What's a good non-adhesive plastic sheet to protect soft-back books?

I suggest using sheets of clear PVC:

It's non-adhesive, a lot more durable than the more common polypropylene sheets (like the perforated 'punched pockets'), but still supple. They mostly come in standard sizes, like in the image, pre-folded and stitched to accommodate certain book size standards (as an example, the page from which I sourced the image has A4, A4+, 165mm x 210mm, and 180mm x 240mm), but are available as sheets as well.

It's also sold under the name heavy-duty (protector) sheet, and it's easier to find complete sheets using that term. Searching for 'vinyl sheets', 'plastic roll film', 'clear soft PVC', or a combination of those keywords yields similarly useful results.

A slightly less sturdy variant, which is easier to find on rolls for this specific purpose, is called 'archival book jacket cover'.

For completion's sake, here's a WikiHow entry on wrapping books using these sheets.


Why is my papier mache balloon changing size between layers?

Temperature in the environment
This would answer both cases.

Balloon shrinking: causing the papier mache to wrinkle as the form it was set on changed.

Balloon expanding: causing the papier mache to expand and crack while setting as the balloon is getting larger.

It is important for the project to dry in the same environment (temperature) in which is was created. This might seem obvious but small changes can affect this. Time of day for instance.
Expansion and Contraction
If working indoors the sun might not be directly on the project initially. If left for many hours after, layers may dried with heat from direct sunlight that could make the balloon inside expand.
The opposite could apply as well. If the project was in direct sunlight while the layer was being applied it could have then cooled while it was still setting. When the base you are forming your project on moved it will set in unexpected ways (turning into a raisin).
The balloon shrinking is less of an issue after several layers. Having 2-3 already dried layers gives a good base so the balloon shrinking would be a non-issue.
This also could happen if you take the balloon outside for example to have it set faster. A change in the environment while the balloon is drying is likely causing this to fail.
Keep the project in the same place and avoid changes in temperature. This is more crucial for the first few layers.

A wrinkled balloon can usually be ignored by adding more layers, assuming the project calls for it. As layers get added the imperfections are hidden.
A busted seam (or join) can also be fixed by patching with more papier maché. In the case of the piñata, this might be less than ideal, as it introduces a weak point. Setting layers with the paper strips perpendicular to each other can help fix that.


Is there any way to print white colour onto paper?

There is white Trace-it transfer paper from a company called ScratchArt[1]. This would require you to print out your image first then trace over image to make the actual image transfer.

Similar to the idea of carbon paper instead in this case the paper is coated on one side with lose layer of white ink bound with wax. The image is transferred by placing the coated side down gently onto a surface and then scribing the image on the non coated surface.

http://www.hobbylobby.com/Art-Supplies/Canvas-Surfaces/Tracing-Pads/White-8-1/2%22-x-11%22-Trace-It-Transfer-Paper/p/4558


Would you be happy to occasionally re-apply if the coating chipped? Clear nail polish would work in that case, and a soak in acetone won't harm the metal but would completely remove the polish.


First of all, even when you can split the yarn, it will be easier to buy thinner yarn or use the yarn you have in alternate turns, mixing the colours by using them next to each other. You also control the use of colours better that way.
To test whether the yarn can be split at all, take a short length and take it apart. If the different parts split off easily you can go on and try a longer bit.
Often the yarn has fibres sticking out and getting caught in the other strand in the process of twining and winding.
To split big lengths you will need to spin the boll of yarn at the same speed as you un-twine, or it needs to be allowed to spin freely while you take it apart without putting any stress on the more delicate strands.
While you untwist and split the yarn you need to wind the two (or more) stands at the same speed and the same time.
While I am sure you can make a machine to do the work, I doubt it will be easy to buy one, I do not remember ever having seen or heard about one.
I would go with the advice my textile-crafts teacher told me back when we were weaving with colours. Do not try to work with mixed colours. Do one or two strands of one colour and then one or more of the other. Giving you the same visual mix of the colours but more control on how they work.


Is the starting point in sketching important?

The starting point is important, but there isn't a single right answer.  What will work best for a given person depends on how they visualize things, and the skills they have developed.  Your result turning out "not that good" is likely due mostly to not yet having developed sketching skills comparable to the artists in the videos.  It takes a lot of practice to become good, and to develop a process that works well for you.  You may even find that as you develop your skill, a different starting point works best.  Experiment.
A common starting point is the environment or background in which the subject will exist (at least something crude for placement and scale of the subject).
It's useful to start the subject (either before or after roughing in the environment), by crudely sketching the outline or major parts of the subject.  This gives you a basic shape and scale to refine, and against which to develop the detail.
Some skilled artists start with an "anchor feature", a dominating feature that they build around.  This works best with a lot of experience, where you've developed intuition on scale and how the rest of the subject relates to that feature.
The most important element of the "starting point" is that it involves starting; putting pencil to paper and moving it to create some initial structure.  It doesn't make much difference how bad those initial marks are.  They provide a basis for comparison against what you're looking at or visualizing in your mind.
It's easy to see where those initial marks are wrong or off, they provide something you can adjust.  The eraser is at least as important a tool as the pencil (not to delete everything because you aren't satisfied with it, but to make corrections and iterations to move from the starting point to your objective).  Once you get something on paper, where to go from there becomes a lot easier.


Should I use a graft or a seam when attaching sweater shoulders?

Seam. The shoulders of a sweater are a high-stress area; the entire weight of the sweater hangs from them. A nice, solid seam gives a sturdy structure for that hanging. A graft - which is designed to be stretchy, just like the main fabric of the sweater - can result in droopy shoulders and stretched necklines. The excellent Techknitter wrote an illustrated article about the importance of seaming sweater shoulders, with lots of detail and tips for different types of necklines.


I discovered that by simply cutting the stems and adding black dye to the vase and simply placing the roses in the vase will color them black.  I tried this and it works great.

  You can dye the flowers by placing the stems in dye-enhanced water


What wire other than 1.6 mm stainless will work for chain mail?

I made a butted link hauberk some years ago out of galvanized steel wire (the stuff I got was used in repairing fences - 20 gauge).  Not as shiny as other materials but I felt it was more authentic looking.  It is fairly easy to form and cut.  The mandrel I used to form the links was 3/8" diameter.

When completed there were some 40,000 links in it and it weighs around 40 pounds.  I wore it over a gambeson I also made.  The hauberk comes to about the groin (worn with a belt to adjust the weight somewhat) and to a few inches above  the elbow (I'm 5'10").

I wore it numerous times to SCA type events and reenactments but never did much mock combat with it.  I never had an issue with links stretching or popping out.


Is it possible to darken a pencil drawing to match the colour of charcoal?

I think that there are a couple of ways of dealing with it.

Rework the head with charcoal, possibly using an eraser and add some pencil marks to the rest so that you have a bit of cohesion everywhere
Leave the skin as it is (with pencil) and use charcoal everywhere else
Use fixative (or hairspray) to knock back the darkness of the charcoal
Use a mist of white spray paint to subdue everything
Take it in stride as a learning experience and make another drawing


How to sew this seam with a Brother 847 sewing machine?

That seam looks like topstitching. It's done using a straight stitch, typically set to a longer stitch length than construction seams. Topstitching can be a decorative finishing technique, but also serves the purpose of keeping seams flat and in place.

It looks like the example is made of a leather-like material - topstitching is very common for that, since the material won't fray and tucking the raw edges under would make seams very bulky.

If you want to do the stitching for this particular item by machine, you can try holding the pocket out so only the pocket edge is under the presser foot, but you will have to be careful when feeding it through to keep the seam even. This looks possible with the pattern - since you haven't stitched the ends of the wallet yet, it'll be like sewing half of a cuff (only a bit more stubborn depending on how stiff the leather is).

It would be easier to topstitch the pocket before assembling, so it's just a flat piece you run through the machine, but that would require changing the pattern so the back section and the pocket sections are separate rather than one continuous piece.


My computer won't let me see the picture, so this answer might not be helpful. Assuming we're talking about the regular party blowers, the only issue with trying to add a reed to make noise are space and ability. There's not that much space for it to go, only about an inch in the plastic tip, but the tube is very small. Second is actually getting it in there. Putting it in the hole then trying to attach it would be hard since most of them are glued together, and you can't pull of the tip. Unless you can figure out a way to build a reed that's small enough, and get it in there, you might have to get back and buy some other ones.


What's the name for the pen and ink drawing style seen in J. J. Grandville's art?

The kind of shading with many thin lines is called hatching.

(image source)
It's very common in ink or pen drawings and printing techniques like etching or woodblock printing. A sub-category of prints with especially fine details is the "old master print".
This site demonstrates a number of different hatching techniques and how they influence our perception of the shapes


How to stitch together two fabric pieces without creating "lips"

The first one is a machine technique known as flat lock stitching. A machine stitch found on a home sewer that could be used as an alternative would be the three part zigzag.
Many of the hand stitching techniques are being lost due to the speed of the machine stitches.

Stoating is a technique I have read about and is very challenging to do by hand.
Here is a link that might be of some interest on stoating:
https://books.google.com/books?id=k15YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA343#v=onepage&q&f=true


The first thing to decide is whether you want softer cord or something flat? It seems to thread through holes quite easily so it's just a matter of finding soft cord, not too thick, if you just want a cord.

If you want something flat and soft, threading a neoprene glasses strap onto the existing cord (or two short lengths or cord with stop knots) should work well.


What kind of paint should I choose to start painting?

It depends on what you would like/enjoy to get involved in. A lot is based on opinion where to start. As a child, I started with watercolor. For some artists, they say that watercolor is more difficult because of how fluid it is, and how it spreads compared to other paints. Making it more difficult to control for a first-timer.

Acrylic could be a good start, because it is easy to dry, and you can get more done with acrylic paint, over a short amount of time. Compared to oil paint, that will take a longer time to dry. I have found with oil paint, it is beautiful ability to blend colors, compared to acrylic or watercolor. Oil paint can be very messy for a beginner paint.

