DIY filing cabinet

[ktnflag.livejournal.com]

I posted this yesterday in saucyhelp, and crocodiletears thought this community might enjoy seeing it, too. Apologies to those of you who are seeing my post for the second time!


( Here's how I did it )

Felting help!

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

So I'm trying to felt my Fun Fur Rug (from the Lionbrand website, though mine is all white) and... no felting.

I ran it through the washing machine on hot (and my water heater is set to 'scald'), and I'm not talking about 'very little felting' - I mean none. I've gotten more felting on a test swatch I rubbed with my fingers under running hot water in the sink! I'm worried that with my washer (it's an HE top loader with no spindle - gentle on the clothes, crap for felting, evidently) it's just not going to work. :/ So, without going to a laundromat (I don't even know where any are around here) or pestering my friends ('Oh, uh, hey, you have more of a beat-the-crap out of your clothes washing machine, right? Can I use it?') how can I get this thing to felt?

My options, I think are:

* Throwing it in the dryer - I don't know if this works with intentional felting, but it's how most people accidentally felt sweaters.

* Just keep washing it over and over and over?

* Buying a hand-crank washing machine, loading it with boiling water and some heavy things (like rocks wrapped in fabric) and going for it.

( aaaand, so it's not text-only, see my Sackboy! )

(no subject)

[stolenmilkcrate.livejournal.com]

( I made something a little feminine for once holy cow )

Christmas Gifts...

[clusterfuct.livejournal.com]

So, I know this is really late and all, but I totally forgot I had these pictures until I was browsing through my phone. Anyway, I wanted to share these Christmas gifts I made for my friends and family last year.

I made this necklace for my mom...



( Enjoy... )

...Let me know what you think! Thanks :)

Seashell Necklace [in progress]

[jume.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm not sure if I've posted anything here before, but I like to read :)

I went to Florida a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't find any particularly spectacular shells but it occurred to me that a lot of little cute ones would make a nice necklace, so I set myself the task of making one.

The initial design. I swapped the order of the very tiny and the second from the outside large shells for increased symmetry and gave up on the black shells on the right side; they're simply too thick. I can't even get a dent in them. They've been replaced with white/orange shells which are more cohesive color-wise if a little too large.

The small shells are mostly chosen for their beautiful purple interiors. They won't be visible worn, but I'll know how purple they are :)

I did some google searching, and it turns out that seashells are notorious for being difficult to work with. Luckily, I had plenty of extras to practice on. I've only broken two so far though, so! (and had suitable replacements for those!)

I took a pin with a broad head and a panelling nail and started off by digging the nail into a suitable spot on the inside of the shell. Working from the inside makes sense because then you can support the outside of the shell (the convex side) with your fingers, spreading out all the pressure to prevent fracture. Once a dent had been made in the shell, I would switch over to the pin and basically just bear down on that until I could hear the shell begin to break. The pin makes a hole about 1/30" in diameter. Some of the shells had holes already in them, and those are about 3/60".

The only one I broke (my dad broke the other trying to use a drill on it) was because I had just been trying to puncture a particularly thick one (which was why my dad tried to drill it), and forgot how little force was necessary on the smaller ones.

I would estimate it takes about 15 minutes for the more difficult ones, and as little as one minute for the easy ones. Some of the mother-of-pearl looking pieces were very easy to pierce.

I haven't quite decided how to arrange them on a necklace, but my plan right now is to make little clasps out of copper wire and then tie those to fishing line. I might switch to an all-copper get up though. originally, I was going to use all fishing line, but the copper was too tempting <3

( picccccctures~ )

I hope it turns out well! I've been afraid to start working on it the last two weeks, and it took the looming hulk of a test tomorrow to get me eager enough to procrastinate to just start.

Fleece Laptop Sleeves - Warning!!!

[seestephgo.livejournal.com]

Because I've seen so many people doing it lately, I thought it might be good to post a little warning about this.

Be aware that using fleece as the interior layer for a cover for any laptop or electronic device can cause major issues. It can create static electricity and elicit a charge that can seriously injure your computer and the information you hold dear. This is true whether or not your laptop is on! It also conducts heat, which is never good for electronics.

In addition to this, ANYTHING that can cause a static charge, like putting your laptop on the carpet to use, etc, can do the same.

And just in case people are skipping over this because it's text only, I'm putting the main idea in bold:

DON'T USE FLEECE FOR LAPTOP SLEEVES

there.

Netbook Sleeve

[mubeimmik.livejournal.com]

I got a new netbook and decided that she needed something to cover her up!

( Fleece lined innards )

This was a fairly quick project. I fused the outer fabric to the fleece and then did some stitching along the grid in the fabric just to give it a little extra oomph.