Crafting stuff

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This is kinda like the "Display Your Artwork!" thread, but with crafts instead. Mods, if you want to sticky this, feel free to do so.
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Right now, I have plans to make an ordinary green XL sweatshirt to try and make a 1970s-era Saskatchewan Roughriders jersey (again, of the Canadian Football League). I need at least a few inches worth of white fabric to make the 1 inch thick shoulder/sleeve stripes. The end result should look something like this:


I do apologize for the quality, but it's the best picture I could find of what it should look like. I will, however make one modification: Cut the sleeves off at roughly mid-elbow, to be consistent to what with football players of that era wore their sleeves (most of today's American/Canadian football players have almost non-existent sleeves, to put things into perspective).

Anybody got their crafts to share? E2LA would love to hear/see them.

Last edited by equestriatola on 14 Nov 2013, 3:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

Wish I was good at crafts. I am considering getting one of those "Ultimate Knitting Machines" if I can ever get caught up on the chores around here. I want to use it to make some of my own clothes. I like knitted stuff. I am no good at hand knitting, but was taught it by my grandmother as a child. I should be able to do the hand knitting required to connect together pieces done with the knitting machine.

Hope your project turns out well.

Thank you, questor. I love sports, and I've been wanting to do one of these for a while; I bought the sweatshirt off eBay, it will start as a boring, ordinary sweatshirt, but it will be extraordinary! I will post pics when it is done.

On another note, the stripes themselves are exactly one inch thick (or about 2.54 cm for those using the Metric system). I honestly don't know how much fabric I will need for the stripes themselves; I am using a US size XL sweatshirt to make the jersey. Based on the above picture, and the size of what I have, how much fabric should I get? (I'll likely be using a polyester fabric for the stripes themselves.)

Also, at what point on the sweatshirt could I cut off the sleeves and put the sleeve stripes on?

Sounds like a cool project bro, and the sweatshirt material should be a good base to sew upon. I've done some sewing and costume work and you might consider a bit of fabric glue before stitching the stripes on.

I feel like I should have some expert advice as I have warehouses full of sports jerseys. Unfortunately I don't understand the manufacturing process to any depth... I think your idea for a craft thread is brilliant.

Some crafty stuff of mine.. (Not art, just crafts)

SKS rifle made to look like an AK47. (Amateur gunsmithing and woodwork)


Homemade 1920s style radio. (Basic electrical work, really simple.)


Portable medieval market stall (Scratch built from period drawings and historical exhibits ) made for medieval fairs for a group I used to run.


Wooden Disrupter Rifle MK1 (Carved from a single piece of wood) based upon the writings of John Fords Klingons. M1 carbine for scale.

While the line between art and crafts is separate, they often inter-lap. Cool thread.

Now I've got the sweatshirt and the fabric to make the stripes!

Here is my jewelry gallery on DA -- http://spacemecha.deviantart.com/gallery/12397128

Here is the FN FAL I built from parts -- http://spacemecha.deviantart.com/art/Susan-413860893

Here is the Viking Shield I made for a costume -- http://spacemecha.deviantart.com/art/Vi ... -413862692

Equestriatola, how are you making the letters?

If your cutting them out yourself it might be best to use some printer labels to back the cloth, to keep your fabric from stretching while cutting it. you can then remove the paper labels. That works well with some fabrics, as I learned when I made my own costumes as a medievalist.

<------ I made this costume and getting the cross aligned right while sewing always was the hardest. You will face similar difficulties aligning the numbers and letters on your jersey that I did putting crosses on tabards and banners. My wife seems to magically figure it out, but It's harder than sculpting stone to me.

Remember to use a lot of pins and keep in mind that dissimilar fabrics with different degree's of stretch often make aligning your letters more difficult.

Let us know how the progress goes.

I'm not really putting any lettering on it; only the shoulder and sleeve stripes as seen in the picture I posted in the first post on this thread.

If my kid hadn't tossed my camera in the ocean, I'd put up some pics of my knitting and jewelry.

