Panama Concrete wall blocks, the patterns therein

Recently I enjoyed visiting Panama. I noticed that their concrete divider walls and windows had more variety of patterns than I find in my part of the world. I sketched as many different ones as I could when I was there.  I used Paper 53 as my notepad. Then for this composite image I used Photoshop Touch on the iPad. These patterns might end up in future soap caddy bags. also here.

Hey I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog, but I moderate comments because it seems like most of the comments I have been getting are linkback spam.  That is, the comment doesn't seem to have anything to do with the blog post, just general flattery, or something to do with a key word in the most general way, and the purpose of the comment is to generate traffic for their own website. That's fine with me as long as it's a legit comment. 

Hanging Soap Box design

I have been thinking lately about how to make soap totes for thicker soap bars and shampoo bars.  This because I have been thinking that perhaps the soap tote needs to be sold along with a shampoo bar, making the combination a slam dunk for gift giving and travel.  And shampoo bars are made thicker in their shapes, I am observing. I'm even looking into shampoo bar recipes to make and sell along with the soap tote.

One of my early Soap Tote designs was a boxy shape. I have decided to revisit that design, and I'm nearing completion of that task.  I used the tips in this tutorial to get the box corners instead of sewing a bunch of pieces together like I did before.

It will feature a boxy shape for both the upper part of the bag and for the drying mesh. As you can see in the photo, the mesh bag is held in an open position, which makes it easier to drop the soap into after use.  I'm happy with the proportions and I'm ready to start producing these for sale.

Motorcycle Cover Finished

This turned out to be a major challenge, mainly due to the weight of all the tarp once the pieces got sewn together. I had to plan every seam.  I put extra tables in place to support the tarps as I sewed. At times the entire piece rested on my left shoulder as I sewed. I used clothespins to hold the segments together. Alas, I don't have any pictures of the construction process, as they were all deleted by a family member to celebrate a new camera.

The cover itself was not an exact match, as I didn't have a picture of the cruiser bike. The back of the seat is a little more forward than I envisioned. Nevertheless, the basic measurements my wonderful client supplied were just right, and the cover fit the bike!

I also put a drawstring in the bottom seam, but I think that the tarp is a bit too thick to tighten with a draw string.

I also lined the tarp with flannel sheeting, glued in place with Vynabond. The flannel lining is so that it does not scratch the bike. If I were to do it again I'd only put flannel in places where the tarp touched the bike.


I was also scared the whole way through! However, I knew enough about drafting patterns and working the material to know that I could accomplish it. I just hadn't implemented it. It was a good mental exercise to fight those fears and get the job done.

By serendipity, the word "Winter" is visible on the side of the motorcycle cover. Bonus!

Say, if you have read this far and enjoy this blog, would you do me the favour of posting a comment? It gets quite lonely in blogger land if one thinks no one is reading. A comment is good to keep one interested in the topic and eager to continue. Thanks.

Motorcycle Cover

I have a fabulous client, Sarah, who wants to give her husband a motorcycle cover for his cruiser-style motorbike.

A while ago, I would have said this kind of thing is not possible because vinyl covers for boats, barbeques and motorcycle covers typically have a fabric lining underneath.

But this time, I thought that if I could successfully glue some fabric onto the underside, then recycled billboards could be used without scratching or sticking to the item that they are covering.

I did an experiment where I glued an old T-shirt to a section of tarp with Vynabond. It adhered well, so now I am going ahead with the design.

I asked my client for some measurements so I could get the geometry of the cover. I used TouchDraw on the iPad to make a scale model.  With this scale model I can easily determine the length of the outside edge and the angles over the handlebars and seatrest.  (The picture doesn't show the actual model of the client's motorbike, I just put it in for reference.)

I'm going to use some flannel sheets for the fabric lining.

Prototyping

I have been prototyping lately for a potential client. So I made this apron. It has the benefit of being reversible, since the ties are encased within the seam allowance.  I don't know if the job will actually go forward at this point, as I don't control the decision-making, but I enjoyed the process of putting my own stamp on an apron design, and putting forward some good work.  It took three iterations to get to this point.  The picture shows the back side of a frontlit tarp. It is blackened to prevent show-through.

I learned that thinner billboards -- front lit tarps -- work better than the thicker backlit tarps. The backlit ones are so robust and are better suited for things like wallets.

I added an iPod pocket so the chef can listen to tunes while cooking. But of course the pocket could be any size.

This apron uses 1" twill tape, which has tooth in it so it will stay tied. I was glad of previous experiments in working with various edging materials so I knew that the twill tape would be suitable.

I did a back stitch to reinforce the attachment point of the twill tape.

Card slot wallet

Here's another 12-slot folding wallet. Here you can see the pieces as they are now. I make notches so that the slots will align perfectly.  Also so that I can get the upper thread, which is more attractive, onto the outside of the wallet. You can see on this wallet there's one seam that's a bobbin seam, not so attractive.

The other thing that occurred to me is that I can put card slots into other jobs that have extra space. So I can accumulate a bunch of slots in different colors as I am doing other jobs.

Trifold, 12-slot wallet

 This is a prototype for a 12-slot wallet for my iPad art buddy Susan Murtaugh. I have devised a construction method to make the slots line up in perfect parallel configuration. I'm not satisfied with the appearance of the thread in the bobbin. Perhaps the tension or the thread itself needs adjustment. I tried covering up the threads with some adhesive-backed vinyl, but I don't think that's going to work.

What I like about the cut file for this particular design is that it fits nicely on my 12X24" cutting surface.

I'm going to tweak the cut file design so that I can put the good looking threads onto the outside. The industrial machine I have sews nicely, but I need to drive it some more to get used to it, as it, being an industrial machine, is designed to sew very fast.

Update: I change the title of this post to trifold wallet, because that's how they are known in the industry. Even though there are only two folds! 

Floral Necklace Prototype

Here's the first cut of a prototype floral necklace, cut on a scrap piece of vinyl tarp. I'm trying to see how small or fine of cuts I can make. I like how this first one turned out. I plan to finish them off with a chain that goes around the back of the neck and closes there.

Here's the discussion of how I did it for those who are interested: In Illustrator I started with a basic oval shape, and an inner shape to make a compound path. (Two ovals; Object, Compound path, Make). To make ovals with veins I overlapped ovals and used the divide tool, erasing extraneous parts. Then the parts were recombined piece by piece to make a petal with veins. Then I copied and rotated the ovals 72 degrees each time until I had 5 petals. I used the combine tool to finish the flower. I used blends (specified steps) to generate different sizes and copied enough shapes to fill in the design area of the necklace. Once the shapes were placed right they were combined. The too-tiny-to-cut shapes were deleted using the Direct Selection tool. Finally, I highlighted the whole shooting match and uncompounded the path to make the different cutting layers.

In Sure Cuts a lot I have a layer of inner cuts and an outer cut layer. The inner cuts get cut first so the work does not slide around on the Cricut Expressions cutting board.

Soap Tote refinement

I'm busy refining the design of my Soap Tote. Hey! how did that coupon wallet get in the shot?