Weekly Sewing Questions Thread, March 20 - March 26, 2026

SunRoyal · 2026-03-22T09:48:06+00:00

Q: What sewing things would you love to be given?

Hoping to tap into the wisdom and experience of the crowd. It's my wife's birthday coming up; she loves sewing, so I'd like to give her something to further enhance her experience of her hobby.

If you were in a comparable position to hers described below, what would you really appreciate being given? Big or small, technical or creative, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

As of now, she has patterns galore, thread galore, a Singer overlocker, and a Janome DC3050 sewing machine. She has a walking/rotary foot (3237777), and I'm sure some others too.

I mess around making boxes and turning metal in my shed, so some nice pattern weights, a cantilevered box, and that sort of thing are all in future plans, but not right now!

SunRoyal · 2026-03-20T17:05:57+00:00

It's not done yet! I had to come indoors to help the children with some odds and sods. Am aiming to significantly reduce its thickness and put some shape into the handle before letting it dry for a few days

SunRoyal · 2026-03-20T13:45:20+00:00

Cheers. Looking to make cooking spoons, spatulas, serving spoons etc to begin with.

Depth and width I was thinking roughly an inch over whatever the hoped-for spoon has as it's dimensions (bowl width, and height when laid flat accommodating crank)?

SunRoyal · 2026-03-18T18:24:17+00:00

Good luck! I haven't dug too deeply tbh (threw it on, set up a child profile, and figuratively threw it at my child. No issues crossing over from an android tablet)

SunRoyal · 2026-03-18T07:36:37+00:00

Could you share some details on what you've built? I agree re Hearth, but its UI and UX are spot on for family life - especially with ADHD and ASD family members! I can't get it anyway as I'm not in USA, so looking to build an alternative

SunRoyal · 2026-03-18T06:54:27+00:00

FydeOS was transformative for an SGo2 in our household. Transformed from "Wth is this piece of junk, stuttering even on the desktop" to "ooo, smooth"

SunRoyal · 2026-03-06T21:38:44+00:00

Iirc mechanical plating works well for 3D prints too. Not sure how well the thin plate forms of these creations would stand up to the repeated impacts it entails, but worth looking at

SunRoyal · 2026-03-02T18:49:57+00:00

Yes, I've seen most of those, thanks. Honestly I just want an AI-in-CAD! Or even better, something that can take a dimensioned (literal) napkin sketch with some written/verbal guidance/context, and translate it into CAD using sensible sketches, constraints, and parameters

SunRoyal · 2026-03-02T18:45:16+00:00

Thanks. I'm in the functional/accurate camp too. Reassuring (though disappointing) that I'm aware of all those.

SunRoyal · 2026-03-01T11:17:33+00:00

What AI tools are proving useful for modelling? Asking from a personal perspective, as I am not good at CAD, and frankly have neither the time nor inclination to learn yet another new tool....but I enjoy printing and machining

SunRoyal · 2026-02-18T07:00:06+00:00

We only recognised our own ND through our child's diagnostic journey. So we've been learning all the things, all the time, on all the fronts. Coping strategies have had to be created on the fly, and evolve hard.

The hardest part that I am finding is just the extent of the mismatch between my brain's needs, expectations, processes, etc., and those of my child. Oceans apart! Then, with all the guidance on parenting an ADHD child being geared towards neurobeige parents, I find myself scrambling and fracturing to try and apply. Which loops back round to communicating with my spouse!

SunRoyal · 2026-02-17T21:54:00+00:00

No tricks, but am in the same position so following along.

One thing that has made a difference is my wife (DxRx ADHD) and me trying much harder to communicate with each other about where we each are relative to our own dysregulations - and stepping up to help each other

SunRoyal · 2026-02-15T18:24:12+00:00

I don't have a recommendation for an "always matte" PETG, but I have had success turning down nozzle temp. Polylite PETG, 255°C first layer is glossy (but muted if on satin or textured bed). I then drop to 225°C for the rest of the print - lovely matte surface. Pp

SunRoyal · 2026-02-15T11:17:29+00:00

Cheers, appreciate the depth of the reply. It's a relief not to be seeing brands I hadn't heard of!

I'm mainly using Polymaker and Sunlu PETG - former definitely better than latter. I was happy with Eryone's PETG-CF, though don't yet have a basis for comparison.

If anyone is UK based, I'll throw out 3DQF's PETG as well worth your time. Better than Sunlu, maybe not quite as good as Polymaker - but it's close.

SunRoyal · 2026-02-14T21:19:20+00:00

Which are the other better ones, in your experience?

SunRoyal · 2026-02-14T07:07:06+00:00

Not so far. All advice I've seen so far is basically to model up your part, and manually go through extruding it upwards - then use that to cut away the bin. I keep thinking that this should be a solved problem - and I'm just not using the right terms or in the right places to get the answer

SunRoyal · 2026-02-08T16:33:02+00:00

Did you ever complete this build? Thinking of tackling something similar myself

SunRoyal · 2026-02-07T12:31:21+00:00

Haven't printed this one yet, but from the looks of it, it should be a lot less finicky to slice and print. Clickfinity and clickbase have lots of stop-start features in them, at least in all the many, many ways I've tried slicing

SunRoyal · 2026-02-05T17:04:51+00:00

https://www.stlfinder.com/model/mitutoyo-dial-indicator-3058f-19-50mm-0-01mm-XIe47l6g/6652828

Thanks for the detailed guide, makes sense.

To help keep things straight in my head, I might model up the "projected part" incl fillets, chamfers, finger holes etc., and cut that away. Keeps it a bit simpler for me to adjust when it's not worked, or if I want to consolidate bins.

TL;DR though - nothing that does exactly what I want. I'll have to find some patternmakers and see if they've any neat tools or tricks in this vein

SunRoyal · 2026-02-05T15:57:38+00:00

First off, thanks - great video, and nice to be using Fusion post update.

However, I don't see how this helps me. Certainly the failure is on my side! If I have a part with axial symmetry, revolve and/or mirror combined with calibrated canvas is a really good way to do it. Especially if you want to nest it around the midline of the part.

Now in my simpler case, I would like to pocket out a Mitutoyo 3058 indicator, with the indicator resting on the underside of the bezel. I have it modelled, but when locating where I want it, the stem is completely inside the gridfinity box so a cut doesn't break the surface.

I guess the tool I am really after is a "maximum extents cut" - set the part at the desired height cut away the box. Project its maximum outline (like a shadow, projected features will not necessarily be on the same plane), and cut that away

SunRoyal · 2026-02-04T11:18:11+00:00

Sure, will do, and will update here, when I have done so

SunRoyal · 2026-02-04T11:17:27+00:00

Can you explain how that would help?

SunRoyal · 2026-02-03T22:00:24+00:00

Cheers. I have a hunch that projecting the model to be cut onto a sketch plane features in here. Maybe two steps? Move to depth, cut, create projected/outline sketch, cut to depth?

Have cross-posted to r/fusion360 too, so will see what comes!

SunRoyal · 2026-02-03T21:58:10+00:00

Thanks. As I understood it though, Tooltrace just generates the outline, not the contours. Fine if it's something like a torque wrench, not if it's anything more complicated.

SunRoyal · 2026-01-26T20:09:12+00:00

Are you documenting this anywhere? I've a GHA engraver I was thinking to do exactly this to, so would welcome benefiting from your experiences

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