I sold a beautiful purple, blue and green Kool-Aid dyed silk noil lace shawl at an art opening last weekend for $95. I should have asked for more because I designed it and dyed the yarn myself and it had beads and took forever to make, and I did a great job on it. But if I had it'd still be sitting there and I wouldn't be about to buy more beads to go with the pink, purple and blue-grey silk noil thing I'm about to start on.

I don't remember how much yardage I have because it was a long time ago that I skeined it up and dyed it, but it's at least 800 yards, if not a bit more. I have 2 grapefruit-sized balls of yarn. One is a bit more orangey pink and the other has more blues in it, but they go well together.

I feel your pain, it takes so much time to make something, and to have it sell it beneath it's value is hard to do.

It's very frustrating that we as craftsmen, artists, and creators can't get an equable pay for the hours of work we put into projects. We must compete with mass manufactured products and overseas sweatshops putting up inexpensive alternatives to our handmade goods.

We in turn as artists have to design, take time to get materials and self fabricate the product, then market, and promote ourselves as brand, all by ourselves... I mostly just make things for myself, my wife and to show others online now.

As a former medievalist I used to give away pewter pilgrims badges for free to those who (I thought) did an outstanding job at reenactment.
I carved stone molds for my local group making, tokens, awards, coins, etc. Hundreds of castings and many pounds in pewter...all for free, and most often without any thanks.

It would have been awkward asking their value, so it was worth more for me to be seen as magnanimous. I would have continued, but the lack of thanks drove me from the hobby. It's the hours of work, the designing, more than the financial loss that bothered me doing it..as I got little thanks doing it. So I get how you feel letting an item go for less than it was worth, it hurts as you end up feeling disappointed.

This was a fencing award I made for the group I was part of, as a sample of the pewter work I've done. (It is crude, as it's one of my first pieces.)

At least you were able to get more materials, and apply what you learned to the next project. And get a new camera to show off your crafts



PS. Oh yeah, Nice work on the Fal stardraigh! Gun's are crafts too, here's a 10/22 that I built into a plastic shell to use with a ridiculous trigger crank I own. I call it the MG10/22.

^^There's a 10/22 in there?!? I'm impressed...

I know right. That looks pretty cool. I've got a 10/22 that had a wood stock. I put it into a cheap ATI plastic one. It's on my list of things to do to pyrograph it and refinish.

Here's a link to my DA gallery for the woodburning -- Link

The stuff I've done in the last twenty four hours are the designs on the Celtic Knot Box and 1st Royal Goblin Regiment of Balloons Box.

On a side note there's a pic in that gallery of me before I started to transition.

Any other crafting stuff from other people?

Apparently not. Most here, including us primarily draw and whatnot.... so it's just us until this thread catches on.

Keep in mind crafting takes some space. Folks need tools, materials, etc...and are often dealing with sharp, hot, and messy equipment.

stardraigh - I looked at your gallery and noticed the viking round shield, are you a medievalist (reenactor)? I also looked at your jewlery, do you do any metal casting? Since you are obviously interested in Vikings, and jewelry making. I'll put forth a bit of my knowledge of viking/medieval pewter casting.

This site describes basic viking pewter casting for modern medievalists, it's not my page but I advise students to use it as a reference. See this LINK I've taught this to at least 50 people in 2 hour classes of small groups and almost anyone can learn to do it.

In these classes I had students from age 8-70 all safely carve their own soapstone molds. Then cast their token in lead free pewter.

Only using handtools, mostly dental tools, x-acto-knives, small chisels and hobby woodcarving tools. The cheap stuff sold at chain craft stores. Everything from moms and kids to metal miniature carvers from Citadel miniatures. Using mostly period techniques.

These were outdoor classes at medieval events, as metal fumes and soapstone powder is not something you want to breath indoors. The class always ran long as some folks were slower to design and carve their stone mold. Most had them carved and ready in 1 1/2 to 4 hours and add an hour to get everyone poured. The blowtorch (Propane or Mapp gas) was of course not historically accurate.

