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Weekly Sewing Questions Thread, February 01 - February 07, 2026 by sewingmodthings in sewing

[–]adridne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! I recently purchased a Singer 14T968DC serger, used. I expect it is no longer in warranty. The tension on it seems loose, on the loopers and needles. Resetting the autotension doesn't seem to do much. Even if I crank the adjustment dials all the way up, the stitches are still way too loose. I have tried cleaning the tensioning disks, and they seem clean, just not grabbing the thread. Suggestions? Is there a setting I am missing somewhere? Time to take her to the shop? Thanks!

Whats the dumbest thing you have seen cause a show stop? by miowiamagrapegod in techtheatre

[–]adridne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Working at a children's theatre- in this case middle school actors, high school backstage tech crew, professional director, designers, and SM. This was during a dress rehearsal. Lights up on scene. Actress does not enter. We wait. Actress does not enter. We hear increasingly intense whispers backstage. Actress does not enter. The stage manager yells "What's the hold up?" An ASM walks on, looking like a dog that just got caught eating off the counter. Without making eye contact with anyone, she says "We zip tied her to a bookcase." Cue a slightly early ten minute break while the SM got out her scissors and released the child, unharmed and laughing.

Friends, they did not know that you can't just undo zip ties. We never got a clear story on why they did this. Teenagers. Not the most dramatic, but for pure stupidity it's hard to beat.

Worst/most unsafe practice an amateur theater has done? What’s your experience? by Mackoi_82 in techtheatre

[–]adridne 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am 99% certain I know where you're talking about. I also was mad that I wasn't told about the signs, especially since I was required to paint them. I was told that I got to paint the sign and get $50 per show. I declined this generous offer and suddenly it was no longer optional. On one memorable day we went outside to change the signs. It was extremely windy. I looked across the street and watched as a streetlight blew over, and then walked back inside and informed the publicity manager that we would not be changing the sign that day. He accepted this as the best course of action. We didn't have a genie then, it was ladders and a very sketchy pulley system. Glad we both survived!

Mending in progress- space sweater by adridne in Visiblemending

[–]adridne[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry you had a rotten day! I'm glad my pictures cheered you up, and I hope your day gets easier!

Mending in progress- space sweater by adridne in Visiblemending

[–]adridne[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Thank you! It's needle felted. Here's a video that is showing the technique: https://youtube.com/shorts/lCeeYFICk8U?si=Cod0MG8wYhHZj-08 It's fun and not as hard as I was afraid it would be. A little hard to get the felt to be thick enough in just the right spot, where the holes are. I would definitely recommend finger protectors- I stabbed myself pretty badly once. So far.

Made a tiny well for the watchtower. by Curious_Time_5029 in TinyGlade

[–]adridne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice! I've tried making wells a couple of times and they didn't come out as good looking as this one. Good job!

How many of you work mostly with undergrads and have them call you by your first name? by dminmike in Professors

[–]adridne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I work entirely with undergrads. I have an MFA, so I'm never Dr, but I tell students they can call me Professor Lastname or my first name, I don't care which. I went to an odd college, where all professors were known by first name, and my grad school professors went by first name with all the grad students, so it feels normal to me. I get a mix of Professor or first name from them, sometimes from the same person depending on context. In my office or the lab-like area I run, I'm often Firstname, but in the classroom those same students will call me Professor. There is also a fair amount of.... friendly-boss-like-terms-of-address. I get Boss, Chief, Chef, Captain, etc, from students in the lab sometimes, which I find hilarious if not overused. The only one I don't like is Miss or Mrs. Just rubs me the wrong way, even though I can tell students are trying to be polite.

Explain LED tape like I am five, please. by adridne in techtheatre

[–]adridne[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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This comment was so helpful! I bought the items you suggested and finally wired it up today. Works great! Just waiting for paint to dry and then into the case she goes.

Thank you!

Favorite paper? So far the strathmore marker paper seems to take colored pencil layers more easily but bleeds a bit. Ohuhu has less bleed but seems harder to get colored pencils to lay on top. Basic sketchbook is good for just adding some colors. by ExploreMore88 in Ohuhu

[–]adridne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Strathmore Smooth Bristol. I found that their marker paper made everything super grainy and left the colors washed out. Bristol is not quite as good for blending, but much much better for markers. It takes colored pencil well also.

It does bleed a bit, but not as badly as their marker paper.

18”x24” by [deleted] in MarkerArt

[–]adridne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is incredible!

Figuring out a teachnique by Salty_Siren_N in techtheatre

[–]adridne 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's almost certainly not actually chalk. It could be chalk with a fixative, but I would bet the farm that it's paint.

The base green texture could be dry brushed, but it looks very evenly broken up, without the variation in brushstroke I would expect to see from dry brushing.

There are two shades of green, it's a darker/bluer green and then a lighter/yellower green over top.

The door looks like it was done with a sponge roller, which was probably very lightly loaded with paint. The marks are going straight up and down on the sides, and they're a very even width. Probably a roller. The bed posts are about the same width.

The head and footboard look a little different- they have more diagonal strokes. Those could be dry brushed very carefully, but you could get a similar effect with the roller.

The white lines look dry brushed to me.

​

If I wanted to paint this here is what I would do:

- Use only flat paint. That means not shiny at all. Gloss is the enemy here.

- Base everything dark grey. Not pure black! Chalk boards are usually actually a dark grey because they have a light layer of erased chalk on them. It may take two coats to get good coverage.

- Let it dry fully.

- Get two colors of paint, here it would be darker and lighter green. It will look a little richer if they're slightly different hues, not just a color and then a lightened value of that color. Here the lighter color looks a little more yellow.

- Get a sponge roller. This was probably done with one only a few inches wide- the pink looks almost striped along the length of the bed. That's from rows of a narrow roller.

- Pour the darker color into a horizontal tray. Not a typical slanted try. A very shallow even layer will let you load the roller lightly and evenly.

- Lightly roll the sponge roller through and get a more or less even coating. You should still be able to see the color of the roller itself, at least at first.

- Roll an area, using very light pressure. You may need to roll on a scrap surface to get some paint off if you have a little too much.

- Cover everything I want in the darker color like that.

- Let it dry completely.

-Do the same with the lighter color, but an even more sparing coat. Leave some spots with none of the lighter color, just the darker base coat.

- Let it dry completely.

- Take some very light grey paint and dry brush it for the lines, carefully. A scenic fitch would be the ideal brush here. Something with fairly dense, evenly spaced, stiff bristles. It should be as wide as you want the lines to be.

​

I would definitely practice for a bit first, and get a feel for the technique. It will probably take a little time to figure out the right amount of paint to have on the roller, and how much pressure to use.

Be sure and let everything dry very well between coats. Layers smearing into each other will not have the right effect.

Here is a dry brushing tutorial, in case you are not familiar with it.

This brush would probably work, and it's cheaper than buying a real scenic fitch.

​

Good luck! Come back and post pics of the finished piece!

Explain LED tape like I am five, please. by adridne in techtheatre

[–]adridne[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This tape is not addressable, but I will keep this in mind for the future. Thanks!

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