All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations Part 3

 All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations Part 3

This is a nice quick blog. Adding Cogs.

Add Cut out Cogs

 

I started to Glue the Cut out Cogs to the Hat. I had made quite a few of them now and of different Sizes. For some reason the Base Covering had left a lot of Glue Residue. I wanted to Cover as much of this as possible.

Add Cogs other Side

 

Once I had added a Bottom Layer of Cogs one Side I turned the Hat around and carried on adding.

Add Metal Centre

 

The Black Cog Shapes were only the Silhouette. To give them a proper Cog look I Glued a Metal Washer to the Centre of Each Cog Shape.

Front Right

 

After doing the Bottom Layer I started to fill in the Gaps with more Cogs. 

Front Left

 

When I was satisfied with one Side I moved on to the other. 

Top Cogs

I had used up all the Cogs I had made so I had to make some more before I could add to the Top. I also had to add a few more to the Back of the Hat.

All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations Part 2

 All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations Part 2

Since there was a great deal of Preparation I am going to try and get it in some sort of order. Ideally one blog on Preparation and the next one on what I did with it.

Chalk Circles

 

I started with my usual find something Round and Chalk a Circle around it.

Cut out Circles

 

I Drew and Cut out 4 Circles to begin with. This is because I needed to work out what I needed to do.

Half Moon

 

First of all I decided to Fold the Circle into a Half Moon Shape.

Cheese Triangle

 

I then Folded the Half Moon into what I thought looked rather like the Cheese Triangles you buy in shops. I Snipped off the Corners either side of the Pin at an Angle.

Double Snip

I unfolded the Cheese Triangle and got the Shape above. It was a start.

Middle Snip

 

I Refolded into the Triangle Shape. This time I Snipped out a Triangle in the Middle. I then opened it up and Refolded along the opposite Fold. Then I Snipped another Triangle out.

(Please note that the pictures may show slightly different stages due to some photographs not coming out properly.)

Original Cog

 

I had now done all the Snipping out. However I wasn’t entirely happy with it. I decided to try another tack.

Square Cut

 

This time instead of Snipping at an Angle I made a Square Cut.

Square Snip

 

I then went on to the next part and Snipped a Square-ish Shape out of the Middle.

Cog Corrections

 

This time I got what I wanted. A lovely crisp Cog Shape. Looking at the above photograph you can see all the different attempts that it took me to get it Perfect.

All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations

 All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations

Why do I do these things to myself? The Belt was pretty easy compared to what I have to do next.

Steampunk Hat Base

 

I had several Ideas regarding how to make the Hat including using card and Foam. However I decided it was far too much to accomplish in the given time just to get the Base.

I therefore went on a Hat Hunting expedition and found what apparently is called a Pork Pie Hat for £1 in a charity shop.

Pool of Glue

 

Once again I raided Laura’s for both decorations and advice. The latter I promptly ignored. She thought the material was fine as it was saying it looked like leather even though it was plastic she made me laugh by calling it ‘Pleather’.

However I couldn’t abide it as it was so remembering she said that Steampunk was an expression of oneself I decided that I wouldn’t be true to myself if I didn’t cover it. Sorry Laura but you cannot alter a habit of 40 years that easily.

Cotton Cover

So after filling the Top part of the Hat with Glue I covered it with Black Cotton material and smoothed it down. I wanted to keep the Top Shape if I could.

Glue Beneath

 

It took a while for the Top to dry but once it had I spread the rest of the Hat with Glue. I then Covered it as best I could.

Fold Under

 

When selecting the material I cut a large piece so there would be enough to Fold Under the Hat.

Beneath Covered

 

The Front of the Hat was now Covered.

Wrap around

In order to do the Sides of the Hat I had to pull the material taut and do a little bit of Folding. I cut off the Excess and smoothed it down. I now had a fully Covered Hat Base.

All Steam Ahead 2021 – Belt Up Part 3

 All Steam Ahead 2021 – Belt Up Part 3

On to the Final Stage of Embellishing the Belt. If you ever want to confuse a Bicycle shopkeeper go and ask them for a Bicycle Chain and then try it on for size.

In Spirit

 

Another Tip from Lovely Laura of https://www.alyssa-rose.co.uk/ It is not often you want to take Oil off a Bicycle Chain but if you do use White Spirit or Turps. After leaving it overnight then wiping it down with some baby wipes it came out a brilliant Silver Colour.

Superglue Chain

 

I knew what kind of Pattern I was going for and if you look at the Photograph above you can see that I am placing the Chain Over one Hole and Under the next.

Be careful when using Superglue. Don’t do what I did and Squeeze the tube too hard and end up Gluing your fingers together. It might be worth having some Nail Varnish Remover on standby.

Chain Glued

 

I carried on Supergluing the Chain along the Belt. I didn’t go right to the end otherwise it wouldn’t have gone through the Buckle.

Copper Wire

 

Now I can do many things but Reverse the pull of Gravity isn’t one of them. The Belt was now extremely Heavy and I wasn’t sure that the Superglue alone would hold it.

Therefore I pushed Copper Wire through the Holes and Tied around the Chain for extra Strength.

Inner Belt

 

As you can see from the above photograph the Copper Wire is holding the Chain in place at both the Top and the Bottom.

Steel and Copper Complete

 

The Belt is now complete. There is even a little bit of the Chain dangling where you can Hook something on. Since the weather is warm I am going to hang a Fan from it.

