My birthday present

My sons took me out last week for a birthday celebration, perfectly calibrated to the things I love to do, and none of the things I don't.  First off, sushi for lunch.

Next, two store visits, in which  the guys would buy me anything I wanted -- the restaurant supply store and Harbor Freight, that cheap-crap extravaganza where you can buy the low-end Chinese version of any tool you might ever want.  Ah yes, they know me well -- I don't do well in fancy stores but show me stuff for $1.99 and I am happy.

In each of the stores we walked every one of the aisles, discussing all the things for sale -- what you might use them for, what makes them so expensive (or so cheap).  Stories of kitchen and shop mishaps of the past abounded.  A few legitimate needs were answered, plus a bunch of impulse buys, but of course the conversation and the companionship were the best parts of the afternoon.

Here are some of my new toys:

a sheath for my good Wusthof knife

an array of clamps, magnets, wire brushes and a little tape measure with a carabiner to hook onto your belt

and best of all, a little pull saw.  For years I've been working with a little electric saw that cuts nice and clean until the last 1/16th of an inch, at which point the wood breaks off in a splinter (lots of sandpaper used in my shop).  And for years I've been bemoaning the lack of a decent vise to hold the wood while I cut it.

The new saw solves both problems.  Because it cuts on the pull stroke, you don't need a vise, just a piece of wood clamped to the bench.  Nestle your dowel or whatever against the lip, hold the saw horizontally and saw against the edge of the wood till the teeth just graze the surface of the bench.  Just a bit of guidance from your left hand to hold the other end of the dowel against the wood lip, while the action of the saw holds the business end firmly in place with each stroke.

A wonderful birthday celebration!  We sure raised a couple of great kids.

Shallow alert

In the trashy weekend tabloid that appears in our Sunday newspaper, we read that an actress I've never heard of, starring in a miniseries about the four Biblical wives of Jacob, has "a newly acquired skill," thanks to filming the movie.

"I had to learn how to separate the wool that came straight from the sheep, clean it and put it on spools," she proudly tells the interviewer.  (I guess her immersion in useful fiber processes didn't extend to learning the actual terms for these newly acquired skills.)

She didn't think as much about the dust on location.  "We were covered the entire time we were filming," she complained.

Here she (the one at left in blue) and her girlfriends pretend to be carding and spinning.  I'm no ancient history scholar but it strikes me that the clothes seem to come from considerably later times (check those gathered, set-in sleeves and that plunging neckline on the chick in pink.) Likewise, I'm no scholar of textile history but that carding setup also looks suspiciously modern.  And did they have lathes in Biblical times to turn those spindles?

And where's all that dust she was bitching about?

I am so sorry that I missed the miniseries, which ran earlier this week.

My new toys

Wandering through the craft/fabric store the other day I saw that all the fancy Fiskars cutting devices were 40% off, so I bought myself two large hole punches.  One cuts circles an inch in diameter, the other a bit more than 5/8".  I thought these would be helpful in my daily collages, where I have occasionally used the holes from my standard 1/4" punch as design elements.

The first day I cut holes from a good quality catalog, printed on substantial coated stock, and they looked great.  Yesterday I tried to cut holes from newsprint, and was unhappy.

coated stock

newsprint

I understand that blades get dull with use, especially when you cut paper.  I don't understand how a blade starts out dull when it comes from a manufacturer customarily known for its high quality.  I own Fiskars scissors that have been used for decades, and while they may not cut silk any more, they can sure cut newsprint.

Always sad when a brand name you thought you could trust lets you down.  I guess I'll just cut my newsprint circles freehand and save the punch for heavier paper.  But I'll be unhappy.

Tool tips -- the marking wheel

Some time ago I wrote about doing circles and wreaths in my 2012 daily hand-stitching project.

Shannon left a comment:  "Do you do them completely without marking?  I think mine would always look lumpy on one side!"

I posted a short response to her comment, but thought that maybe it was worth a more complete discussion.  So here it is.  First, I did almost all of my daily stitching without marking, and at the beginning of the year, my circles did indeed look lumpy on one side.  I improved with practice.  But on many other projects I want to make some guidelines before sewing.

I have a terrible fear of visible marking.  I'm afraid that the marks will misbehave and somehow ruin my work. I've heard too many stories of people who have used the alleged disappearing markers, but later found ghost traces, to ever try that approach.

The most I'll ever do is put a pencil mark on the back side of the fabric, but even that scares me.  If I absolutely have to, I keep the mark in the seam allowance.  I keep a white pencil around to mark dark fabrics if necessary (white pencil seems to wear off more easily than black).

Instead, I like to mark things without writing implements, and that means creasing the fabric.  We know that you can press in a straight line with an iron.  But you can also set a temporary crease with your thumbnail or with a blunt or round-edged tool.

Some possibilities, from the top:

 -  a plastic hera tool

-  the pointy end of a crochet hook

-  the blunt end of a needle

-  or this nifty marking wheel.  My friend Terry Jarrard-Dimond gave it to me several months ago and I have been delighted at how well it works.

And then another friend, Heide Stoll-Weber, pointed out to me that the marking wheel is also good for making freehand curves.  Some time ago I posted a tutorial on sewing freehand curves that depended on a paper template that you made with a rotary cutter.  This allowed you to use the action of a rotary cutter to make nice, loose, artistic swoopy lines.  Heide noted that if you use the marking wheel instead of the rotary cutter, you can eliminate the template and cut to the chase (or perhaps I should say chase to the cut).

Layer two pieces of fabric where you want the curve to go, giving yourself plenty of fabric underneath (you don't want your curve to run off the edge).  Limber up your arm and make a swoopy curve, pressing hard enough to crease both layers of fabric.

Now separate the two layers, noting carefully which direction you need to extend for seam allowances.  Switch to a rotary cutter and by eye, follow your creased curve a quarter-inch away.

The creased lines don't show up all that well in the photos but they do in real life, at least long enough for you to cut and sew as needed.