As a special treat, i spent my tax return on a custom professional rounding jack from woodworker/artisan De Cou Studios!

Want to see? ( Read more... )

I can't even begin to express how excited i am to have run across Mark DeCou, an artist and artisan woodworker who has recently begun producing functional reproductions of hard-to-find antique hat blocking tools ( Read more... )

There are a couple of companies I've recently ordered from that I'd like to mention in here--Micro-Mark and We've Labels.

Micro-Mark is known as "the small tool specialists," and they cater to industries like miniature and model builders, dollhouse carpenters, jewelrymakers, as well as film/tv/theatre artisan shops. They sell a huge range of ( Read more... )

Today was the second day of the symposium; while we waited for our output from yesterday's classes to cure/dry/etc., we toured three companies and organizations in the Carolina piedmont whose work is of related interest to costume professionals.

The first stop of the day was a non-profit development and consultancy company called [TC]2. They do a ( Read more... )

Ever get frustrated making something with wire--a wire-frame hat, or a wire structure to support some kind of crazy collar or ruff, or even a wire puppet or mask foundation--when you cannot get good clean accurate bends? Your curves are wobbly and assymetrical, your angles woodgy and not at all sharp? This can be a huge issue, particularly if you ( Read more... )

I am totally a big drooly nerd for fabulous tools, particularly power tools.

I thought i would share some images and info on one i've been using sporadically at work to cut huge amounts of heavy cotton velvet, the ( Wolf Blazer Round Knife! )

I have just received delivery of hands-down the best new-to-me piece of equipment i could ask for: an industrial patcher machine, aka a shoe and boot repair machine.

( Read more... )

In the safety course i'm taking (Principles of Industrial Health and Safety for the Entertainment Industry), we have recently conducted formal hazard assessments for various tools and equipment commonly--or not-so-commonly!--found in our shops. We were encouraged to choose either a tool currently owned by the shop that might present particular ( Read more... )