It really depends on what you would enjoy. I found enjoyment in all three paints, but each one is kind of their own kind of technique and ability.

From personal preference only have found mine to be from easiest.

1)Watercolor.
Pros: fluid colors, dries fast.
Cons: Could spread to other colors and ripping paper from getting damp.

2)Acrylic.
Pros: Fast drying, can make layers fast.
Cons: Not as well blended colors.

3)Oil paint.
Pros: Blends well, combines colors well.
Cons: Takes forever to dry, messy, and if you aren't careful could get on clothing and stain.


Is there a method for setting up my palette on axes by Hue, Value, and Intensity?

You could mix your fully saturated base hues on one axis, run the desaturated mixes at a right angle to those and if there is room go off on a diagonal with tints of the colors you are using. Alternately just use a different area of the pallet for tints or saturations depending on your preference.

Other than starting with a cool and warm version of the primary colors I have never heard of a standardized pallet or one that seeks to capture the entire available spectrum. Each artist I know has their own layout and each painting calls for different colors. I think you would be wasting paint and time trying to create a pallet like the color picker from Photoshop, and even in digital painting applications there are multiple areas for choosing by hue, tone or saturation. You just need to find what works for your style through experimentation.


My experience is with the commercial brands (my wife uses and sells them).  The two main advantages that I see are:

that they allow a very smooth finish with a brush.  If you were to paint furniture with latex paint, you'd get a lot more brush strokes than with chalk paint.
it's easy to do the shabby chic thing (distressing, ageing, etc) with chalk paint.

Disadvantages:

It's damned expensive, compared to regular latex paint.
You can't color match like you can with regular paint (where the paint guy scans a color sample and the computer matches it)
It's not a durable surface at all. For furniture and such it has to be sealed or waxed, which is another step.


Possible to model Viking longboat with Popsicle sticks?

On the assumption that you're going to try and mimic the clinker-built (that is, overlapping planks) construction of the real thing but not smaller details such as the riveting of planks together with trenails, then you should be able to use popsicle sticks for the planking - as you said you'll want to shape them with hot water (or better, steam) to get the correct shapes.*

Where you'll struggle with popsicle sticks alone are the large, complex shaped timbers like the keel, bow/stern posts and keelson. For these I'd recommend buying some larger pieces of basswood and carving them to shape rather than sticking popsicle sticks together. You may also find it easier to carve the frame timbers from basswood also.

For reference, this is a picture of a longship I took last year, showing just how huge the keelson is.

*I suspect that the popsicle sticks are too brittle to attempt riveting or similar (the wood in viking ships was usually worked green not seasoned), but if you're just glueing them together they may be fine


Here are some additional recipes to complement fixer1234's extensive answer:

The easiest and most likely candidate for a homemade fixative is milk.
Van Gogh protected a lot of his drawings using regular milk (and water)1 - at times pouring out entire glasses over them. The reason he opted for milk was because he wanted to get rid of the sheen of charcoal and graphite.
If you happen to have any casein lying around, a casein fixative might be a good alternative.
Mix casein with (grain) alcohol and (distilled) water, in a 1:2:5 ratio.2
See here for more experiences (and likely some troubleshooting).
And in case you have any shellac at home, you can try mixing it with isopropyl alcohol in a 1:4 ratio to create a shellac fixative3, which you can apply using a spray can.

1: http://vangoghletters.org/vg/terminology.html, see under 'fixing'
2: https://dbclemons.wordpress.com/2016/10/27/homemade-casein-fixative/
3: https://www.ehow.com/info_12066271_homemade-fixate-charcoal-drawing.html


Blocking knitting using the washing machine?

Blocking is usually a one-time process for knitwear. It's used to even out the stitches in a single piece and to stretch several pieces to make the seams fit exactly before sewing them together. If your knitting is tight and even enough for your taste or the pieces fit just fine, you can get away without blocking at all.
Blocking is especially useful for delicate and "open" knitting patterns with holes, like lace, net or ajour / open work. The less tight your knitting is, the more it will benefit from blocking.
The steaming (or heating with an iron) of a just finished, blocked piece of knitting sets the fibres of the yarn into their current shape, "locking" the loops and curves of the knitting into the yarn.
In my experience, blocking only needs to be repeated for lace doylies and similar pieces with a delicate geometric pattern. A sweater won't change it's shape much after the initial blocking (given it doesn't stretch due to vertical hanging). The best advice I'd give the person receiving the knitting it to first load the drying rack with whatever laundry there was in the machine and then lay the knitwear flat on top. If the knitwear has the tendency to shrink a little (I'm not talking about the shrinkage of wool, but some cotton sweaters have very tight sleeves when washed that stretch to their usual size after some wear), the person can gently stretch the wet sweater on the drying rack. That simulates blocking without all the efford involved.


How do you open Castin’ Craft resin cans?

Prying with a narrow screwdriver is a good start. It appears in the photo that you have a bit of a start at the near edge of the top.

This particular seal is a throw-away and you can indeed stab it. Something stronger than a pointed stick should do well enough. A small blade philips screwdriver tapped in then bent outward will distort the top sufficiently to pop it free.

Be not afraid, plunge onward!


I've used water-based varnish to seal in resin leaking from pine in a bed base I made.  I applied several coats to the whole surface, but started with a couple of coats over just the sticky areas.  Before the first coat I scraped/sanded the surface and cleaned with methylated spirits (denatured alcohol).

This won't work well if it's actually oil that's leaking.  Pine can be oiled, including with vegetable oil for food use.  Most varnishes, even oil-based ones, won't work too well on top of this.  You may be able to remove a lot of the oil with meths though.  Drying it in an oven may also help.  Not too hot, and not if other areas are painted or glued, or have plastic fixings.


Okay, I had a hunch that this was a leather-working tool, but could only find a similar tool for twine cutting, until I got a nudge in the right direction.

This is called a strand cutter, or lace cutter, or even just strander. This particular version is a vintage/antique made out of what appears to be cast iron.

To use this, you would adjust the width of the lace you want using the knob at the top. Then, you put the flat of the adjustable piece flush against your piece of leather and pull towards you. As long as the blade is sharp, and you keep the tool flush, you'll get even strands of leather.

Here's another such tool:

And here's a modern alternative, called he Australian Strander:

The modern tool performs the exact same function, except it's made from chrome-plated steel and takes replaceable carbon steel blades, so you don't have to sharpen it. Tandy Leather has a demonstration video here.


What to look for when purchasing Thick Thread

One thicker variety of embroidery thread is called perle cotton. That might be what's in the video, though I can't quite tell. It is sized by numbers, where a smaller number indicates a thicker thread. You might be interested in a size 3 or 5 perle cotton.

If what you got originally was 6-ply embroidery floss, you wouldn't see sizes listed because it only comes in one size. That material can also be separated so you can use fewer strands, which is not true of perle cotton; that seems to me to help perle cotton threads stay round when you stitch with them, instead of flattening out.


How to get dark colors on paper through pencil colors?

In the drawing of the hummingbird you posted, darker colored pencils are being used. Children's sets usually have bright, basic colors.

However, you may have some luck getting darker colors by layering what you have. Read up on color theory and combine colors to give the illusion of overall darker hues. The section on tints & shades from the wiki article is particularly helpful, and includes reasoning as to why you should avoid darkening colors with black or lightening them with white:

  It is common among some painters to darken a paint color by adding
  black paint—producing colors called shades—or lighten a color by
  adding white—producing colors called tints. However it is not always
  the best way for representational painting, as an unfortunate result
  is for colors to also shift in hue. [...] Lightening a
  color by adding white can cause a shift towards blue when mixed with
  reds and oranges. Another practice when darkening a color is to use
  its opposite, or complementary, color (e.g. purplish-red added to
  yellowish-green) in order to neutralize it without a shift in hue, and
  darken it if the additive color is darker than the parent color.


What safety precautions should I observe while using a hot wire cutter?

The majority of the safety recommendations relate to the fact that this is a hot wire cutter.

Use caution near the wire. It is hot and can burn you. Keep fingers and hands out of the way. (I was once stupidly holding the wire section of my hot wire cutter while chatting to another student, and the cutter got plugged in. I had an very straight burn across all my fingers and a fun story to share in safety discussions.)
If setting the hot wire cutter down between cuts, make sure it is not on a flammable surface (e.g., paper, plastic, oily rags...)
After you're done using it, unplug and make sure it is completely cool before putting it away. (This happens quite quickly, though. The extremely small volume of the wire means it heats quickly, and cools quickly.)

Many of the foams cut with hot wire cutters or hot knives produces smelly, irritating smoke and fumes when heated (and some can be toxic). So, it's important to have adequate ventilation. This means outdoors, or with windows/doors open, or with specialized equipment (e.g. a fume hood). Always research any material that you work with (e.g., by requesting and reading the MSDS) and understand the risks involved and suggested remedies.


A rather superficial blog article on removing mold from books suggests a light bleach/water wipe, but a book conservator in the comments threads wrote:

Some notes from a book conservator, just hoping to avert any disasters.
Bleach, while it kills mold, contains chlorine which forms an acid and will damage the paper. It will remain in the paper and continue to damage it over time. Conservators never use chlorine bleach on books. Sunlight is the best thing, even though it may cause some bleaching. If the paper turns dark in the sun, it’s probably because it contains acidic materials, stains, lignin … many times the paper or printing will fade. Test a relatively unimportant page to see before doing the whole book. Alcohol and water are very dangerous for leather and may cause it to blacken, so test in an inconspicuous place. And while some people have had success with microwaving books to kill mold, other have totally destroyed the books and even started fires. Depends on what the book is made of. I would only nuke a book if I was willing to throw it out otherwise.

