![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Crafty Tuesday What now?
Feb. 26th, 2019 09:31 amPlus ca change plus c'est la meme chose- Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr
There are changes coming to a number of art shows that I have shown at in the past. For some it is new directors and for others it is new rules about what will and will not be allowed.
I think in the end that things will shake back to just about where they are now.
I am not happy with 3-M and their redesigned Foam adhesive which I have to relearn how long I have to wait before putting the foam parts of the puppet together. Also the amount of time I have between the glue tacking up and the glue no longer sticking is much shorter than it has ever been. My sweet spot has gone from about 5 minutes to at most 2 and a half before I have to start all over again. Also humidity and temperature are more of a factor then they had been.
Also the fleece I have been using for years has changed recently. It may be a new mill making it or a new combination of thread or a new chemical mix for the dying process. Whatever it is, the fabric feels ‘wrong’ and I have had to change my seams slightly to accomidate the fabric.
I have gotten to the point on some of this that I don’t even used pins anymore. I know how it goes together but there are points that I use pins to get it just so consistently. Caroline asked how long she would have to sew to be able to do that. I told her many years of practice. But with my hands not cooperating the way that they did, I am finding that I am using pins more to stabilize what I am working on.
Some things have gotten easier. I use to have to construct any lights I wanted to use with a puppet. Now there are all kinds of lights for various things that run on very small battery packs making it even easier to use them on and in puppets. I am still having an issue of getting the color to do what I want. EL wire is an entire other world of possibilites and then there are the fabrics you can use with electricity which are coming down in price.
I like that it is getting easier for people who want to make their own costumes especially based on Anime characters. Patterns that had to be drafted by hand are for sale in one’s local fabric store. I will say that I am not thrilled with the instruction sheets I have seen. More than one has had the sewing equivilent of “and then the magic happens” and you have to go online to sort out what they are talking about. Maybe if there was a glossary for new seamtresses along with how to do various techniques or a book or something. Also can we stop renaming some of the basics techniques?
The print on demand fabrics has made life easier but it is pricey. I enjoy the thrill of the hunt of the fabric that I need to make something to look just so. My skills to create the fabric I need for the puppets has improved over the years thanks to a lot of practice and new materials I can use to create my textile. Also trims and ribbons have gotten much more complex over the years but others that made my life easier have vanished.
I am grateful for materials I can count on.
There are changes coming to a number of art shows that I have shown at in the past. For some it is new directors and for others it is new rules about what will and will not be allowed.
I think in the end that things will shake back to just about where they are now.
I am not happy with 3-M and their redesigned Foam adhesive which I have to relearn how long I have to wait before putting the foam parts of the puppet together. Also the amount of time I have between the glue tacking up and the glue no longer sticking is much shorter than it has ever been. My sweet spot has gone from about 5 minutes to at most 2 and a half before I have to start all over again. Also humidity and temperature are more of a factor then they had been.
Also the fleece I have been using for years has changed recently. It may be a new mill making it or a new combination of thread or a new chemical mix for the dying process. Whatever it is, the fabric feels ‘wrong’ and I have had to change my seams slightly to accomidate the fabric.
I have gotten to the point on some of this that I don’t even used pins anymore. I know how it goes together but there are points that I use pins to get it just so consistently. Caroline asked how long she would have to sew to be able to do that. I told her many years of practice. But with my hands not cooperating the way that they did, I am finding that I am using pins more to stabilize what I am working on.
Some things have gotten easier. I use to have to construct any lights I wanted to use with a puppet. Now there are all kinds of lights for various things that run on very small battery packs making it even easier to use them on and in puppets. I am still having an issue of getting the color to do what I want. EL wire is an entire other world of possibilites and then there are the fabrics you can use with electricity which are coming down in price.
I like that it is getting easier for people who want to make their own costumes especially based on Anime characters. Patterns that had to be drafted by hand are for sale in one’s local fabric store. I will say that I am not thrilled with the instruction sheets I have seen. More than one has had the sewing equivilent of “and then the magic happens” and you have to go online to sort out what they are talking about. Maybe if there was a glossary for new seamtresses along with how to do various techniques or a book or something. Also can we stop renaming some of the basics techniques?
The print on demand fabrics has made life easier but it is pricey. I enjoy the thrill of the hunt of the fabric that I need to make something to look just so. My skills to create the fabric I need for the puppets has improved over the years thanks to a lot of practice and new materials I can use to create my textile. Also trims and ribbons have gotten much more complex over the years but others that made my life easier have vanished.
I am grateful for materials I can count on.
