Thursday, July 1, 2010
Op Shop Adventure.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Look What I Found...
Monday, June 21, 2010
My new skirt and other things.
Step 1, measure your waist and add 3cm to allow for a 1.5ch seam.
Step 2, cut thick elastic to the waist+3cm length.
Step 3, measure length of elastic when fully stretched (not including the 3cm of seam allowance).
Step 4, measure and cut a length of fabric to the same length as the stretched elastic and add 3cm for seam allowance.
Step 5, sew the raw edges of the elastic together, good sides facing each other, (remember 1.5cm seam allowance). This will form the waist band.
Step 6, sew raw edges of the fabric together, good sides facing each other, (remember 1.5ch seam allowance) and press (iron) the seam flat.
Step 7, fold fabric in half horizontally to make a double layered doughnut shape keeping the seam on the inside.
Step 8, line up the seam of the elastic and the seam of your fabric and pin together.
Step 9, it is now time to sew the fabric into the waist band, stretching the elastic as you go. This will need some strong fingers depending how tough your elastic is.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
National Alpaca Day 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Conceptual Statement for Second Half of the Semester.
A type of desk that often gets overlooked is the child's desk. Where "work" (getting a task done, including learning)is usually the centre theme for an adults desk, to a child play is as serious and important as the "work" of an adult. While adults usually limit what they do to separate areas( a space for writing/computer work, another for reading, another for creative pursuits), the child often does not have this luxury of space. For the child many activities will take place in the same space/desk. I want to explore this limited space dilemma to see if I can create a space that caters for all of a child's play/work needs.
As well as wood I want to look at other materials for construction. The guys at Nothing managed to create an entire two levelled office from cardboard. Shows almost anything is possible.
Rapid design project for Uni.
(Click on any image to view it at full size)
Here are some other ideas I was considering for my rapid design.
Storage box – mobile desk. For work on the move. It is true that most people now use laptops but not all people prefer or want a laptop. There are some instances where pen and paper are still a must. Not to say that people with laptops couldn't use a mobile desk. On the contrary, laptops can be more comfortable when you have a surface to place them on and kept safe with a solid shell around them.
-a writing/drawing box, a place for pens and paper (envelopes, rulers, and so on), as well as a flat surface to work on. As in the 3rd Storage box image, the box also gives a straight edge which to align you T-square (useful when you are hot-desking and desk quality can not be assured.)
-a mobile desk, wheels to help transportation, storage and maybe even a chair contained within.
But, at the maximum it would have to be able to fit in the boot of a small car. For example, no bigger than your average sized suitcase.
The concept started with the desire to have a place to nap between uni classes. The original design started with a hammock like net that is hung long-ways under the large tables at university. Held in place by pockets that slip over opposite ends of the table. Not only could it be used for a quick nap but also as storage.
The second design focuses mainly on storage (although I'm sure if one made it big and strong enough, a person could curl up inside it). They have a loop at the top so they can hang where ever there is a hook.
From the second design I shrunk the concept so they could be hooked over the back of a chair. Handy for keeping bulky items off the floor (hand bags, drink bottles, bike helmets and such).
Any of these designs could be made from either netting or a solid fabric.
Waste Paper Bin - In studio only having one or two large bins per level means bins are never close at hand and this leads to messy desks and studio spaces. This concept will tackle the need for temporary rubbish bins (specifically paper waste bins). I want to look at temporary bins because of the nature of the studio space, one moment you are working the next everything needs to be cleared for presentations.
The use of recycled materials is also important. We do not need to make more rubbish just to dispose of our waste. Discarded newspaper would be ideal for this as it is readily available and quite strong.
The Paper Waste Bin Maker.
The Paper Waste Bin Maker is a mould that is used to create paper waste bins out of a single sheet of large newspaper. It can be made by anyone out of easy to obtain recycled materials (a large can, a slightly smaller can and a knob) and some easy to use epoxy. The Paper Waste Bin Maker was inspired by a design supplied by Suntec called The Paper Planter Maker. This product is a mould that enables the user to make paper planters for seedlings out of stripes of 8 by 21cm newspaper. I wanted to take this concept and adjust it to form disposable, recyclable waste-paper bins.
Construction.
First to test the idea of using a mould to make paper waste bins I used two buckets for the same brand and size. I wrapped the outside of one bucket in two sheets of partially overlapped newspaper and wrapped the excess under the bucket. I then took this (bucket and paper) and placed it inside the second bucket as to create a mould to compact all the newspaper. This model in principal worked, it did create a form that would hold waste but overall it failed as it is difficult to use and flimsy. Firstly the buckets were too big for the size of newspaper. Secondly the walls of the buckets were at an angel so it was difficult to wrap the paper around them and thirdly there was no compartment for the paper at the base to be moulded into making the base uneven and unsteady.
Taking into account my test with the buckets I could now see why the creators of the The Paper Planter Maker had made it as they had, the strait walls, the base unit to press the paper into a solid base, but there were three main components that I had to change. The original handle is difficult to keep a grip on, the smooth walls where the newspaper is wrapped create a vacuum when trying to remove the planter and the overall size is far to small to be used as a bin.
So after figuring out what needed changing I had to consider materiality. My first thought was to copy the original planter maker and make it from wood but then it occurred to me that it would be too heavy given its new size. Next PVC pipe but that would be too expensive along with metal pipe. Then maybe ceramic pots but those are also heavy, expensive and fragile not to mention that all ideas so far were using new materials and did not fit my criteria of being recycled. So what about cardboard tubes. A plausible material but quite difficult to get your hands on ones that are the right size as well as being surpassingly heavy. Then we come to tin cans, cheap if not free and extremely light.
I had originally intended to make the mould with a base unit for compressing the newspaper at the bottom of the bin but once I had constructed the main component of the mould I found that it worked perfectly well by just pressing the newspaper with your hand.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Yay Holidays!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Canel's Chewing Gum.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Lemon Curd.
b, don't use a varnish, it will go yellow and look like nicotine stain,
c, watch out and stay away from paints that make the floor slippery.
(I say mine but really my sister makes it and I eat it)
(makes 48)
150 ml lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup (125 g) sugar
100 g butter, diced
4 sheets ready-made shortcrust pastry (24 cm x 24 cm)
2 tablespoons icing sugar
-Whisk together the lemon juice, zest, egg yolks and sugar, then cook in a saucepan or until the sugar has dissolved.
-Gradually add the butter, stirring continuously, and cook for 10 minutes, or until think.
-Remove from the heat and cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming.
-Refrigerate until needed.
(the curd should last up to 2 days)
-Preheat the oven to moderate 108 degrees (350F/ Gas 4) and lightly grease 24 x 3 tartlet tins.
-Cut 48 rounds from the pastry with a 5 cm cutter and line the tins with half of them.
-Lay the other rounds on a lined baking tray, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Bake the cases for 12 - 15 minutes, or until golden.
-Allow to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining rounds.
(I would suggest only making half of the tart bases and using the rest of the curd for other yummy adventures like on pancakes, cake even toast)
When cool, dust each tartlet with icing sugar and spoon 1 teaspoon curd into each tartlet base. Don't assemble too far in advance or else the base could go soft. To prevent the bases going soft you could paint melted chocolate on the inside of the cases.