All Steam Ahead 2021 – Belt Up Part 2

 All Steam Ahead 2021 – Belt Up Part 2

Now I have my Belt the correct Colour I have to tackle my next problem.

Measure Up

 

There are only a few Holes in the Belt. However for what I have in mind I need Holes all the way around. As I do not have a tool for making Belt Holes I have had to Improvise.

My friend Laura suggested using a Dremel but after trying that I changed to a Hook. I used the Ruler to get the Holes evenly spaced.

Fold Back

 

Well that didn’t work out to well! It was so tough to get through and not only that I didn’t seem to be getting the Holes even.

On top of everything else when I looked closer I saw that the Holes already in the Belt weren’t actually round they were more Oval in Shape. I had to rethink.

Scratch and Snip

 

I decided to Fold the Belt over until the Holes matched up. I then Scratched the Shape by using a pair of Scissors. I then Unfolded the Belt.

Using the Scratched Shape as a guide I then Pushed the Scissors through. I carried on doing this back and forth until I had a decent sized Hole. Once the Hole was large enough I had to trip the Back so it was nice and neat.

All Steam Ahead 2021 – Belt Up Part 1

 All Steam Ahead 2021 – Belt Up Part 1

This is following on from my Out of Zone Series. I had my Mask and Jewellery but now I came up with another daft last minute idea. – A Belt and Hat.

I would like to point out to any Purists that this is not supposed to be Steam Punk but like my previous efforts it is Steam Punk Esque

Brown Belt

 

First I needed a Belt that I could Embellish. My boyfriend had bought a pair of jeans but he didn’t like the Belt. So hey presto one Belt ready to be Upcycled.

Permanent Marker

 

There was a slight snag. This Belt was Brown and I needed it to be Black. Using a Tip I got from my friend Laura I decided to colour it in using a Permanent Black Marker Pen.

I started Colouring the Belt. It was coming up pretty good. I then realised that doing the Front was not enough because when Fastened the Belt would Dangle and show the Back.

Black Belt

 

It took several Colourings until I was satisfied that the Belt was completely Covered both Back and Front. I nearly forgot to do the Buckle area.

One tip when doing this sort of thing. Make sure that you put it on some paper or cardboard before Colouring in. Otherwise you will have to try and shift Permanent Marker off your surfaces.

Pyramid Power 2021 Part 2

 Pyramid Power 2021 Part 2

I was finding Cutting these Matchsticks very Time Consuming.

Clever Clippers

 

I remembered a Tip whilst I had been doing some Researching on the Internet. One suggest was to Clip Matchsticks with a pair of Nail Clippers.

Due to lack of Instructions I had decided what I was calling the Base would actually be the final Top part of the overall Pyramid. I would have to work out how to do the Hollow part later.

First Layer

I found using the Nail Clippers made things a little better and was soon ready to add my First Layer to the Base. In order to strengthen it I decided to put the Matchsticks the Opposite Direction.

It wasn’t just the Length of the Matchsticks that had been giving me problems. If you look at the above photograph you can see that many of them were Warped. This meant they didn’t lay snuggly together.

Two Short Planks

 

After the First Layer was dry I began to Add the Second. However this Time I was one Matchstick Minus at either End.

Pyramid Steps

 

I continued to Add a Layer at a time. Each Layer was 2 Matchsticks Fewer than the Previous Layer. Not only that I was Clipping the Matchsticks I was Adding Shorter each time.

 

Poly Cement

I was finding the Sticking very hard work. Half the time the Matchsticks were coming off again in my hand. Not only that the whole thing seemed extremely Brittle.

Since this part of the Pyramid was going to be the Top I was going to need something far better than the PVC Glue I had been using for the Main Structure. I decided to seek professional advice from Heaps our local Art shop. He recommended Poly Cement.

Pyramid Power 2021 Part 1

Pyramid Power 2021 Part 1

This project started as a Joke. During Lip Reading class we had to pretend we were making a Building out of Matchsticks. As a Joke the tutor said we could while off for two weeks build whatever we had thought of.

A splendid notion. I am always up for a New Challenge. I don’t think I have ever made anything out of Matchsticks before. Certainly not as an adult anyway. So off I go and get some Matchsticks.

 New Challenge

 

Obviously the Instructions didn’t include making Pyramids. I did try and Google Making Pyramids but they didn’t have what I wanted. Naturally I always do things the hard way and what I wanted wasn’t just a Pyramid which was difficult enough. I wanted a Hollow Pyramid!

Counting Matchsticks

 

It didn’t say how many Matchsticks were in the bag so I thought it would be a good idea to count them. That way I would know how many I am using up.

Beginning Base

 

My first problem was the Base. I soon realised that if I put 2 Across and 2 Down I would have a Rectangle. Therefore I had to come up with a solution. This was to add End to End. It is easier to see than describe so look at the above photograph.

Tri-Angles

 

It took a while for the Glue to set. Once it had I tried working out the next step. If it was Paper it would be easy. You just have Triangles on all 4 sides.

Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that with Matchsticks. I tried putting the Points together so I could Glue them but they kept moving. I really wish I had some of those knobbly things they had in science when you were making atoms.

Sticky Situation

After more attempts than I would like to remember I gave up on the Triangle idea completely. I decided to start filling in the Base. At least that way I would have something to work from and it would make the Square more stable.

Of course now I had another problem. The Matchsticks were too big to go inside the Square. I found a knife and started cutting away at some. I popped a few inside and added some Glue.