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Craft Hobbies!
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I can’t find a thread that addresses craft hobbies, so I’ll start one I guess.
The reason I was looking was to ask if anyone quilts and, if so, is it hard to get into? I cannot knit or crochet and I’d like to do something crafty with my time, since I’m home all the time. I’ve looked at a few YouTube videos, as well, but would like to hear from someone with experience.
Also… any other hobbies that might be interesting to take up and learn. I don’t have a lot of money, but I can work around that.
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I like to take shitty furniture and add shitty paint to it.
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I found quilting a little complicated though I know lots of people who love it. I am a super impatient sewer, either by hand or machine. I also can’t knit or crochet–I have many lovely and patient people try to teach me and I end up feeling like I want to stab myself and them and everything around us to put me out of my misery. Same thing with cross stitch and embroidery. It was kind of expected culturally for me to learn at least a little bit about the sewing and embroidery, so I can do it, it just isn’t relaxing for me like it is for friends!
My youngest (who had just completed 1st grade) and I learned how to felt last summer, and that is the first fiber art that I’ve been able to actually enjoy. Maybe because it is actually okay to stab something formless and eventually you can make a cute animal or a felted picture or something. I’m not sure why it did not trigger my restlessness, but it didn’t. It’s also relatively inexpensive, or was. Especially after you get the hang of the technique so you’re not breaking needles all the time. And even if you don’t have mad skills, there are cute things that you can make even as a beginner (though advanced work is pretty amazing)
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@junipersky said in Craft Hobbies!:
I like to take shitty furniture and add shitty paint to it.
That is so unshitty. My daughters do this and they come up with some amazing… shit. I love this hobby. I wish I could indulge.
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In another life. When I had the tools, the supplies, and most importantly, the money, I used to make combat ready leather armor.
This was the set that I wore to most tournaments and grand melee.
It’s old because it’s been in storage for years when I was digging through stuff for my wedding recently. I noted the amount of corrosion on the rivets and the layer of film that leather gets when it’s left untreated in dry environments. I really should do some work to make it presentable again. It’s just hard to get back to. A lot of memories wrapped up in that.
I don't know what I'm doing. Poke at Seven Nations sevennations.aresmush.com port 2021
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@RedJellyBean said in Craft Hobbies!:
The reason I was looking was to ask if anyone quilts and, if so, is it hard to get into?
I think it depends on the sort of quilting you want to do and how patient you are. I am a sometimes quilter. I love quilts and everything about quilts. However, quilting takes time. You need to measure and sew your pieces together and put them in a pretty pretty pattern that you than smoosh together between layers and sew all together.
The cutting and measuring and sewing takes time. And if you are someone who doesn’t sew a lot, like me, the sewing part can sometimes take a lot more time if you somehow get the thread tension messed up. But sewing is like any skill. With practice comes skill and knowledge and tips and tricks to make it an easier experience for you.
If you want to quilt, and don’t own a sewing machine to do so yourself, my best suggestion would be to see if you can borrow a machine and start with a small sewing project to see how you might like that first. Machines are pretty expensive (ranging from $200 and up) for a one time project.
Take this advice as a grain of salt from someone who wants to do all the things and owns a quilting machine, but barely quilts at all because while I love quilts, I discovered I don’t love making them or sewing them together. LOL. I’ll still probably make more, in time because I get the itch to do something - just… I don’t love it.
My last project was this pillow, which I did 3 weeks ago after not looking at my machine for 5 years - which might look easy to do, but it took me 6 tries to get the bottom sewn correctly which took about 6 hours of time after all of the ripping of stitches and putting them together; I literally pulled the bottom open about 6 times before I got it right. My skills are still pretty basic, but I was pretty proud when I did finally get it finished!
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I make chainmaille. Shinies for daaaays. Stuffies, hacky sacks, fetish clothes, naughty toys, hilarious things like my vajayjay and penis pendants. It keeps me somewhat out of (or in?) trouble.
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This is super cool!
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@Nynrose That helps a lot, actually. And the pillow is pretty! I really like the pattern on the material.
I live next door to my parents and my mom has a really good sewing machine, so I could use that. I’d have to do it at their house, anyhow, since I have no room in my tiny apartment.
I’ll take the advice and try something small, first. Thank you!
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@RedJellyBean I do not quilt, but as an FYI, there are places that will do part of the work for you. If the only part of quilting you end up enjoying is the part where you design and sew the pretty patterned bits, you can send them your quilt top and they will do the assembly part with the layers and the final sewing for you.
I know this because Philadelphia is actually not that far from Lancaster County, which is hardcore Amish/Mennonite country, and basically quilt central for the East Coast. Like, there is literally a surprising amount of quilt-related tourism within an hour or two of my house, which I did not even realize was a thing until a few years ago. I actually bought my MIL one for Christmas last year, though unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it.
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@RedJellyBean you might want to check out the english paper piecing method of quilting; it’s portable, great for small projects and you don’t need a sewing machine.
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My main craft-based hobby these days is bobbin lace. Other than that, I crochet and I can knit if I have to. I used to make chainmail, and one of these fine days I’ll start making some YouTube videos on that. Embroidery and cross-stitch I’ve done, and dressmaking, and candlemaking; I tried quilting long ago and will do it again at some point, but probably not with a sewing machine.
@Testament That leatherwork is gorgeous.