Other hints you can glean across the interwebz include HEPA vacuuming, and wiping with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. But the overall objective is first to isolate the moldy books from uncontaminated ones, then to dry them out and kill and remove the mold, or at least find some way to store the books hermetically so they don't contaminate the others.  Staining seems to be the least of anyone's concerns when it comes to moldy books.
Given that the gold lettering looks to have some form of metallic ink in it, I wouldn't recommend microwaving.


It is possible to create powerful crucible that you can melt plastics in it? If yes, how can I create it from simple materials?

First you need to check the melting point of the specific thermoplastic you intend to use -- some will burn or give off nasty fumes at temperatures where others are still solid.  And you need to be sure you actually have a thermoplastic and not a thermosetting plastic.

But for most common thermoplastics, ordinary ceramic kitchenware will handle the heat perfectly well. If you melt the plastic then pour it into the bowl, you'll be able to handle the bowl.  If you want to put the bowl in an oven to melt the plastic, obviously you'll need something like oven gloves to handle it with.

If you really want to make something yourself, clay will do the job (it will work just dried, without firing). Unglazed it will be hard to clean.


Durability concerns with damascus steel and rose gold ring

Former goldsmith here. I used to work with gold, a lot, but not so much with steel, and I never did damascus or mokume gane. From your question I'm guessing it may be the opposite for you ?

Before thinking about durability, I would question feasability. Due to their very different fusion temperatures, and different "behavior" when heated, these two metals may be difficult to mix together.

To illustrate this, you usually work gold while it's cold. If you try to hit or bend it while it's red, it will offer almost no resistance. Meanwhile, steel offers quite a good resistance even when it's red hot. How do you forge those two metals together in these conditions ?

But again I am no expert in forging, even less in damascus or mokume gane.

I can only tell you the metals commonly used together are :

silver/gold/copper for mokume gane.
steel/other steel for damascus.

About the durability, I think, if you manage somehow to make your ring, it would be quite a durable ring, because the steel would prevent rose gold (which is already one of the hardest of golds) to suffer too much from abrasion. The only concern that I see may be the need  to change the ring's size (quite frequent after 10+ years).

Other than that, such a ring should last for a lifetime and more, assuming you treat it with care (=> taking it off when doing something that could damage it).

Quick note, just a basic reminder on how to keep your jewelry as long as possible :

Don't make any part of the ring thinier than 1.5mm.
Don't wear it in bed. Bedsheet are quite abrasive over time.
Don't wear it into the shower. Since I assume we're talking about stainless steel, this is not so much about durability than about the risk of loosing it into the siphon.


A quick hack would be to roughen the bare patches up with an old toothbrush or the coarse side of a velcro strip. Try to treat only the bare patches like this and be extra careful at the edges between original and damaged cloth.

I doubt that you could restore the original properties of the cloth, but that rouch treatment should make the bare patches less noticeable.


Any martensitic stainless ( all cutlery grades ) can be cooled / quenched in nitrogen gas. I presume it is gas and has significant circulation to speed cooling . The cutlery grades are all have very good hardenability and do not need rapid cooling. In my experience , nitrogen gas cooling would be very unusual ( not needed ) for martensitic stainless. It would be useful for quenching titanium ( type 5 , 6 Al , 4 V ). If you mean liquid nitrogen , no problem , probably . The very rapid cooling can cause cracking of complicated shapes. Various claims are made of the advantages of cryogenic cooling, some are true . But the possible advantages would not show up in a personal knife; they would show up in an industrial application cutting many tons of material per day.    HOWEVER , heating / austneitizing in a nitrogen atmosphere can be dangerous. Nitrogen can be absorbed into the metal and  stabilize the austenite phase producing a soft surface.


How can I safely sharpen a small craft knife?

If the knife is really that blunt, I recommend taking it to be professionally sharpened. Many craft stores offer this service either as part of their regular services or on a part-time basis (once or twice a month). Otherwise, you may have a knife sharpener in your city who would be able to do it. The cost is generally based on the length of the blade, so should not be very high for your knife.

Unless you have a good-quality mechanical sharpener at home and know how to use it well - or have learned how to use a whetstone and steel, it will be difficult for you to return the knife to the necessary level of sharpness for crafting.

Honers can only realign the blade slightly and are for daily knife maintenance, they can not actually sharpen a knife.


What are the uses of fan shaped brushes and finger shaped brushes?

The fan-shaped brush is perfect for blending oil paints. I use it to either blur fresh paint (be it an area or a detail) into the background, or to create a smooth gradient between paints.
When painting with very fatty paints, or simply a lot of paint, this brush will lose its efficiency, as it is too thin and fine to manipulate, accumulate, or contain much paint.
I have no experience using this with acrylic paints, but can imagine it will work similarly, when using little and diluted acrylics.
With this brush it is especially important to clean it regularly, as it loses this functionality whenever there is the slightest irregularity (leaving obvious marks in the paint surface).

With the comb, rake, or fingered brush I have a slightly similar experience: it can be used to blend areas or details while maintaining a certain amount texture (resulting in a 'broken' gradient, if you will).
It's also an obvious contender for painting details like vegetation (grass, reeds, branches, &c.) and hairs, as it naturally leaves lines.
It can also be used for graining or painting imitation wood (although those brushes are usually larger).


The style could be named after its instigating minimalistic 'Flat design', or is simply called 'flat illustration', but it could also very well be there's no (official) terminology for this specific form of graphic design (yet).
'Flat design' has become very popular in the last 7 years or so. I think a major influence on this style becoming more common was the increasing popularity of tablets: as they are controlled through touch screens and have relatively large screens, they required a new way of navigating, and large and easy to see tiles were an obvious choice.
As dynamic, coloured tiles organized into grids were used, the need for hierarchical vertical navigation diminished, and so did the need for extensive use of highlights, drop shadows, and other depth simulating effects and 'skeuomorphic' design elements (iOS 7 indeed embraced this need for a renewed design, but I think a better example of these changes is Microsoft Windows 8, which design is called 'Metro' (a.k.a. 'Modern UI').
Around five years ago, the need for a more intuitive design became apparent, and innovations on flat design were grouped under the name 'Flat design 2.0' (or 'semi-flat' or 'almost flat design') (for more background information, see here, here, and here).
These innovations include a reintroduction of shadows and other 3-dimensional effects.
As common user interfaces change, graphic design and illustration have to 'evolve' along with them (arguably because users like their digital experiences to be unified), and this is why flat graphics and illustrations have become very popular.
Good design necessitates the need for specific changes within these styles to be compatible with and complement the other, so improvements are made constantly, and these influence naturally occurring preferences (like in all art styles).
The current trend in illustration seems to favour somewhat naive depictions, as in the image you have posted. The increasing presence of humans (of different skin tones) could be a reaction to current political events, or simply to the idea that (web) design ought to be all-inclusive.


When working in a visual medium, how do I avoid incorrect color?

As photographers know, the color of light is usually not white, and when working in your home, you're often working under tungsten bulbs (or similar) which have a warm tone to the light or with fluorescent which have a green cast. Because your brain is pretty good at making what you think should be white look like white, these lights can cause your eyes to see the colors differently and, as a result, change the way you mix or blend in your work.

As with photography, we can control the light we use and select for what our eyes naturally tend to, which is daylight. Where possible, you should light your work with dedicated lamps using daylight balanced light bulbs with a color temperature in and around 5500K. The packaging should specify the color temperature, which is more reliable than if it merely says daylight on the package, so avoid those that don't or that claim a temperature way off that number.

I really recommend getting some decent swing-arm desk lamps and LED bulbs. Not only are these lamps cheaper, but they're usually a lot brighter and much easier to position, especially with easels. LEDs are really efficient and they don't heat you up when working in close quarters, making for a more comfortable experience.


Giant slingshot made from 2" PVC. Cement insufficient. How to fasten for load?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but 2" PVC will not handle the stress that a working slingshot goes through. The best fix for what you have would be under the comment Aloysius D mentioned about joining the top to the bottom with 45 degree braces. I think it would still want to roll backwards on you on the draw to use it. That's when it will fail at the joints where the vertical meets the base. The joint will be in tension as compared to rolling out of the tee connectors when there are no braces.

A good old fashioned tree limb in the shape you need bolted to a base and braced might be better, at least cheaper than one made of 2" threaded metal pipe.


How can I cut a near perfect circle out of a plastic bottle?

Kind of off the wall, but here goes:

Fill the bottle with water and put it in the freezer until the water becomes solid ice. (best not put the cap on in order to allow for expansion of ice.

Using your drill press or hand held drill make your hole.


What's the difference between drawing paper and regular paper?

TL;DR:  Generally speaking, printer paper is not designed to last long, and is intended to hold ink rather than graphite, charcoal, paint, etc.  The same is more or less true of notebook paper.  Printer and notebook paper have very little tooth (roughness); lack weight (i.e., the sheets are thin); and have relatively high acid content, which means they will yellow and become brittle over time.

Different Kinds of Drawing Paper:

The main differences:  Tooth and Weight

Weight:

"Weight" is basically (as the term implies) a measure of how thick and heavy each sheet of paper is.

  Thicker or heavier papers can handle more water or paint without buckling, curling or falling apart. Traditionally, papers are measured by the weight in pounds of one ream, approximately 500 sheets. If a paper comes in different sizes, its weight will vary even though the thickness has not changed. Each paper type uses a certain size as its "standard." A ream of standard 22" x 30" watercolor paper (500 sheets) would weigh 300 lbs. The very same thickness paper in a 40" x 60" sheet would have a weight of 1,114 lbs. for the ream of paper. Its weight changed due to the size of the sheets, not the paper's thickness, but the paper is still designated as 300-lb.

