A Weighty Problem

I needed "real" pattern weights. Staplers and scissors tend to be my go-to pattern weights because I keep them nearby, but they get kind of unwieldy for holding down bra patterns that have lots of individual little fiddly pieces. 

FabMo, my favorite source for fabrics (except for bras!), also regularly gets donations of tiles from high-end bathroom design stores at the San Francisco Design Center. Many of these are plain (but handmade!) 4-inch or 6-inch square tiles and 2" by 4" subway tiles, but they often get other sizes and shapes, as well as mounted pattern examples that make great trivets. I recently found a square-foot sample of hand-cut marble pieces held together by fiberglass mesh and grout on the backs, as well as a few nice small shaped tiles. They would make great pattern weights!

I pulled apart the marble squares by hand, and pulled off as much of the mesh and grout as I could. It was only after doing that for an hour or so that I realized the mesh was fiberglass! Oops. Handling fiberglass with bare hands isn't a good idea, and I had lots of little fiberglass splinters in my hands to remind me. I did manage to get most of them out with Scotch tape or tweezers. I wore medical gloves for the rest of the time I was working with the fiberglass.

I found an article on the web that suggested using plain granulated sugar dissolved in water to help scrub the grout off tiles, so I put about a cup of sugar in two cups of water, stirred, and dumped in several of my marble tiles. It also suggested using a piece of wood to scrape off the grout to avoid scratching the tile.

Here are the tiles after I had tried to pull off the fiberglass and grout by hand and after soaking in the sugar water for half an hour. The stringy stuff is the fiberglass.

I used some disposable chopsticks to try scraping off the grout, but they were useless (and they broke). I finally tried a razor scraper, which worked, though I did go through several blades while scraping grout off about 16 tiles. I'm not sure the sugar water helped with the grout, but it did help keep the fiberglass under control because it was slightly sticky!

 

I soaked one scraped marble piece in vinegar overnight. I had heard that vinegar (and acids in general) was bad for marble. Yep, it is! Here is the vinegar-soaked tile on the right, with another tile (polished to a nice shine, though the shine isn't really visible in the picture) on the left for comparison. The vinegar ate away at the matrix material of the tile, leaving a pale, soft chalky surface with little harder inclusions sticking out slightly. Lesson: don't pour vinegar on your marble floors!

Making the Pattern Weights

Here is how to make the simple pattern weights.

Materials needed:

• Small tiles or pieces of marble or stone with a flat bottom, from 1 inch by 2 inches up to 2 inches by 4 inches (about 2.5 cm by 5 cm up to 5 cm by 10cm). Approximately 2 inches by 2 inches (about 5 cm by 5 cm) is ideal for most uses.

• Cork sheet, about 1/8 inch thick (2-5 mm thick). Available at craft stores, office supply stores, and stores such as Daiso. My roll of cork sheet came from Office Depot.

• Glue or adhesive. I used basic Elmer's white glue. Tacky glue will also work. Adhesive sheet or double-stick tape will also work, but I have found that those are more likely to come unstuck over time. The pattern weights do not need to be waterproof. If water gets on them while you are working with a pattern, your pattern would be more damaged than the pattern weight!
  
  
• Scissors, knife or rotary cutter and ruler for cutting the cork.
  
  
• Pen/pencil for marking the cork if needed. Do NOT use a marker to trace around the tile, not even a washable marker. The tile or marble sucks in the ink, and it's impossible to wash off! Yes, I found this out the hard way.
  
  
• Ruler

Process

1. Trace around the tile or marble onto the cork. 

 

2. Cut your pieces of cork slightly smaller than the tile so the cork does not show from the top of the pattern weight. Make to cork piece approximately 1/16th of an inch (1-2 mm) inside each edge of the tile.

3. Spread a small amount of glue onto one side of the cork and onto the bottom side of the tile. I spread the glue evenly with my finger on both pieces. You do not need much glue. If you have too much it will ooze out from the sides and make a mess.

4. Put the pieces together carefully and let dry. Clean off any excess glue if needed.

All done! 

Here are my finished pattern weights: 

  

P.S. If you do not have tiles easily available or making these is just too much bother, a set of heavy plastic (imitation ivory) dominoes work well as pattern weights. Alternatively, you can search for pattern weights from several makers on Etsy. 

Cushy Round Cushion, Round Two

I like my new meditation cushion! I still had three of the 25-inch by 11-inch FabMo samples left of the same heavy cotton fabric, so I made another one almost the same. I used 11-inch circles, and I installed a salvaged backpack zipper across the bottom circle. The difference here was that I used a 49-inch strip (two pieces sewn together) instead of the 59-inch strip I used for the first cushion. I also stuffed it with all the teeny sewing scraps I've been saving for such a purpose. Here is the second cushion.

