Category: Craft

Wheel chair bag

On By CarynIn Craft, Uncategorized

The pocket on the back of the wheelchair can only hold a pamphlet, anything thicker pokes the rider in the back. So I made a separate organizer type for long zoo trips where we need spaces for water bottles. My youngest requested space fabric, so we selected a print-on-demand pattern from Spoonflower on cotton denim fabric. I made three pouches by sewing a sleeve so none of the white backing shows.

Photo description: denim fabric sewn right-sides together, turned inside out and the seam pressed with a wood seam roller to lay flat

I put three sleeves on the backing fabric, and sewed down the center to make six pouches. I then made loops for the top corners to go over the handles and straps for the bottom to attach to the wheelchair frame. All of this sandwiched between another rectangle of denim. My Singer model 66 treadle handled the denim up to six layers, but eight was a struggle (a little extra oomph with the handwheel sometimes works, but you risk a bent needle). When I turned the entire assembly right side out I had to move the edge stitches in so I wasn’t sewing through 12 layers of denim (this organizer is hefty!)

Photo description: finished organizer installed on the back of a Drive brand wheelchair

I’m pleased with the flat construction, it doesn’t interfere knees when pushing and it folds up with the chair well.

I’m also trying to track my time on projects. This one took me 2.5 hours of active time.

Progress on napkin basket

On By CarynIn Craft

I have a car project for which I tear unbleached fast food napkins into one inch strips, twine the strips together, then add stitches to a loop and core basket. Well, I intended it to become a basket, but I am doing my stitches (button hole loop or Coptic stitch) upside down. It makes it hard to add the stitches because I’m going through a smaller loop.

Photo description: round loop and core base make from paper napkins
Photo description: close up of the stitches with the core twine marked in green, and two loops highlighted in purple

Opening up the smaller loop to add the next row of stitches weakens the twine at that point, and paper twine is not robust stuff to begin with. I will probably continue to the end of the core twine (there isn’t much left), and experiment with preservation methods with the finished object. The feel of the fabric is quite nice, flexible but firm with an interesting texture.

Throwback Thursday: painted flags

On By CarynIn art, Craft

In April 2018 I decided to try making my own garden flags. I taped down cotton cloth on cardboard with masking tape, then used acrylic paint to completely cover the cloth.

Photo description: four garden flags freshly painted, drying on the cardboard where they were taped for painting

Once the paint was dry I hemmed the flags and sewed in the top channel so they could hang on my garden flag pole.

Photo description: finished flag hanging vertically in the garden

These flags held up remarkably well. If I were to make them again, I would be sure to iron the fabric before taping it down, and sew the pocket at the top wide enough to accommodate the loops that are on my holder. In summary, iron the fabric, and measure twice, cut once, which is good advice for most projects.

PVC overtone flute

On By CarynIn Craft, music, Uncategorized

Watching YouTube shorts sent me down another overtone rabbit hole. There was a person with a flute with no finger holes playing a lilting beautiful tune. Wha?! Some quick internet research revealed the Koncovka, a Slavic shepard’s instrument made from a long wood tube. The flute has two overtone series possibilities, one with the bottom hole open and the other with it covered, giving this simple whistle an astonishing number of notes for something with no finger holes. My next question was how to make one, and I found this short YouTube tutorial to make a PVC version.

I have some thin walled PVC tubes from an old Ladder ball game. These pipes have become materials for other projects more than they were ever assembled for the game.

Photo description: PVC pipe with a slot cut and sanded smooth, a section of dowel sanded to fit snuggly inside the tube, and a short section of red PVC pipe the same length as the wood and split lengthwise
Photo description: wood plug finished with butcher block wax and fit into the top of the tube
Photo description: red sleeve placed over the white PVC to create a narrow hole
Photo description: rubber band around the red sleeve to keep it tight and reduce air leaking
Photo description: finished PVC overtone flute

The tone of the flute is quite pleasing and very fun to experiment with. Below is an audio file of me playing the PVC overtone flute I talk about in this blog post.

I love it when my crafting and music rabbit holes merge and open a new room.

Singer treadle base

On By CarynIn Craft

After removing the rotting wood top and wire brushing the rust and wasp nests from the Singer Treadle machine base, it was time to refinish the cast iron.

Photo description: Singer Treadle machine base from 1907 before polish

I chose to treat the cast iron with black stove polish to keep the rust away and keep it close to the original color.

Photo description: using a soft bristle brush to apply the black stove polish into the intricate cast emblem on the side of the treadle
Photo description: completed application of black stove polish

I used squares of cotton and a small brush to get the polish in the cracks and crevices. It was satisfying to see the paste melt into the iron.

The wheels all rolled well, so I cleaned them with a brass wire brush on my rotary tool and treated them with sewing machine oil.

Photo description: steel wheel before picture
Photo description: steel wheel after picture with the dust and dirt removed

The plan is to put on a table top, but keep the treadle functional by putting holes in the top so the drive band can come up through and run a device on the surface. I may experiment with some scrap wood first.