  The inconsistency of this traditional method has led to the use of metric measurements or grams per square meter or gsm. When paper is measured in gsm, its weight will not change with the size of the sheet. The same 22" x 30" sheet of watercolor paper described above would weigh 640gsm, meaning that a square meter of this paper would weigh 640 grams. Larger size sheets of that same paper, like a 40" x 60" size sheet, also would weigh 640gsm. While different sizes, the square meter remains constant, as does the thickness of the paper.
  -  Dick Blick

And:

  Weights (relating to thickness) of paper are standardized and defined by the International Organization for Standardization and are often listed in grams per square meter (gsm), or in pounds, the standard of measurement more familiar to most artists in the U.S.  Following are some of the most common weights of paper found in sketchbooks and drawing pads (all measurements are approximate):

  25 lb (approx 40 gsm):  tracing paper
  30-35 lb (approx 45-50 gsm):  newsprint
  50-60 lb (approx 75-90 gsm):  sketching or practice paper — thick enough to work on with pencils, charcoal, or pastels, but usually too thin for ink or most markers, which may bleed through.
  70-80 lb (approx 100-130 gsm): drawing paper suitable for finished artwork in most media.  Paper any lighter than 70lb will usually be thin enough to see through to drawings or materials underneath.
  90-110 lb (approx 180-260 gsm):  heavy-weight drawing paper, bristol, multi-media papers.  Weight in this range is similar to card stock or light poster board.
  Heavier papers, up to 140 lb (approx 300 gsm) or more, are most often used for painting rather than drawing.  When found in sketchbooks, they are usually rougher papers intended as watercolor journals or to remove for painting on individual sheets.
  -  Muse Art and Design

And:

  Sketch paper is the thinnest, lightest paper, varying from 30 to 60 lbs. It isn't meant be used for finished drawings, as most will discolor and degrade quickly. However, it's economical, and perfect for short studies, thumbnails, compositional sketches, and working out ideas.

  Watercolor or printmaking paper has to be the thickest, heaviest paper because it must withstand the moisture from the water media applied to it. It usually weighs between 90 and 140 lbs. (The smoother, hot press watercolor papers can be great for drawing, also!)

  Graphite or charcoal drawing paper doesn't need the durability of watercolor or printmaking paper, but is heavier than sketch paper. It usually weighs between 70 and 100 lbs. The weight you choose should depend on how you work with your medium.
  -  Drawing Source

Tooth:

"Tooth" is a measure of how rough or smooth the paper's surface texture is.  The more tooth a paper has, the rougher it is, and the better it will take soft art media like charcoal and pastels.  The less tooth it has, the smoother it is, and the better it will be for fine detail work, harder graphite, pen and ink, etc.  Wet media (ink, watercolors, etc) will be more likely to bleed on a toothier paper;  dry media (charcoal, pastels, etc) will be more likely to slough off of a paper with less tooth.

  Surfaces are described as having more or less “tooth,” or roughness in texture. The more toothy the paper, the rougher its surface.

  Rougher surfaces are generally found more in thicker papers. Thick, toothy surfaces hold on to more of the drawing or painting medium and are better for high contrast and lower detail works. Toothier papers are well suited to charcoal, crayon and pastels, ink washes and watercolor, or any work that utilizes the texture of the paper for aesthetic effect.

  Smoother surfaces take up less media and are better suited to more detailed work. Very lightweight papers like tissue paper, and lightweight sketch paper are usually smooth, but thicker papers like bristol and some painting paper are also smooth. Smoother surfaces are ideal for graphite pencil, colored pencil, and ink pens. Smoother papers are also more likely to be bleedproof, meaning that ink or color washes won’t spread and “feather” across the surface.
  -  Muse Art and Design

And:

  Rough paper is chosen for its definite texture. It is the natural result when a sheet is allowed to air dry without smoothing or pressing. Rough surface paper is a good choice for transparent watercolors used in a bold and immediate style, as it allows the pigment of color washes to settle into the hollows of the paper. Pastel artists also generally prefer a paper with "tooth" or texture to grab onto the pastel pigment.

  Cold Press paper, which is the most popular and versatile, has a slight texture. Handmade papers achieve this by re-pressing a new wet sheet, which smoothes the surface to some degree. Machine-made papers get a similar effect by placing the wet sheets between cold metal rollers.

  Not/Cold Press: A "Not" sheet means it is "not hot press," and the term is often used instead of cold press.

  Hot Press paper is very smooth. It is made by running a freshly formed sheet through heated metal rollers or plates. Much like a clothes iron, this smoothes out any texture left by the earlier stages and creates a flat, hard, featureless surface. A good choice for highly detailed illustrations, it is also used for printmaking, etching, drafting, sketching and drawing.
  -  Dick Blick

Secondary coniderations:  Fiber and Sizing

Fiber (and acidity):

  Paper is made from a variety of plant sources. Whether the fibers come from cotton or other plants such as linen, flax, jute, hemp, bamboo, rice straw or rattan, they all provide cellulose fibers or plant cells of varying dimensions. A sheet of paper is basically a thin layer of mingled cellulose fibers. Most commonly, three types of fibers are used to produce papers for drawing and painting: cotton, cellulose and a combination of fibers.

  Cotton papers, made from the longest cotton fibers, are generally considered the highest quality. They are referred to as being 100% cotton rag and can handle heavy erasing and working without tearing or showing wear. High-quality 100% cotton paper can last more than 100 years. However, not all cotton papers are the same. Those made from the lesser-quality, shorter cotton fibers can get fuzzy with reworking.

  Cellulose papers are usually made of wood pulp and naturally have an acid content that will destroy the paper over time. The more acidic a paper is, the shorter its life expectancy. Buffers can be added to make the paper neutral.
  -  Dick Blick

And:

  Many papers are acid free. This designation means that the paper has a neutral pH (around 7). Acid-free papers should be selected for work intended to last for long periods of time because papers with higher acid content will deteriorate much faster. For most cellulose-based papers, acid-free also means that lignin and sulfur have been removed from the paper. These are the ingredients in wood-based papers that fade ink and turn paper yellow over time.

  Cotton and cotton-rag paper do not contain cellulose and are naturally acid-free. Cotton-based papers are also stronger, often thicker, hold up better to a lot of erasing, and perform well for wet media such as watercolor or ink washes. Cotton is often blended with cellulose to add strength and durability to paper. Premium archival papers will often list a ratio of cotton and wood fiber.
  -  Muse Art and Design

And:

  pH neutral means that the paper had a neutral pH (7) at the time that it was made, but may still contain ingredients that can become acidic over time (for example, the size used to seal the paper).

  Acid free means that nothing acidic (and nothing that can become acidic) was introduced to the paper at any point in the paper-making process.

  Some manufacturers (such as Strathmore) take further precautions and make paper at a slightly basic pH of 7.2 to 7.5.  This provides an alkaline buffer to help counter anything acidic that it may come into contact with.
  -  Drawing Source

And:

  The rate and severity of deterioration result from internal and external factors: most importantly, the composition of the paper and the conditions under which the paper is stored.

  Paper is made of cellulose -- a repeating chain of glucose molecules -- derived from plant cell walls. One measure of paper quality is how long the cellulose chains, and subsequently the paper fibers, are: long-fibered paper is stronger and more flexible and durable than short-fibered paper.

  In the presence of moisture, acids from the environment (e.g., air pollution, poor-quality enclosures), or from within the paper (e.g., from the raw materials, manufacturing process, deterioration products), repeatedly cut the glucose chains into shorter lengths. This acid hydrolysis reaction produces more acids, feeding further, continued degradation.

  Mechanical pulping produces paper with the shortest fiber length and does not remove lignin from the wood, which promotes acid hydrolysis. Newspapers are printed on mechanically pulped paper. Chemical pulping removes lignin and does not cut up the cellulose chains as thoroughly as mechanical pulping, yielding a comparatively stronger paper, but which is still not as durable as rag paper.

  Wood pulp paper from before the 1980's also tends to be acidic from alum-rosin sizing (added to the paper to reduce absorbency and minimize bleeding of inks), which, in the presence of moisture, generates sulfuric acid.

  Acids also form in paper by the absorption of pollutants -- mainly sulfur and nitrogen oxides. Book leaves that are more brown and brittle along the edges than in the center clearly illustrate this absorption of pollutants from the air.

  Research by the Library of Congress has demonstrated that cellulose itself generates acids as it ages, including formic, acetic, lactic, and oxalic acids. Measurable quantities of these acids were observed to form under ambient conditions within weeks of the paper's manufacture. Moreover, paper does not readily release these acids due to strong inter-molecular bonding. This explains why pH neutral papers become increasingly acidic as they age.
  -  U.S. Library of Congress

Sizing/Absorbency:

"Sizing" is an additive that makes the paper more resistant to moisture.

  Papers intended for wet media (paints or inks) are made with sizing, a starch or gelatin that is either included in the paper pulp during the paper-making process, or is applied to the surface of the paper.  Sizing prevents liquid from absorbing too quickly into the paper, allowing some working time to lift, lighten, or move paints or inks by applying more water.  Sizing also helps protect the paper from getting too soggy, which can result in tearing and wrinkling.  Sizing can also help prevent finer ink or paint lines from spreading and feathering.  Sketchbooks intended for wet media should indicate on the cover that the paper is sized.
  -  Muse Art and Design

And:

  Sizing is added to make paper more water-resistant. It keeps the paper from absorbing too much moisture or pigment and helps to keep watercolors or inks brilliant. It also keeps lines and edges looking crisp. It is less important for papers used for dry media. Sizing also can factor into a paper's archival qualities - whether it will sustain or deteriorate over time.

  Internal sizing is added while the paper pulp is still in a liquid state and is maintained in the matter of the paper.

  External, Surface or Tub sizing is applied to the surface of the paper after the sheet is formed and dried. Some paper is both internally and surface-sized.
  -  Dick Blick

Other considerations:

Binding:

Sometimes a matter of mere personal preference, sometimes a matter of necessity, "binding" refers to how - and whether - the sheets of paper are connected to one another:

  Hard-bound sketchbooks have a hard cover and a sewn joint, just like a hard-bound book. These sketchbooks generally contain medium weight paper, about 70 lb. Hard-bound sketchbooks are the toughest and sometimes the expensive. They take more wear and tear, and generally survive longer than spiral or tape-bound books. Depending on the quality and method of binding, hard-bound sketchbooks often do not lay flat when opened all the way, so they can be difficult to use for larger drawings or for writing. Hard-bound sketchbooks are also less likely to have perforated pages, so they’re better thought of as real archival sketchbooks.