Yeah, it has pleats, it looks nice, blah-blah... so what's interesting here? 

Here are the two cushions together. The first cushion is on the right, and the second cushion is on the left.

Now here they are stacked. The first cushion is on the bottom, and the second cushion is on the top.

The first cushion has a bigger diameter than the second cushion. The first cushion is also a bit shorter in height than the second cushion. They both have the same top and bottom circles. So what's going on here?

Since the top and bottom circles are the same, the differences have to do with the lengths of the strips that go around the sides. Let's take a look:

Figure 1A above shows the side strip rectangle flat and showing the original length of the strip. Figure 1B above shows the strip once it is pleated. The pleated length must match the circumference of the top and bottom circles! This is the problem I had on my first pillow: my pleated strip was longer than the circumference of my circles. The height of the strips is the same. 

Figure 1C above shows the pleated strip wrapped around to form a cylinder with the top and bottom circles. Note that I am ignoring seam allowances and overlap in these diagrams.

Figure 2A shows a view looking at the side of the filled cushion (an oval with a rectangle, where the rectangle shows the cylinder shape from the top and bottom circles). This side view also shows the maximum diameter of the finished cushion, which is where the side piece bends outward from the top and bottom circles. Figure 2B looks down on the circular cushion from the top. 

When I stuffed the cushion, the pleats unfolded as far as they could around the middle side but stayed folded where they were sewn to the top and bottom circles. Because the pleats could only unfold to the original length of the side piece, we see that the maximum diameter of the cushion is related to the original (unpleated) length of the side piece (Max Diameter = Original Length / Pi). Because my second cushion had a shorter original length, it cannot expand as far around the middle as my first cushion. And because the side pieces are the same height, and less of that height is absorbed by the expanding middle, my second cushion also stays taller than my first cushion. 

Both of my cushions could use a bit more stuffing, but that would not change the difference between them. And yes, there should be a formula for the cushion height based on the various other measurements, but that involves more math than I remember (and differential equations, which I hated when I learned them years ago)!

Who knew that making cushions could be so complicated and mathematical?

And because I still love gratuitous dog pics, here are my cushions with my little dogs Lacey and Pinto modeling on top of them.

Cushy Round Cushion

As I mentioned in my previous post, I tend to make specific things because I want or need them. This time, I wanted to make a round meditation cushion (also called a zafu). I took up meditation at the beginning of the year, doing at least a little almost every day. But I was having a hard time sitting still on my bed, and I realized it was because I needed to be lifted up a bit to be more comfortable.

I started looking for meditation cushion ideas and tutorials on Pinterest. After eventually climbing back out of the Pinterest rabbit hole, I had created a whole board about meditation cushions. I found an interesting tutorial on Buddhamind.info along with several different versions from different people, including this version on YouTube and this version on Instructables. All of these versions are pretty good, so I'm not going to do my own step-by-step version!

I used some really sturdy cotton upholstery fabric samples from FabMo. They were similar to heavy denim in weight and texture. Each of the samples was about 11 inches wide by 25 inches long. The Buddhamind tutorial said to cut two circles between 11 inches and 13 inches in diameter. Since my samples were only 11 inches wide, I went with 11-inch circles. All of the instructions said to make a strip 59 or 60 inches long for the sides of the cushion, so I sewed three samples together to get a long-enough strip. Then the tutorials provided very exact directions about how to pleat the strip, starting at the 6.5-inch point. I followed the pleating instructions, but when I went to pin the strip to the top circle, I realized that the strip, even pleated, was way too long for my circle! Clearly everyone went with the 13-inch circle and hadn't tried the 11-inch version. For mine, I did some fudging, added extra pleats, and moved a few pleats around until I got something that fit better around the top circle. 

I had actually read all the way through the instructions before starting (you know, the way they tell you to do with recipes and other instructions, but many people don't!). At the end, the instructions casually mentioned that you could put a zipper in the opening where the strip overlapped. I realized that putting in a zipper would be difficult to do once the cushion was sewn together. Instead, I cut out the bottom circle as two separate pieces with a little extra fabric between them, so both pieces were slightly more than semi-circles. I installed a salvaged backpack zipper in the circle so I would have a zipper running across the bottom of the cushion. I sewed that circle to the bottom edge of the pleated strip.

Here is the (not stuffed) cushion bottom showing the zipper.

