Author Archives: John

The Manhattan Trade School for Girls

Posted on February 11, 2013 by John

Today I was reminded of a great little film from 1911, The Manhattan Trade School for Girls. Manhattan Trade School for Girls (1911) by Lost_Shangri_La_Horizon Some of the crafts will be near and dear to us (sewing, garment design, embroidery) … Continue reading →

Posted in art/work, Other crafts, things we like | Leave a comment

The Shrine of Manly Patterns: Boxers

Posted on March 17, 2011 by John

People have been asking me about the Shrine of Manly Patterns. Sorry, let me rephrase that. Men have been asking me about the Shrine of Manly Patterns. This shouldn’t be surprising. After all, what’s more manly than making things? Ok, … Continue reading →

Posted in sewing clothes, sewing for men | 2 Comments

Man vs Tie.

Posted on February 16, 2011 by John

John here. Last week Sarah was going through her old patterns and found one for a tie, which I immediately stole and added to my Shrine of Manly Patterns. These things are few and far between, I’m sad to say, … Continue reading →

Posted in sewing clothes, sewing for men | 5 Comments

casein failure and the value of making things.

Posted on January 31, 2011 by John

So I posted last week about a neat idea, or anyway what seemed like a neat idea at the time: making buttons out of homebrewed casein. It didn’t work. There were several problems with actually making buttons out of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Buttons, Other crafts | Leave a comment

Making buttons. From scratch.

Posted on January 25, 2011 by John

“Scratch,” in this case, is milk and lemon juice or vinegar: their powers combine to form casein, a material that starts off easily moldable and then grows very hard. Well, there’s really only one thing to be done when you … Continue reading →

Posted in Buttons, Other crafts | Tagged , , | 2 Comments