  Spiral-bound sketchbooks sometimes have hard covers but their covers often consist of a hard back cover and a thick paper front. Because of this construction, spiral-bound books are a little less hardy than hard-bound sketchbooks. Spiral-bound sketchbooks open flat when put on a surface, so they can be good for ink and paint washes. Spiral-bound sketchbooks often have perforated pages, so pages are easy to remove and have a clean edge for presentation, duplication, mounting, or framing

  Tape-bound sketchbooks generally have fewer pages than hard-bound and spiral-bound sketchbooks and do not have substantial covers. Tape-bound sketchbooks are not rugged, long lasting sketchbooks. Sketchbooks bound in this manner come in a wide variety of surface types and weights, ranging from very thin tissue and tracing paper to heavy bristol and vellum papers. Sometimes, tape-bound sketchbook pages are perforated, but often the pages are held in by a line of adhesive so it is not difficult to pull them out.
  -  Muse Art and Design

And:

  Single sheets are a great way to experiment with a limited quantity of paper. They will often require stretching and taping to remain flat if wet media is being used.

  Blocks are a stack of paper glued or bound together on all four sides and mounted on a backing board. A block keeps the paper stretched as you paint. Once the painting is dry, the sheet is removed by inserting a knife between the sheets and gently breaking the binding. Blocks are a good choice for working wet, outdoors or while traveling. The disadvantage is that you can only use one sheet at a time.
  -  Dick Blick

Printer Paper:

Compared to drawing paper, printer paper is cheaper, lower weight, more acidic, has less tooth, can't handle wet media, doesn't take much dry media, can't handle wet media, and is generally crappy in every important respect.  It works for doodling, but if you want to make something really beautiful and long-lived, you need quality paper.


What is the name for this type of chain?

I am in no way a jewelry maker, or jewelry specialist. Mostly good at looking up information. Since art is in my field(of enjoyment), spent some time researching the types of chain that was described above.

It seems like the type of chain you are looking for is called, "panther chain."


Difference between cut edge and deckle edge paper

To answer your question, I will give a simple overview of the papermaking process:
Paper is made out of the fibres, mostly of wood or cloth.
These fibres are beaten to a pulp, and put in a bath with water.
Now, the deckle is the (wooden) frame that is used to control the size of the paper:

Mold and deckle (source)
This deckle lies on top of the mold, and these are used to scoop pulp out of the bath.
As the water drains through the mesh (the netting on the top of the mold), the pulp will stay inside the frame of the deckle, and the fibres in the pulp will settle.
They will not form a straight edge, but a wavy and irregular, or 'feathered' edge: this is called the 'deckle edge'. They can be seen as the original or natural edge.
Often, however, paper sheets are cut to remove these deckle edges, and these are called 'cut edges'.
The difference between the two is almost purely aesthetic: the deckle edge gives a more authentic or original look to paper.
But it also is often a sign that a paper was handmade: higher quality papers used for the arts often have deckle edges to separate them from cheaper machine-made paper (since the machines used for paper-making produce paper on rolls, so no deckles are used).


What's the best approach to drawing a colored picture

I also don't know if I should do a basic sketch in pencil, then erase
 it and go over it in colored pencil

You absolutely can do this - try using a harder pencil like a 7H or 5H and keep your lines light so you won't have to cover up as much later.

What is the best technique?

The question is too broad to answer well, but I think your first instinct to try colored pencils is a good one - they are forgiving and familiar.

Are there special art colored pencils that would be significantly better than regular crayolas?

Yes, there is a big difference between Crayola and the higher end colored pencils by Prismacolor, Derwent, etc. At many art supply and craft stores you can buy individual colored pencils if you'd like to see the difference without dropping a lot of money on a full set.


This appears to be one of the methods used to manufacture paperback books.
However the pages in a paperback have a rough back edge, not a clean cut, this allows more surface for the glue to bond to.
Some binding machines also use hot glue.


There are a few things to keep in mind, starting with which rose to pick for drying:

Roses that are too old, too wide open or about to loose their petals will have a higher tendency to fall apart after drying.
Wide open flower heads will collapse during drying. Also the then clumped-together petals have a higher risk of staying moist too long and getting musty or moldy.
Flower buds will stay very compact, again with a risk of mold.
Not all colours dry well - whites and light yellows tend to develop brown spots, very dark reds become blackish. As a rule of thumb, colours get darker during drying.

So a semi-open rose in a medium pink, orange or red is a good starting point.

For drying, the main issue is to ensure a good airflow and low humidity. Cooler is actually often better than hot and humid. By all means, keep the flowers out of direct sunlight.

It might be tempting to take that bouquet and just hang it upside down (and it sometimes works), but taking it apart and hanging individual flowers is the safer way to go. Whether you use pieces of string or clip them with clothespins on your laundry rack is up to you. Also, think about removing the lower leaves, they tend to get in the way or crumble when arranging the dry flowers.

Some prefer to spray the blooms with hairspray or laquer, but while it preserves the colour, it can increase brittleness.


How to describe this style of pencil art?

That is a Landscape Illustration, member of the Illustration family in Arts. You can get more information on the related wiki page, although not all members are listed there (it's a big family):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illustration
If you're looking for an "art style" wording, to describe it for example on a resume or on a commission service offer, I would say "Pen-and-Ink Illustration for Advertising" for example. Can you say with pencil? Sure. But Pen-and-ink is the better term for resumes ("he who draws with ink, will draw with pencil").
Here is a great link for you to dive in, good luck mate!
https://graphicmama.com/blog/types-of-illustration/


Wood. Adam Savage (whose non mythbuster stuff I love to bits) has a tendancy of making them - see his hellboy sword. He used thin plywood for a base and shaped it with bondo, covering it with aluminum ducting tape. He has another video where he shows process of making a shiny not weathered 'metal' sword from a solid wood sword - the process where he covers the sword in tape starts here, but the whole video is awesome.

There's actually a precedent for this with solid boken, and many modern sword shaping techniques might work with wooden swords.


Is a blanket stitch doable for first-time knitters?

As mentioned in 111's answer, a blanket stitch is not a knitting technique to create blankets.

The biggest risk in your plan is time. Babies often decide they want to see the world before doctors decide it's time for their birth. You should finish the blanket at least 2 - 3 weeks before the scheduled date.

If you are quick and comfortable learning knitting, you can use any stitch or technique you'd like. I found Youtube videos extremely helpful and did learn complicated patterns that I wouldn't have understood otherwise. But you should experiement and create small test pieces of your blanket before knitting the whole thing and then realizing that the corners roll up and it's impossible to actually use it as a baby blanket.

And that's where the time requirement comes in: If you don't have experience with how certain knitting pattern react, you need more time to experiment. You can knit an entire blanket with just stockinette stitch, but it will roll up at the sides and won't lay flat. You could knit it with a ribbing stitch (usually found in knit cuffs, because it prevents rolling), but you'll need to knit it wider than intended because the finished piece contracts some and is narrower than it was on the needle. There are very beautiful and easy cable patterns, but if you cannot "read" the stitches on your needle it's very easy to make mistakes.

Additional hint: the "continental" knitting style is faster than the "english" style, but they both produce exactly the same patterns by the exact same needle movements. I highly recommend learning contonental style from the beginning.

If you fear you won't be able to finish a knit blanket in time, crochet it instead.


Are there markers, paints, pencils, etc that are known to not change color over time?

The two keywords you need to look for are lightfast and archival.

For US manufacturers, lightfastness is usually given as an ASTM rating (that's American Society for Testing and Materials), which is a roman numeral between I (highest lightfastness) and V (lowest). Generally, ratings of I and II are fine to use for most artworks; any lower than that should mostly only be used for temporary works (e.g. where you plan to scan the art into a computer and then discard the physical version), or for works that will spend most of their life covered (e.g. inside a book).

There's no governing body that defines or determines whether materials are archival, so you have to take claims with a grain of salt, but if you buy from reputable manufacturers, you should be OK. One requirement for being archival is another term you're likely to encounter: acid-free. The acidity of the paper is what makes old printed materials brown and brittle. (I know this sounds like a paper problem, not a paint/pencil problem, but it won't help you that the canvas is guaranteed acid-free if you then paint it with something highly acidic.1) Other requirements often come under the terms permanence or durability. What these terms mean depends on the manufacturer, but also on the intended purpose of the material: an artist's acrylic (latex) paint isn't going to stand up to the same degree of abrasion as a latex paint meant for walls, but that doesn't mean it's a bad paint.

A good introduction to the subject is the definitions provided by Winsor & Newton. Some of the terminology is specific to them (the AA, A, B, C system of permanence rating), but it's informative regardless.

For materials meant to be used by children, for example markers or colored pencils, it can be very hard to find lightfastness or permanence ratings. If you want to use such materials, it can be worth your time to conduct your own lightfastness tests: draw some rectangles on a piece of paper, color them with the material you want to test (making sure to label the colors), get some opaque material such as mat board and cover half of each rectangle, and stick the thing in a sunny window2, and forget about it for a while -- several months, at least. When you remove the mat board, you'll see exactly how much each color faded.

1 Well, to a point. The most common type of ink used in the middle ages is iron-gall ink, which by nature is highly acidic. Despite this, documents written with iron-gall ink over a millennium ago are still perfectly preserved and readable. Moral of the story, study the history of the materials you use, and try to use them in the ways that have already stood the tests of time.

2 Your car's dashboard/rear ledge is even better: you get both sun and heat.


What sort of fabric could be used for this costume?