 

I stuffed the completed cushion with my kids' (clean) discarded old t-shirts (because of course I still have them!) and t-shirt scraps. Here is the stuffed cushion.

It turns out that when the cushion is fully stuffed, the center of the side panel loses its pleats. At least with this fabric, it's not really noticeable that my pleats aren't uniformly spaced. Of course, now that I have mentioned it, the non-uniformity becomes really obvious!

Here are the gratuitous dog pictures for today. That's Lacey (white) and Pinto (brown)

I'm Making What?

I like doing projects and crafts that are not quite mainstream. One of my current interests is making bras. Yeah, brassieres. Those things. Most women don't even like shopping for bras. The prospect of making them is even more daunting, even for people who consider themselves good at sewing!

As with many of my projects, this one started because I needed something. Well, actually, my daughter did. She has a really hard time finding bras that fit comfortably. She'll order half a dozen bras online (because brick-and-mortar stores rarely even carry her size, and there's a pandemic going on anyhow), try them all on, and send them all back. She's tried on a few dozen this way. It's time-consuming and discouraging for both of us.

I started poking around the Internet. Have I mentioned that I LOVE the Internet? I found a whole subculture of folks who make their own bras, sell bra-making supplies, design patterns, teach lessons, discuss bra-making on Facebook, and even record YouTube videos about making bras. Yay!

After reading discussions and watching videos, I soon settled on ordering supplies and patterns online from a shop in Canada called Bra-makers Supply. I ordered a couple of patterns (Shelley and Ingrid by Beverly V. Johnson, the "Fairy Bra Mother"), a fitting book, and a couple of kits. The Shelley pattern had been mentioned in multiple places as a good pattern for beginning bra makers. The Ingrid was wire-free, so I thought I would try both. Here is a picture of the bra kits, Ingrid pattern, and book that I got (the Shelley pattern is under the book):

I made the Shelley bra first. I had found a YouTube "sew-along" video on the michoumakes channel from a woman who was making her second Shelley bra. I watched the first of six(!) parts of the sew-along, and that combined with the multi-page pattern instructions gave me enough confidence to dive right in.

Beverly Johnson has devised her own sizing system for her patterns. You need just two measurements to determine what pattern size to use (and the pattern includes a huge number of sizes). Unfortunately the measuring instructions say something like "start by wearing a well-fitting bra...", which my daughter didn't have! Chicken-and-egg problem. We measured as best we could, and I figured the first bra would be a prototype anyhow.

The pattern and kit were both great! Although it took me about 10-11 hours of work (including sewing, ripping out, and resewing), I made a bra that looked both pretty and professional. 

The underwires are sticking out because I was trying out different underwires to see what fit best, so I didn't finish the underwire channel. I had already been keeping hardware and underwires from old dead bras because I might find a use for them someday!

My daughter tried the bra on, and... it didn't fit. Not even close. Oh well. It did give us a basis for figuring out what size would be closer, though. Fortunately I got a second kit for the Shelley bra. Back to the sewing machine!

TV Chair Adventures -- Part 3

When I last wrote, I had given up the idea of trying to sew the leather pieces together to cover my chair. Gluing the leather on became the next obvious choice, but dealing with the contours was still giving me trouble. It wasn't until I was chatting with another artist (during a papier mache seminar I was attending), that I realized how to do it.

First, I removed the foam insulation tube from the chair form. I took the leather strip for the foam insulation tube and glued it onto the tube directly, with one long edge tucked into the slit of the tube and the other edge loose. Then I glued the big piece of leather directly onto the outside of the Deck-o-foam-covered Sonotube. Finally, I put the leather-covered insulation tube back around the edge of the leather-covered Sonotube and glued everything down (the loose edge of the leather on the insulation tube is glued to the inside of the Sonotube).

Here is how the back looks.


Cushions

Now that the outside of the chair is done, it's time to get back to work on the cushions.

For the round seat cushion, I cut three layers of 2-inch-thick, high-density polyurethane foam and stacked them inside the cover. I then stapled the cover very tightly onto one of the plywood circles.



For the back cushion, I cut out a piece of the scrap Sonotube so it would fit into the opening inside the insulation tube in the back of the chair.


I used the scraps of high-density foam left over from my denim-quilted dining room chairs to pad the back cushion. Since I wanted to contour the cushion to provide some lumbar support (opposite the direction of the Sonotube at the lower back area), it took some careful arranging!



Lacey shows off the careful use of duct tape to secure the foam scraps.


