The Garage: A craft-y type thread for handypeople

First see if it comes off with Nail Polish remover. If it does, it's Latex based. If it doesn't, it's oil based. You can't paint latex based paint over oil based. It will flake.

ooh good tip, thanks Shima!

Yeah, Shima's on it. Anyhow, primer is what you put under paint to make sure the paint bonds right and looks nice. If you explain what you are doing to a store clerk at any paint store, they can help you.

Also, paint is one of the few places where price = quality, more or less. Cheaper paint has more stuff in it that doesn't do anything, as well as uses coloring agents that fade faster. Spend a couple extra bucks and get the good stuff if you are going through the trouble of painting a mural.

I love my quilting guide attachment.

That is all

[1] That's the album of the finished baby room, including the dresser. yay! thanks for your help guys, it gave me the confidence to finish this thing off.

It's adorable, Ori!

Nice paint-job, Ori. Very crisp lines.

Thanks! i used homemade stencils for the bottom bits but got bored and just freehanded the top branches. I was really pleased with how it ended up.

So cute!

I have a pile of clothes that either need repair or should be scrapped. Most of them are pants that either wore out in the thighs, ripped in the inseam, or the pockets have holes. There's a pair of pants in there that, attempting to hem myself, I accidentally cut one of the legs a couple inches too short.

I've been trying to decide what to do with this huge pile of fabric. I've considered taking them to a local seamsperson and saying "fix what you can, take the rest for scrap toward what the fixing costs." I've also considered putting them on Craigslist or Freecycle.

Thoughts?

I found a new pitch to get people to buy Maximizer concrete over regular concrete: for every five bags of Quickrete, you only need three bags of Maximizer. Is that worth a quarter to you in addition to its other benefits?

We usually just tear clothes like that up for rags. A couple of times we've made dog toys out of pairs of pants by cutting the legs off and tying them into a knot. That's not much help if you don't have a dog, though.

My art teacher was so happy to see me yesterday, she wouldn't let me pay . Currently working on drawing something other than a floating head or birdies.

edited 26th Apr '12 9:01:10 PM by Yuanchosaan

Speaking of art, i have three mini-canvasses that i need to find something to draw or paint on for the baby's room. Now taking suggestions.

Food? Rainbows? Colorful shoes?

Paint Serenity buzzing cattle.

Hmm, rainbow over serenity buzzing horses. Sounds good to me! :D

Sounds like a winner. Post pics!

Artwork finished.

@Ori: I second T Paradox. Post pictures when it's done - I really want to see this!

It sounds like the painting process was interrupted by the recipient's arrival.

I know someone mentioned making a bow for a Barbie at one point. I thought seeing the one Mattel had made might give some inspiration.

Hey, I need advice for people who have dyed fabric!

Take a gander at this fabric, please. If I buy it in the Kona cotton (quilting weight — 4.5 oz/sq yd) or the cotton poplin (3.7 oz/ sq yd), and try to dye it green — something like Pantone 555 or 357 (That's a .pdf — you'll need to scroll to the color swatch), will the black get muddy-looking?

That depends on what the black dye is set with.

It also depends on what the predominant base color is for the black dye. Most black dyes are either green based or red based. A red based black will mud out on you. Green, not so much, since you would be going green. The problem with dyeing the Kona cotton is that sometimes it gets kind of buckle-y when you heat set it. Do you have time to do a sample before you commit? Or are you on a crunch?

It would be commercially printed, so I have no idea what the black would be set with. Why am I not surprised that the answer isn't simple? Thanks, shima.

I've emailed Spoonflower to ask them.

I've got plenty of time. No crunch here. And I'm not even committed yet. I had about given up on even finding an all-over knotwork design at all. For some reason, it's just not out there commercially. Would the poplin be less likely to give me problems? I've never really done any large-scale dying before...

edited 3rd May '12 11:40:42 AM by Madrugada