The question isn't well-defined, and your list of desired materials isn't clear in terms of how you envision using them.  But based on the picture, I'll throw out some ideas to get you started.  Perhaps you can use this to clarify your question.  Recognize that anything that can't breathe will be really hot, even if it's cool outside.  But a few ideas:

You might get enough material for the entire costume from a plastic table cloth (or two).  If you get a white one, you can color it with spray paint that's compatible with vinyl.  An unlined, unpainted table cloth may be translucent enough to put lights inside (but they will add to the heat).
A metallic look would be pretty cool.  You can buy really cheap "space blankets" (one or two should be enough, like these).  Any lights would need to be on the outside (maybe LED strips).
If you need costume segments that will hold a simple shape that you can make from a flat material (like a cylinder or surface curved in one plane), you might want to look at drafting vellum, which you can get in large sheets or rolls.  It's made from thin cotton fabric infused with a material like gelatin to make it translucent and stiff.  You could put lights behind that.  It has sort of a plastic looking surface.
For a rubber look, you could use sheets of craft foam.
You can make shaped sections using a lightweight fabric or gauze.  Create a mold for the shape from any suitable material and put a thin layer of a release agent on it, like Vaseline.  Stretch the fabric against it.  Then infuse the fabric with either PVA glue (school glue/Elmers), or hot melt glue.  Saturate the fabric with it.  As you add the glue, work the fabric into the shape if it isn't flat.  For hot melt glue use a heat gun to melt the glue into a thin liquid so it flows into a smooth layer and saturates the cloth.  Let it dry or cool.  Another method is to make a high concentration starch solution, soak the fabric in it until the fabric is saturated, then work the fabric over the form and let it dry.

The fabric with either type of glue will be translucent.  The starched fabric will look like the fabric. Any of these will retain the shape.
I'm not sure if it fits with the look you want, but Tyvek can look pretty good.  As long as it stays smooth, it has the look of Tyvek.  But it will wrinkle and soften, in which case it will look more like cloth.


Most of the time you don't need a cleaning manual dedicated to the specific machine. What you need is a basic understanding what cleaning and oiling is intended to achieve and what the mechanical parts of the machine have to do with it.
Sewing machines, especially the older models without electronics, are masterpieces of mechanics. The rotation of one single motor is transferred to the base of the machine and the needle, and additionally translated into different needle positions that create sewing patterns. The top thread is transported into the bobbin case by the needle and must slide smoothly around the bobbin. All these movements should me as smooth and unimpeded as possible for the machine to work well.
What could impede these delicate movements is: lint, dust and old oil.
To clean the machine you gradually remove all removable covers and parts to access the mechanical innards. How to do this depends on your individual machine. Keep screws and small parts in a saucer or small bowl so you won't lose any. Open and clean one section after another, then put all removable parts back in and close the cover before opening the next part to not confuse any parts. The main sections to open and clean are:

The base, including the bobbin case, feed dog and needle plate itself (most often opened from the side you sit in front of)
The sewing arm (most often opened from the top)
The needle holder and mechanics just above it, including the lamp (sometimes opened from the side, sometimes from the top)

Hopefully the instruction manual contains instructions on how to open the machine. I was unable to find any material explaining how to open and maintain a Singer 3002.
The cleaning itself is simple: Carefully remove all dust and lint using either a soft cloth, dry brush or a gentle vacuum. The cloth can be dry or slightly dampened with clean water. Detergents or other cleaning products are not required.
Usually it's sufficient to wipe oiled parts off to remove the outer layer of oil that caught dust and lint particles. Use the hand wheel to slowly move the parts and wipe any old oil away that you couldn't access before. Then add a drop of fresh oil and you're basically done. You should only use special machine oil or mineral oil for sewing machines, because it stays liquid for a very long time. Organic oils become rancid and viscous over time and are not suited for sewing machines.


What are the differences between different black oil paints?

The answer would be too broad because the different black pigments have all different characteristics as other pigments have in terms of hue/temperature, intensity/tinting, transparency, even value and so on.
Here's what Winsor & Newton says about their acrylic blacks:

  Ivory Black is a brown black of moderate tinting strength recommended
  for general use.

  Mars Black is a denser, more neutral black with stronger tinting
  power.

  Lamp Black is a blue black that is lightfast, permanent and opaque.

same (more or less) applies to oils, thus for a detailed description it's better to focus on pigment(s) rather than names as they are not universal between manufacturers. This applies to other hues more severely. For much accurate details you can refer to Handprint. And a chromatic black behaves as the pigments it's made of, so you can have more control over its attributes knowing what you've mixed.


How can I artificially age paper without staining or dyeing?

Place the paper in a sealed box or plastic bag together with an open jar with a bit of ammoniac in it and leave it. The fumes will age it (works well with wood too).

Another way is to bake the paper at around 100 C (200 F). It will give you an even brown colour.

You can put some steel wool together with vinegar in a jar and leave it for a week or 2. Then apply it to the paper and let it dry. It will give a nice yellowish colour. This method also works very well for staining wood.


Premo is one of the stronger kinds, so you're making the right choice there. I have only recently started using premo mixed my older sculpey III and have found it can cure as low as 225, but you'll obviously have to bake longer.


You get the least visibility when you use the same colour of yarn as your fabric.
But as a beginner, it will be easier when the yarn stands out from the fabric, which does make for the stitches to be seen a bit.

I guess the blue line in the picture is the line to sew on, if so, sew on that line and not near it. The better the stitches are in one line, the less visible they will be in the end.

Also remember to keep the stitching tight, not drawing the fabric together but many smallish stitches where the yarn is flat on the fabric, so that when you look between the layers of the fabric, the fabric will be close together and there is no space for it to move.


It works well. Dry mix the cement and plaster first - before adding water. Success really depends on what you’re doing with the mix. For instance, are you casting? troweling? With just cement and plaster you have no aggregate, like sand or gravel or binders, fibers, etc... so your structural performance will depend on several other factors.

If you want to strengthen plaster you should first determine the type of strength you require: surface hardness, durability-resistance to abrasion, improved compressive strength or impact resistance.

Fibers of polyester, glass, nylon, metals are all added to enhance performance of concrete and all of these work well in plaster. There are plasticizers which improve flow through molds. Not unlike adding manure, straw, horse hair or grain chaff to clay to stucco, adobe and daub.

One of the easiest strengthening additives is plain white glue. Test a small batch.


What size saw blade should I look into for cutting letters out of a 1/32" sheet of metal (I think steel) with a saw

If I understand what you are attempting to accomplish, this is exactly the right type of project for a jeweler's saw.  You use a technique called piercing to cut out those type of interior shapes.

I found what looks like a pretty good tutorial here, but the basics are:

Using a very fine drill bit, create a pilot hole somewhere inside of the shape that you want to cut out.  Make sure that the pilot hole is large enough that your saw blade will be able to fit through the hole.
Attach your saw blade to the handle at the bottom, but leave it unattached at the top.
Feed your saw blade through the hole in your piece of metal, and then attach it to the upper part of the saw handle.
Begin sawing towards the outer edge of the shape (in this case a letter), and once you have reached the edge, saw around the outline until you have removed all of the interior material.  In this picture, you can see her pilot hole, the straight cut to the outline of her shape, and her continued cut line around the perimeter of her shape.

One big challenge with your particular project however--jeweler's saw blades are extremely thin and easily broken. You need to be very careful not to bend them at all, but instead always keep your saw frame in basically the same orientation to your body--i.e., the blade is always facing in the same direction, and you are always sawing away from your body.  This means that you need to move the piece of metal around as you cut out a shape.  This gif illustrates how to move the metal.

It looks like the piece you want to cut may be too large to move it in this way. You might be able to follow this exact process using a really deep fret saw frame instead of a jeweler's saw frame. I have never used one, so I don't know if they can handle blades as fine as a jeweler's saw blade, but they have a much deeper frame, which might work better for a larger piece of metal like the one you show here.

Fretsaw:

Don't know what all of these saws are, but the two saws at the lower right are both jewelers saws, so you can compare the frame depth with the fret saw shown directly to the left.

EDITED TO ADD:  I completely forgot to answer the actual question about the size of the saw blade. The size of the saw blade is dependent on the narrowest area that you want to cut out.  Since none of the areas in your image are particularly fine (compared to the width of the saw blades), I would use the thickest jeweler's sawblade that you can use, to limit breakage.


Why is my metallic Sharpie drawing thinned out and transparent lines?

The thinness you are seeing is that your pen is dispensing more of the inks suspension medium than its pigment particles. The "ink" in metallic Sharpies is made up of particles suspended in a medium. It's the separation of particles from medium that is causing the "transparency" of your inked line. Over time, as the "ink" sits stationary, the heavier particles settle to the bottom and the lighter elements float to the top. Think of it as a paint can that has been sitting for a long time and needs to be stirred before use. In your case it sounds like your pen has been sitting in the same position long enough for the pigments to have separated and settled. Before using your pen try shaking it for a few minutes. The shaking with help re-mix the components and the pen will dispense the right amount of pigment suspended in medium based on the pen's design.

"Shake it like a Polaroid picture" before use.


Since it's a plastic surface mediums made for use with acrylic paints might be your answer.

There are varnishes and glazing mediums specifically made for acrylic painting.

Both mediums start out clear. By tinting the mediums you will have control over the hue and value of the covering layer.

The company Golden caries a line if varnish and glazing medium formulated for acrylic paints.

Example Polymer Varnish
http://www.goldenpaints.com/technicalinfo_polvar

Example Glazing Liquid
https://www.goldenpaints.com/technicalinfo_glazeliq

The varnish is removable. The glazing medium is not.

Whichever method you choose to pursue I would do a test coat in a small area before trying to cover the whole canvas.

Or combine this with Ji Ugug idea and apply the medium to the glass (or plexiglass) cover and you won't have to worry about harming your canvas at all.


You should be able to turn the chair over and unscrew the seat part. If the cover doesn't come off (probable), you'll need to trim the loose pieces and make patterns for each section. If you don't want wrinkles, you need to cut fabric out in the pattern of the original seat. You need to allow for seams and fold over the edge (measure the edge into the plate that screws the seat to the chair. An easier option without the pieces is to use a stretchy woven or a firm knit, but in time they will sag.
You can probably just use duct tape to attach the fabric under the seat plate.