I wrapped a piece of the blue-green leather around the back assembly and fitted it in tightly, gluing down the leather flaps at the bottom to the inside of the main Sonotube piece. The piece of Sonotube inside the back cushion also helps to strengthen the back of the chair.


The seat cushion then got shoved up against the bottom of the back cushion. To fit the seat cushion properly against the back cushion, I needed to take it out, take off the seat cover, cut off some foam, and restaple the leather more loosely (besides, I didn't like the shiny stretched look of the tightly-stapled leather). I got it right eventually.


But Will It Hold My Weight?

The Sonotube is sturdy, but it's meant to meant to take outward-pushing stresses that cause tension around its circumference, not just downward along the axis of the tube. To deal with this, I want to make the plywood circles carry the weight, not the tube. I glued some wood pieces into the tube up against the top circle. Their job is to hold the plywood circles apart. I screwed the bottom circle into the wood pieces.

I added feet to the bottom circle so the Sonotube is suspended slightly above the floor and does not directly carry the weight of the chair's occupant.


Finished!

I had to be the first to try out the chair, and Lacey decided she had to join me!

Yes, it holds my weight just fine. I later tested it out with a much-heavier friend, and it held him with no trouble (he thought it was pretty comfy, so I had a hard time getting him out of it).

But Wait, There's More!

It would hardly be a proper TV chair without a matching ottoman, so I got a piece of 12-inch-diameter Quiktube and made one. I cut three lengths (9 inches plus two 7.5-inch pieces), and cut out thin sections out of the two short pieces so I could fit them inside the longer one to strengthen it (the 12-inch diameter tube is much thinner than the 18-inch-diameter Sonotube). I used the scraps of the leathers and cushion foam. I covered the outer tube with the black leather (no Deck-o-foam), and made the seat cushion the same way as the larger one, by stapling the leather over the foam onto a pre-cut plywood circle.

I glued wood pieces inside the tube between the plywood circles, and I screwed on the bottom plywood circle. Done!


Here's the set.


It's not the cheapest chair (it totaled about USD $250 for the set), but it's unique, small, comfortable, and my kids love it.

Getting to sit in my own chair without a fight: priceless.

A satisfied customer. It's just her size.

TV Chair Adventures -- Part 2

Part of what inspired me to make this chair was that I found an odd little piece of leather on one of my too-regular forays over to the local Tandy stores. They get odd lots of various upholstery leathers from tanning companies, and I'm always keeping my eyes open for nice bits in blues and greens that my kids might like. There was this one small piece (maybe 15 square feet) in a mottled blue-green with a shiny finish that caught my eye, and I nabbed it (it was one of a kind--none of the employees saw any others like it). Somehow I didn't manage to get a picture of the piece before I cut it up, but I started making a round cushion from it for the seat of the chair.


I found that stapling the pieces together worked better than pinning (in the seam allowance so holes won't show in the finished cushion). I got fewer stab wounds that way, too! I sewed the cushion sides on using heavy Gutermann polyester thread. This is pretty heavy and stiff leather (think of vinyl seats in a diner, and you'll be close), and I had a lot of trouble sewing through it on my machine (skipped stitches, etc., even with a "walking foot"). I got through the main seam around the cushion, but gave up sewing a second line around to stitch down the seam allowance. I ended up gluing that down.


Since I only had enough of the blue-green leather to cover the chair cushions, I got a huge black "Zora" hide from Tandy to cover the outside of the chair. This is beautiful soft matte garment leather. It's thin, a little stretchy, and it feels wonderful.


More Tubes: Foam Insulation
I find inspiration everywhere. I love to wander around hardware stores looking for tools and materials that might be good for projects. This time I found slit foam tubes that are used for insulating hot water pipes. They fit over the cut edge of the Sonotube and make a nice contour. Some of them even come with double-sided tape on the slit edges, so I was able to bend the foam around the edge of the chair and then pull out the plastic strip covering the adhesive. Here's how it looks on my sample piece.


Covering the Chair

My initial thought was that I would fit the leather over the chair with a big piece going around the Sonotube cylinder and a separate strip sewn onto the big piece so it would fit tightly over the contoured pipe insulation. So I cut it all out and pinned it together (the chair is upside down in this picture).


I sewed it all together (incurring many stab wounds in the process), put it on the chair, and it was a disaster. The contouring didn't work at all. This was one of those times where making a muslin version first would have been a good idea, but of course I just jumped in on sewing the leather, and in hindsight I think it would never have worked the way I had envisioned. I ripped out all of my seams, threw everything in a pile, and let the project sit stalled for a couple of weeks.

To be continued...