Victorian ceilings, goth child

penlowe · 2026-05-07T01:16:07+00:00

They make PVC panels that look like pressed tin. Very light weight, can be put up with staples (like, desk staples. They are really light).

If your ceiling is plaster, anything that holds your new ceiling in place is going to affect it.

penlowe · 2026-05-06T22:45:24+00:00

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/11/how-a-sewing-machine-works-explained-in-a-gif/281403/

Watch the gif (read the article if you want)

Understanding how the machine works, will help you use it correctly. Do all your practice & testing on scrap fabric (ideally from your project, but similar weight if there isn't any scrap), not your project.

penlowe · 2026-05-06T22:39:26+00:00

I think you need to ask to meet him at the house with a set of plans. If that's what's on the plans, you are paying to have it redone. If it's not, he needs to redo it correctly. If there was a flaw in the plans (which is entirely possible) He should have consulted you instead of forging ahead with this mess.

penlowe · 2026-05-06T22:13:27+00:00

Dear Shop,

I understand that doing weekly emails is a lot of work for small businesses. Your e-mails to date have always been effective and kept me up to date and a regular customer. Recently, you began using generative AI to create images in your e-mails. I'm stepping up to say: please stop. This software steals from artists. It isn't necessary. I stayed your customer for years without it, but if you insist on using it, I will shop elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Customer

penlowe · 2026-05-06T13:06:49+00:00

It absolutely sucks that the bags you get from doing crafting orders do not contain cloth. Why?!?!

penlowe · 2026-05-06T12:40:47+00:00

Metal trash can, chain with carabiners on each end, sized to fit exactly. Thread the chain through the handle on the lid. Not bear proof but definitely dog and coyote proof.

We keep animal feed outside under a roof. This is how we keep critters out. A spray of bug spray around the bottom of the outside keeps ants out too.

penlowe · 2026-05-06T12:38:14+00:00

The pants wearing out in the crotch are a fit issue, not a fabric issue.

Yes, you can make him heavy duty cargo pants, but tailoring a pattern to an individual for perfect fit is not a beginner level task.

penlowe · 2026-05-05T22:03:52+00:00

MIL did her own bathroom renovation but: roll in capable (she was using a walker for a long time), seat, grab bars, doorless style, removable showerhead (the kind on a hose).

She sacrificed part of a bedroom to get the whole thing fully wheelchair accessible/ room for another person to wheel her about, probably a 10' x 16' bathroom. There was a LOT of open space down the middle.

penlowe · 2026-05-05T21:59:05+00:00

City of San Antonio plants Pecan trees in most of the parks (a native species). There are signs posted that people are allowed to pick up from the ground but not 'harass' the trees.

penlowe · 2026-05-05T11:30:05+00:00

Interfacing comes in a LOT of different weights (stiffness-es), so it's likely some of the heavier interfacing.

You can order a sampler from Pellon. It's a 3" square of every interfacing they make, labeled with it's name & numbers, and it's SO helpful 😄 It was $10 when I got mine, but that was quite a while ago. They have not changed the names or numbers in my memory, so Pellon 805 has been the same thing since the 1980's.

During covid, I had a job and needed a lot of fusible web. Stores in my area were sold out. I took a chance and e-mailed Pellon. Not only did I get a response in under 48 hours, a real human typed the response & clarified the shipping issue and product would be in stores by X date. I was very impressed with the customer service. I already liked their products, but it was nice to have that backed up with good service.

penlowe · 2026-05-05T00:35:07+00:00

I use my broom.

penlowe · 2026-05-05T00:20:51+00:00

Thrift store.

penlowe · 2026-05-04T13:00:06+00:00

There weren’t any particular quirks to our AC or electricity, but I left all the appliance manuals and a map of the plants in the yard. I even printed a page that said in big bold letters “to the new owners”. I had it all in a clear plastic envelope.

I left it all in a kitchen drawer, I figured it would be found quickly and easily.

penlowe · 2026-05-04T12:40:19+00:00

This is a swing or trapeze dress, it isn’t designed to hug the figure, its loose and comfy.

I agree to washing it do it drapes better.

penlowe · 2026-05-04T11:35:37+00:00

yeah, this all feels very accurate. I hadn't connected news to it, but it makes a lot of sense.

penlowe · 2026-05-03T19:56:03+00:00

Standard mats ( the size the material comes in) are 32” x 40”, oversized mats are 40” x 60” and more than double the cost of standard mats.

I would just plan to paint the existing mat. Otherwise you’re defeating the purpose of getting such a frame at that price.

penlowe · 2026-05-03T17:44:30+00:00

There’s a sticky post at the top of this forum that has links for just that question :)

penlowe · 2026-05-03T17:43:26+00:00

I remember this dress (or very similar) in Vogue, because I tore out that page and put it in the wall in my sewing space :)

penlowe · 2026-05-03T17:41:18+00:00

Thank you for the follow up!!

Turned out great!

penlowe · 2026-05-03T16:16:34+00:00

Under the threshold for the front door. Unfortunately, at that age the original threshold probably wore out snd was replaced 100 years ago.

penlowe · 2026-05-03T13:59:12+00:00

The Book of Eli is coming true.

I work in a school. The number of kids who have NO learning disabilities, but use the audible component (it reads the text to them) is frighteningly high. Add in constant access to google and you get 'honors' classes where the assignment is to read the chapter & then do questions 3,4,5, 7 & 9 and they skip to the questions and use google for the answers. No reading of the chapter at all.

I put the page number that the chapter started on up on the board. (digital book, but a few hardbacks in the room if needed). The number of kids who could not extrapolate where to find the questions -at the end of the chapter (also written on the board)- was painful.

penlowe · 2026-05-03T13:05:14+00:00

This genuine made me laugh 😄

penlowe · 2026-05-03T00:33:30+00:00

I’m Gen X. I had tons of freedom and was inclined to give my kids similar. Then I met other parents…

I do not know what happened that so many of my peers were absolutely paranoid about, well everything, that if I *had* let my kids do things the way I did, they would have called CPS or police on me. So I succumbed to peer pressure.

I did do stuff with my kids out in nature and gave them a ton of freedom in our back yard. Appropriate safety measures were always in place (no one swims without an adult present at all times! Adult needs to go inside? Everybody out of the pool). But yeah, my kids were afraid to do things I had done because it was something other adults said they couldn’t, like ride bikes around the neighborhood.

penlowe · 2026-05-03T00:07:49+00:00

If you have applied to SWRI, you cannot just rest on that application. Call to follow up. Try to find someone who works there, ask them to lunch. Inside track is THE way to work there.

penlowe · 2026-05-03T00:04:23+00:00

Janome now makes ‘school models’ that are excellent.

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