How can I force metal sheet to rust rapidly?

The corrugated certainly looks like galvanized steel where some galvanized has corroded. You need to remove the remaining zinc . Dissolving it with hydrochloridic / muriatic acid would be fast , 10% should be strong enough.Salt water, vinegar, citric acid etc, would do it but slower. Once the zinc is gone it should rust pretty fast , a little dilute salt or acidic water spray will speed it up.


How do I cut the bottom off a glass wine bottle?

There are a few different ways to do this, but most of them involve extremes of temperature: first intense heat along the line where you want to cut the bottle, and then submerging in cold water, repeated several times if necessary.

A Song of Water and Fire

This method assumes you have a tool with which to score the glass, for instance a glass drill bit or glass cutter, both of which should be reasonably inexpensive to get hold of. First use this to mark the line along which you want to cut the bottle. Then apply heat to this line; you can do this in a couple of different ways:

by rotating the bottle slowly over an open flame, making sure the flame is directly under the score line so that it doesn't heat too broad an area of the bottle
by pouring a thin stream of boiling water onto the score line from above, again trying not to let it cover too wide an area

After heating the bottle up along the score line, dunk it in a pail of cold water (which you should have prepared beforehand). The shock of passing from heat to cold should weaken the bottle and make it likely to crack along the existing score line.

It's likely that the bottle won't break the first time you do this, but keep repeating the process multiple times (heat, cold water, heat, cold water) and eventually the bottle should snap in the right place.
String and nail polish remover

Again the basic idea is to alternate extreme heat with extreme cold, but this time you don't need to have a scoring tool because you'll be using a piece of string. You also need something containing acetone, the most commonly used example being nail polish remover.

Take a piece of string, soak it in nail polish remover (or anything else acetoney), and wrap it around the place where you want to cut the bottle. Then set the string on fire, which will apply intense heat to the narrow area on the bottle around where the string is tied. (Obviously, you need to take care that the string doesn't slip to a different position on the bottle. Even more obviosuly, make sure you don't have any of the acetone on your fingers and that the bottle of nail polish remover is placed well away from the flame.) When the flame burns out or you feel enough heat has been applied, dunk the bottle in a pail of cold water as before to provide the stress necessary to crack it.

Again, this is unlikely to work the first time, but you can keep repeating the process, either re-soaking the string to light it again or replacing it by a new piece of string if necessary.

Whichever method you use, the bottle may not snap completely cleanly, so you should use some sandpaper to smooth off the edge of the broken bottle before using it.

You can see pictures and videos of the process here and here. I'll try to add some images and hopefully gifs to this answer later on.

There's also an urban myth that you can cut glass underwater with just an ordinary pair of scissors. I'm not sure whether or not this is true, and I haven't gone to research it, simply because it wouldn't be relevant for your problem anyway. A rigid object in the shape of a hollow cylinder can't be cut with a pair of scissors whatever material it's made of; the underwater cutting, it true, would only work for flat panes of glass.


How can I remove CA glues (e.g. Super Glue) from a material?

While superglue is strong enough to seal many things, it does have an enemy: acetone. Acetone is able to break down superglue bonds.

To get the superglue off of your shoe, try and use nail polish remover (that contains acetone). Be careful though, since acetone is known to be able to dry your hands quickly though. Using this should do the trick. Just remember, take your time, and wash off all the glue and nail polish remover when you are done. As acetone dries your skin, you may want some lotion handy.

As an additional aside, pointed out by CreationEdge, this won't work effectively on plastics, which it destroys, or other materials, such as wood, that may soak up the acetone.


Looking great by the way so far!

Personally when finishing any leather edges, I find the tiniest bit of Eco-flow gum tragacanth (brand not specific but it's just the one I've used) with a quick
hand burnish with a cloth gives the best finish. Yes, it's a lot harder and you need elbow grease, but I think it's worth it. I don't usually bother with edge colouring as I feel it doesn't much improve the look of the end item...

I'd also recommend spending some time burnishing the leather by hand just in general, using a cloth and light pressure but very quick movements over the edge you want to finish. Then try with different cloths, and dampen them a little, and then try with the tragacanth.

Hope this helps! Any other questions I'll try to be sure to come back and check if this helped. :D


A kind of paper where you can pull away the top layer?

While Elmy has the right idea with masking tape, I have found that, in practice, even the gentlest painter's tape tends to tear up paper.

What you want here is temporary repositionable adhesive (glue). It's available under a variety of brand names (Aleene's Repositionable Tacky Spray, Aleene's Tack-It Over and Over, Elmer's Craftbond Repositionable Glue, 3M Spray Mount Repositionable Adhesive, etc). These glues come in a variety of forms (spray, stick, and liquid) and function much like the line of glue on the back of a Post-It note--they hold in place, and peel away easily. Because of how gentle the glue is, it's very unlikely to damage paper when pulled away.

In a project like yours, you may wish to use a stick or stick and spray combination, to ensure you get enough adhesive around the edges of the cut-out to prevent glue from bleeding underneath. Cut the paper, run the glue around the cut edge, and follow the instructions on how long to let it dry before adhering it to your heavier ground, pressing along the cut edge to ensure it's as sealed as possible before giving it to the child to paint.


What type of plaster should I choose for a block-carved plaster sculpture?

There are a variety of specialists which will stock a good range of plasters, these include sculpture and ceramics suppliers and well as those catering to industrial mould making.

The plaster used for construction is not really what you want unless you find a supplier which caters for more traditional mouldings etc.

A hard alpha plaster like CrystacalR  is very hard indeed and certainly takes some effort to carve and the various blends will give different hardnesses, setting times ect.

I would look for a general purpose casting plaster as this should be somewhere in the middle of the range of hardness anything sold as dental plaster or plaster of paris should be fine.

Ideally I would try to find a specialist supplier with a good range eg : http://www.specialplasters.co.uk/plasters.html

In all cases make sure you mix the plaster properly and with the correct quantity of water or you will get inconsistent hardness.


So assuming you want it solid and not hollow. I really think the comment Chris H made about the pre-cast acrylic rod would be a much better option financially and structurally.

If you do want to go down the route of casting however, the pipe option is one you could do with. If you ensure there's mold release all down the inside of the pipe, giving it a push at the end providing it doesn't decide to fuse with the pipe - lots of people de-mold with air guns too. However, you have to allow for the fact that when resin is curing, it heats up. So even if you make sure you buy the straightest pipe imaginable, you can still run the risk of it warping and trying to fuse with the pipe.

Heat and general casting also create the other issue - air bubbles. If this is a life size model, then you probably wont find a vaccum chamber to remove the bubbles. You Might get away with it if you have a lot of time to let the air bubbles out - like a resin that cures over a few hours, but if any remain, they will catch any light you throw up though the saber and will stick out like a sore thumb.

I cast a huge chimney before for a giant replica of the Battersea Power Station. To do this, the blank was made - originally turned by one of the woodworkers on the team, and then detailed ribbing was added. This blank was then cast in silicone rubber using a large pipe it could sit into. This also involved a plug being made too, as the top half was hollow on the inside to reduce weight. Once the silicone jacket was made, before removing the chimney, we removed it from the pipe and created a 3 part (two sides and a bottom) fiber glass jacket which could be bolted together to make sure it kept it's shape. Something that large will not stay straight on it's own. This is the kind of method I think you'd need to use if you want a smooth rod that will be straight and usable.

The other thing you need to consider is the structural integrity of the rod. A lot of clear resins would not be very shock absorbing if they're cast that long and thin. One bad smack could cause it to break at the hilt - which if you make the mold wouldn't be too bad. An Acrylic Rod would be able to stand up to a bit of abuse, and you can chose to frost it if you want to catch the light better. You can also shape the top so it has a nice dome finish like lightsabers would have.

Lastly, if it's something that's going to take a lot of abuse, no just for display etc. I would recommend getting a Ludosport saber, or at least looking into what kind of polycarbon their lightsabers are made of, as they can withstand a lot and still look rigid.

I'm sorry I know it sounds fairly negative, and I don't mean to put you off casting if that's what you want to try. I'm just trying to highlight what you're trying to cast is not normally something that would be done when there are other cheaper less time consuming options available. If you want me to go into more detail of how you could use a silicone jacket to make it I can do.


Work the cards. That would be the only way to make them seem used for a long time.

What you would want to do is learn a few ways of shuffling (ie. overhand, riffling and cascading. There are tons of examples on the web.) No need to use any fancy techniques, just basic card handling. Then just constantly work the cards until they are broken in.

It may take some time (maybe a day or two) but you can shuffle as you do other things. You just need to flex and rub the cards together for a length of time, concentrating the working of the cards over their lifetime into a few hours. That combined with the visual aging methods you describe will give the cards a used look and feel.


Your best bet would be to laminate the picture at a local print shop.  That would seal whatever has gotten onto the paper behind an impermeable barrier of clean plastic.

Barring that, you can probably get rid of most of the bacteria by exposing your drawing to ultraviolet light.  UV light is used in many industries as a disinfectant.

As for the amount of time that your picture spent on the floor, according to MythBusters, time isn't as important as it appears.


Confused on what kind of drill bit I need for my sheet metal project

You'll be fine with regular drill bits but make sure you run the drill at a fairly slow speed and cool the drill bit with a few drops of water or oil around/in the hole you're drilling.  These type of drill bits are made from something called high speed steel or HSS, which is fine for drilling steel unless it's high carbon steel (you'd know if it was).  You could also use a TCT (tungsten carbide tipped) drill bit, which has a harder tip. Don't use a diamond bit.


It might resist air humidity for a while, but I would opt for a more water resistant variant like "Outdoor Mod Podge" or "Dishwasher Safe Mod Podge".
The following information is taken from Is Mod Podge Waterproof?

