A return to form

I felt creative today! I've been wearing the hair clip I made in Tiresome several times since, and felt motivated to make some more in different colors, given my fondness for coordination. I ripped apart some zips for this effort and was feeling quite pleased with myself, until I ruined it with poor glue gun control. I'll wear it nonetheless. Who says perfect is always best?

I kicked it old school with a manual needle and thread next, and persuaded this stretchy lace ribbon to form a rosette. I held my gun steady as I attached the center piece this time.

Getting back to electronica, I then experimented with making rosettes using my sewing machine. The method I used above - doing wide running stitches before pulling the thread tight, forcing the ribbon to curve in on itself, didn't work as well with the machine. It did to some extent, but only for an inch or two from each edge. So then I tried the method I used with the zip - continually stopping and folding the material underneath, as I stitched. The effect is different, but not bad. I used turquoise thread only because I couldn't be bothered to change the thread in the machine, but it looks ok with the red rosette. This is a pin/brooch, instead of a hair clip.

I had some fabric pinwheels lying around since this post, and I think small ones lend themselves quite well to hair clips. Eventually I will get around to making some more in different color combinations.

Does anyone out there have good ideas for black shrinky dink? This shrinkable plastic has featured on my blog quite a bit, but typically the white and frosted versions, which you can draw on. I have a few sheets of black left over - you can't draw on it, and I find it quite hard to cut the stuff very smoothly or accurately with either scissors or a blade. As I try to curve gracefully around a corner, I find it tends to 'crack' and break along some random line. Very irritating. I'd love if I could do some really big piece - like a big bat necklace made by shrinking down an A4 size cut out - but in my experience big pieces have a tendency of folding in on themselves and getting stuck in the oven. Any ideas? I was messing around with it earlier in the week, cutting out circles and squares, punching holes in them, with the idea of using them as spacers in necklaces. Like below.

Have a lovely week everyone.