The video above shows the process, but I was ...
- 7,679
6
votes
How do I draw an evenly spaced spiral around a long cylinder?
You could do it with string (one piece twice or two pieces to mark the outline, then paint). Once you pick the angle and pull the string tight, it will define an even spiral. But there's an easy, ...
- 11.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Which knitting pattern is particularly heat insulating?
On a fundamental level, heat insulation means trapping hot air around an object (or person) and keeping cool air away from the object (or person). With that in mind I tested a few knitting patterns in ...
Elmy♦
- 13.8k
6
votes
Accepted
Attaching Pearls to 18k Gold Jewelry: Professional Techniques
As far as I know, glue is never acceptable in professional jewelry making, regardless of the materials used (usually, none of them are cheap).
In your case, I see two slightly different solutions. ...
- 1,911
6
votes
Accepted
Making a rubber duck swim in a tabletop pond
I've run a lab experiment (article in MagPi, the Rapsberry Pi magazine) in the past that had some rather neat rotation in the reaction vessel. We did this with angled hose fittings, one inlet and one ...
- 6,959
5
votes
What are the benefits of using an overhand grip?
The tripod grips are used mostly for drawing "lines", whether plain writing of text, or drawing contours.
However, the overhand grip is used mostly for filling areas, e.g. backgrounds. This ...
- 1,911
5
votes
Layers of liquid with glittered glue and shredded hot glue stick in a test tube
Yes, it's likely that an off-the-shelf glitter glue will give out, if it hardens at all in the wet environment. Glitter glue is a PVA glue, which tends to soften and dissolve when exposed to water; it'...
- 4,074
5
votes
Make sphere models
Toothpicks and Styrofoam Spheres. Use the toothpicks to both symbolize the bonds and hold the spheres in appropriate alignment with each other. Since you want the spheres to touch, use slightly ...
- 3,235
5
votes
How can I draw a horizontal line on a spherical object?
Build a structure from common materials, i.e., books, blocks of wood, etc., at the height necessary to match your objective line. You can use a pencil secured to the structure, making contact with the ...
- 7,679
5
votes
How to avoid gaps between stitches in crocheted clothes
I crochet swimwear and I have observed that if I crochet tighter, it reduces the space significantly between stitches. The type of stitch is probably the biggest factor contributing to holes though. ...
- 317
5
votes
Technique for making roots\vines for wargaming backgrounds
Look for wire core twine in the garden department or a hobby / craft store.
It's not expensive for the amount you get and comes in various materials, thicknesses and colors. Garden departments usually ...
Elmy♦
- 13.8k
4
votes
I made a facial prosthetic out of air-dry clay, how would I attach it?
Spirit gum is the classic adhesive for makeup work. This time of year you can get it wherever Halloween costumes are sold. The rest of the time, amazon probably carries it.
As for improving your ...
- 3,235
4
votes
How do I blend charcoal enough to make it look like a skin surface?
You will probably need medium and soft charcoal for creating smoothly blended surfaces (like her skin), and some hard charcoals or perhaps even a carbon pencil (which contains a mixture of charcoal ...
- 651
4
votes
Accepted
How to start/end a cluster of 5 cross-stitches in 2/3 colors, that's not adjacent to any other part of the pattern?
Ugh, confetti stitches are the worst! Especially when it's not a full coverage piece like you're describing. But you have options :)
The easiest starting option with an even number of threads is a &...
- 146
4
votes
Accepted
How do I extend the length of a Plaid Wool Maxi Skirt
Color Consideration
In theory it would be ideal to have the same fabric with the same pattern, but this looks like a circle skirt. Even if you got a piece of the same fabric, you wouldn't be able to ...
Elmy♦
- 13.8k
4
votes
Accepted
How do I attach frilly extension of skirt using a sewing machine WITHOUT the thread appearing on the front of the skirt?
If what I see in the picture is what’s up, this should do it.
So, what I see is the plaid skirt with a serged hem that is folded up and hemmed with a professional blind stitch machine.
Remove the ...
- 1,659
4
votes
How can I draw a horizontal line on a spherical object?
A globe-shaped object is hard to create a stencil for because it curves in two directions. To have access to the painting surface, the stencil shape would be a cylinder.
If you make the stencil from ...
- 11.5k
4
votes
Accepted
How do I rescue a skirt that I attempted to lengthen but now has a very wavy hem?
Considering the materials and cut of the skirt, it behaves exactly like I would expect it to. Since the circumference of the bottom hem is bigger than the hip circumference, the skirt has to either ...
Elmy♦
- 13.8k
4
votes
How would one go about creating a "trunk" for a gemstone tree?
From the looks of your example image, it could be an acrylic paste or gel. Acrylics are cheap, very easy to work with, come in all colors and bond well enough with metal. One advantage is that acrylic ...
Elmy♦
- 13.8k
4
votes
How can I fix and protect fraying fabric handles?
I guess you cannot really protect the fabric itself easily / beautifully.
I have in mind only one option - to be done by someone with experience:
remove the handles (or at least one end of each);
...
- 1,911
4
votes
How can I make well focused and bulbous eyes for my sock puppet?
After searching around a bunch, here is what I've found:
A good place to start looking for ideas is the the muppets wiki. There is a ton of inspiration to be had
For the muppets, a very common eye ...
- 445
3
votes
My grandma's fingers are becoming too old for knitting. What alternatives are there?
I imagine bobbin lace should be doable even with arthritic fingers as long as your grandmother is able to handle the bobbins. There are rather thick ones available and you can use thicker thread and ...
- 131
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