Do not do this on your own, without the proper research. If anyone reading this is under 18, do not attempt without proper training and adult supervision.
Again proceed at your own risk and do your own research as this is not the same as a class just a starting point.

All it basically takes is.
For the mold
For the mold, carve it outside from some small blocks of soapstone bought for carving. 3x3x1 is a good start. You will need two.
Use the hand tools above.....or a dremel tool to carve said mold, being careful not to create undercuts. (See above link to explain this )
Carve a channel to pour in pewter, simple huh?

(Or you can cheat like they did during the crusades and get a cuttlefish bone, and imprint a existing object into the bone by pressing firmly until its about as deep as a coin or two, then carve the channel and air escapes with an X-acto. (It's a bit harder than styrofoam, but softer than balsa wood)

To cast
Leather Welding gloves (Get a good pair as molten metal will get on them)
Lead ladle (Bullet casting ladles work great)
Cheap 12x12 marble tile to protect table surface from pewter overspill.
Protective eyewear. Shoes, long pants, and most of all common sense.

Basic Method in Short
Wearing gloves, or a glove on the non-pouring hand (if ladle has insulated handle). Do all of this on the marble tile outdoors away from anything flammable.

1. First the soapstone mold is heated to remove any water vapor trapped within the stone. As to not create a "shotgun effect" or fountain of molten metal shooting at you.

You will see the stone dry before your eyes in 10-20 seconds, now proceed to heat the central mold and channel. Then line it up with the flat stone back as this will be the complete mold.

2. You melt an almost full ladle of Pewter (I use Britannia alloy) using your torch, heating the metal evenly until liquid, keeping much of the heat on the pouring surface of your ladle . I like my ladles very hot.

3. While continuing step 2. heat the molds channel by flashing it with torch. Sometimes I have the mold slightly open, to flame it within with my torch as the marble reflects the heat into all the recesses. (Be careful the mold gets hot and may be hard to hols with the gloved hand still, sometimes an extra glove that's cooler can be helpful.)

4. When ready, using gloved hand grab mold securely while resting it on the marble. Then evenly pour the molten pewter into the channel until filled. if any overflows, just tip the mold slightly and the excess will pour onto the marble and harden. Hold the mold closed for as long as comfortable, but to release it before 20 seconds may ruin the piece. It's a learning process, dependent to tools and stones the thickness.

Starting casters should use thicker stone.

Slightly tap the mold with a pencil or gloved finger to release any air bubbbles. Let mold cool (about a minute) then remove from mold by flipping the mold over using gloved hands as both the stone and mold are now very hot. When I'm mass making tokens I let them cool about 20-30 seconds before releasing from the mold. Remember HOT pewter looks like cold pewter, let them cool.

Trim the pewter and you now can cast another 1000 for pennies on the dollar, of original pieces no one else has.
Again I'm not advising anyone to do this, just explaining that it's a cheap and simple hobby to do, and a profitable one.

Mold example (Both shown before) and cast tokens from my soapstone molds.

I'd really like to do casting. I've also sort of gone in with a friend to help him with basic blacksmithing but we've made little progress. He's at the end of his undergrad degree and works so he doesn't have much time and it's stalled.

The problem is that I can't have an open flame outside my apartment. No gas/coal grills, yard fire pits, or any flame to heat or I get a citation from the fire department. I've priced table top smelters for melting metal but I'm hurting for space. I have a one bed room apartment. It sucks. I really want to get a house to have more freedom with what I can do, but I don't know how to buy a house. I made the shield at a location other than my apartment.

I have a list of crafts that I'm just holding off on until I get a house. I want to do glass fusing, ceramics, smithing & metal work, metal & glass etching, costuming, sewing, props, & pepakura among other things. I'm sure there are more. I just don't have the space so I

I'm not a reenactor. If I lived on the other side of Michigan, there's a group that I'd join that reenacts, but they're too far away from where I live now. I like most things viking for two reasons. Vikings are cool, and my grandmother did our families genealogy and we have a major line that goes back into the Viking/Norse.