Mod Podge is a craft supply made up of several ingredients, including vinyl acetate. The combination produces a product that is somewhat water resistant, but not waterproof.
If a few drops of water end up on your Mod Podge project you can wipe them away with ease. You aren’t going to ruin your craft with just a little bit of water.
Note: if water is on your Mod Podge project for an extended period of time, you might notice some clouding. Typically when you remove the water the Mod Podge will slowly dry to clear again. However, you might see some permanent cloudiness and/or rings.

As long as your artwork isn't subjected to the water stream from the shower, it should be fine. Usually in a bathroom there are times of high humidity, followed by longer times of dryer air. The normal Mod Podge might get sticky or cloudy over time (I have no experience with that), but more resistant variants should resist mist and humidity long enough until the air is dry again.


Guidance on what to look for in a paper cutter/trimmer

A finger guard
Finger guards should go along the trimmer's base. It's a safety feature that prevents your fingers from being chopped.
A Tension Spring
This prevents a guillotine paper cutter from acting like an actual guillotine. The tension spring is attached to the blade so it won't move by itself.
A Blade Latch
It holds the blade in place when you aren't using the paper guillotine. It's usually a wire that hooks over the handle. Sometimes, it's a piece of metal attached at the bottom of the handle. Now, you may ask: Why do I need this? This prevents the blade from popping up.
Watch out for the size
Consider the thickness of the paper you'll be using. Bigger ones can usually cut through a 3-inch stack of paper.
Portability
Consider whether you're going to take it to other locations; if so, make sure it's appropriate for traveling.
One tool that does both paper and mat board vs. two different cutters?
 I think that's opinion based, because it will cost more to buy two separate tools, but putting that aside:
- Economically [option 2 wins]
- The sharpness of the blade shouldn't be affected by cutting a mat board (maybe over time)
 I would recommend (if you're going to use it often) to buy only one that does the cutting you're looking for... it has to be a high-quality cutter (because I suppose you probably won't want to replace it every time something happens to it).

Source


How to identify the level of tooth a paper has?

This paper is fine for colored pencils. But its weight is maybe a bit low, so do not erase too much. Also you will probably have the grain still apparent even after several layers. But it is not necessarily a drawback, if it is the finish you want for your drawings.

To test your paper you can try to color little surfaces with different pressures, thus you will find the optimal pressure for your type of paper and colored pencils. Also you can try to layer different colors, in order to see after how many layers the paper starts to saturate.


No, it's not too hard.

For the beginner, Basswood and Butternut woods are the easiest to carve.  Don't be confused about the hardwood and softwood definitions as they aren't literal interpretations of the wood's hardness.

One source for carving woods is Heinecke Wood Products - https://www.heineckewood.com/

The Sculpture Studio has a list of some of the woods commonly used:

http://www.thesculpturestudio.com/typesOfWood.html

Metal is harder than all of the woods, but some wood is harder to cut than others due to the density, grain, and water content.

Sharpening knives

There are a lot of videos about sharpening knives out there.

Bottom line, start coarse and graduate to finer and finer grits.  At the end, stropping is the finest of the grits.

To strop, mount a piece of leather to a small board.  Rub a buffing compound into the leather and then pull the blade across it, backward so as to be actually honing the blade.  Besides the sharpening procedure, one of the keys to sharpening lies in the type of metal used to make the knife.

Cheap metal blades do not hold their edges very long and must be continually resharpened.

Good metal blades will require less sharpening and don't require such time consuming maintenance.  So choose knives carefully.

When stropping, the surface of the blade is being polished repeatedly.  This decreases the drag of the metal across the surface of the wood.

Up close, knife edges are really uneven and full of gaps and voids.  The goal in sharpening is to minimize them and create a smooth, even finish.

Longevity of the wood

Longevity of the wood depends on the environment it lives in.  Outdoor pieces will weather and be exposed to harsher, more extreme fluctuations which will cause cracking and checking.  Outdoor pieces should be coated with a UV and moisture resistant finish specifically designed for the exposure.

Safety

Do not overlook the need for a thumb guard and carving glove.  These items are truly essential.  A properly sharpened carving knife will cut, gouge, slice, poke, stab, impale, and hurt the carver.  Think about a leather apron which may prevent a cut to the legs and chest while carving in the lap.  The femoral artery is exposed on the inner thigh area and is easily cut without some form of protection.

Further reading

Great references for carving include
 Gene Messer - https://www.youtube.com/user/whittler0507
 Doug Outside (channel) - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-eOXKXJ2GQ1gewivwNxYKQ
 Kevin Coates - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHIwp6WJZdGvySIdpmxq5Yw

Happy Carving !


What type of paint should I use to decorate a kitchen appliance?

There are special paints for plastic. If there is nothing in the colour you want, you may use plastic paint as primer/undercoat and use acrylic paint on top of that.
Be aware that plastic has a very smooth surface, so you have to sand it first in order to give the paint some texture to hold.
You may also want to apply a layer of lacquer as a finish, for extra durability.


How long to dry juniper before working with it?

Usually you should let green wood dry for 2 years before carving objects out of them or using it to build something. Depending on the local climate, the size of the wood block (or tree) and how you dry it, the time may shorten to several months or extend to 5 years.

Wood shrinks and warps as it dries. If you cut or carve it green, the size will be different once it's dry. If one side dries quicker than the other, the object will warp and deform.
Wood rips along the grain as it dries. If you cut planks or disks out of green wood, they may rip and break (due to the shrinking and warping). If you carve an object out of green wood, delicate pats may break off.
The moisture makes green wood harder to carve. You need more force and may end up with mistakes.

But if you have branch or stem and want to make it into a walking stick, such a long wait won't be nessecary. First remove the bark and let it dry for a few days. Add ornaments only after the surface feels dry or you'll end up with splinters.


How to make tree leaves suitable for origami?

Try a sewing store.  Ask for lightweight fusible interfacing.  This is a lightweight nonwoven textile generally used to,provide body between two layers of fabric (like in a shirt collar).  Iron it onto a leaf and see what happens. Buy enough to experiment and make some mistakes.

I've fused silk onto the back of patterned origami paper with good results, but the leaf will be tricky as it dries out.


How can I clean a tortillon/blending stump and still keep its point intact?

Using sandpaper and then tidying up with craft knife is the generally accepted way of cleaning tortillon. However, it's possible that you might be using sandpaper with a low grit level (under 120) for too long. This would be almost ripping the material.

I start with a 100 grit sandpaper to get rid of the graphite\charcoal staining, then use a craft knife to clean up the really rough bits and shape. Finally I use a 180 grit, or greater, sandpaper to smooth out. I find it much easier to have the sandpaper on the work surface and move the tortillon on the sandpaper. It provides much better control and helps maintain the shape.

A really good tip is to get yourself a pack of double sided emery boards (nail file boards).

You can get boards with 100 grit on one side & 180 grit on the other in most pharmacies, supermarkets, and online shops.


Why can't you tool chrome-tanned leather?

So, I did some research, and although I never found anything that specifically said "This is why you shouldn't tool chrome-tanned leather," the information that I did find suggests a reason.

Lots of resources describe the difference between chrome- and vegetable-tanning.  I think this quote (from the GoldBark Leather site) summarizes things pretty well:

  There’s a lot that goes into each of these tanning processes. What’s important to know is that one uses vegetal oils (from tree bark) to tan and another uses chemicals (chromium) to tan it. Vegetal tanned leather, generally referred to as veg tan, takes a longer amount of time to create, is considered higher quality, and therefore costs more. Chrome tanned leather has a quicker turn around time and therefore costs less.

  The end product of these two processes are drastically different. Veg tan is generally thicker, more firm, and more durable. It’s the kind of leather you see in a nice pair of leather shoes. Chrome tanned is thin, very stretchy, and less durable. It’s the kind of leather that you see in a car that has a leather interior.

The Carryology site also has some interesting information about the actual chemical processes and how they differ. It explains that in vegetable tanning, tannin molecules displace the water molecules that are bound into the collagen within the leather. In chrome-tanning, chrome molecules replace the water molecules within the collagen. It goes on to explain:

  chrome ions displacing the water and binding with the collagen are much smaller than vegetable tanning molecules. This generally makes chrome tanned leather thinner and softer than vegetable tanned leather.

Because I don't know anything about tooling leather, I did some searching about that process, and ran across some good information on this forum posting. From the fourth entry:

  You simply can't tool, carve, or stamp Latigo or oil softened leather
  like you tried to use.

  You need to start with Vegetable Tanned Tooling Leather. It's almost
  white, and almost hard when you buy it.

  Then wet it damp, but not soaking wet. Then wrap it in a towel and let
  it set for an hour or so to 'case' it. That allows the moisture to
  work through the leather fibers and prepare it for tooling.

  Once it reaches damp, but not dry enough to turn light color again.
  You can carve & stamp it to your hearts content. It takes tooling,
  molding, and shaping around a gun almost like modeling clay!

  Then once dry and oiled, it will retaing the stamping & shaping
  forever.

  Avoid belly and leg cuts as it is soft & stretchy and will not retain
  its shape.

Once I read this information, it seems obvious why chrome-tanned leather won't work well.  Chrome-tanning reduces exactly those elements that make a piece of leather appropriate for tooling--thickness and stiffness.


How can I trace a pattern from a top with darts?

If the dress is ready for replacement, you can remove the seams. You don't have to remove all of them, just the ones so the fabric can be layed down flat. I wouldn't recommend removing seams if you still want to wear the dress.

Another option is measuring: draw the pieces of your dress on paper as good as you can. Cut them out. Then put on your dress and see if the pieces you've cut out of paper, cover your dress. If you've done well, you'll also have the dart on the right place. When the doesn't fit correctly yet, cut off what's too large and add paper where your pattern is too smal. You can just attach a strip of paper with some tape, no need to redo the whole piece.

If all else fails, you could try to find a pre-made pattern that resembles your dress, and maybe adjust some parts (e.g. length, neckline).