[Death by Mirrors]

They are! Can you guess I'm addicted to my local tech shop? *smirk*

[Kaderin Triste]

Lol...nah. Not at all!

[Moonshadow]

You guys are all so motivated and talented. My goal for next year is to learn to use the sewing machine I have.

I have lots of plushies but I have them in tubs. My real real old ones I got rid of, I took pictures of them, and donated them. I used to collect Vermont Teddy Bears, but I stopped, it just gets crazy with all those plushies and my mother used to collect those Beanie Babies and she had thousands! I have given them away to children's charities, to missionaries for children in Guatemala and as gifts to little kids in my area. I still have more to give away!

[Death by Mirrors]

Supporting your goal. There's so many cool things you can make once you get the hang of sewing. Quite a lot of free patterns and/or instructions to find online, too. Instructables for example has a Machine Sewing Class that is free to enroll right now (I'm not sure if they start charging again after Christmas, but anyone enrolled gets three months time to complete it).

[Lee]

I'm not sure what living hinges are, still. Could you elaborate? It sound utterly fascinating.

[Death by Mirrors]

You take a piece of plywood and cut it several times. The simplest method would just be several rows of straight lines laterally shifted in each row. Make sure there's some space between each cut and the plywood's edge, you don't actually want to cut it in half. The wood will bend easier at the cuts and behave more like fabric or thin paper. Here, have a picture.



Or better yet, have a video.
Living Hinge example

eta: photo is mine, video just randomly selected from youtube

[Lee]

. ___. I need this in my life. I need to test this personally. That is amazing. Is there a special kind of plywood?

[Death by Mirrors]

Nope, regular plywood. You might even be able to make it work with other types of wood (birch, cedar, redwood, ...); I merely use plywood because it's the easiest available to me. Elasticity really depends on the hinge pattern, so sturdy wood needs a different pattern.

[Lee]

How do you match up the pattern with the wood sturdiness? Like, if it's sturdier, do the slits need to be wavier and closer together to compensate...? Could you do this with 3D-printed plastic?

[Death by Mirrors]

Yep, sturdier wood needs them closer together. There's an advanced mathematical formula to calculate torsional stress, but other than that it's pretty much trial and error.

I've never tried it with 3d-printed plastic, but I know it works for acrylic too, so I suppose you can indeed.

[Lee]

O vO You have shown me a new toy.

[Moonshadow]

What? what? I can't figure out what that thing is Death.
(yes I will try to learn this winter, At least I can hem stuff, and make simple things like pillow cases.)

[Lee]

O vO;; What are we learning? I feel that I missed something.

[Kaderin Triste]

We're learning stuff?
Ooh...what is it?

[Moonshadow]

@Kad check post #246
I don't know what it is though haha

@Lee I am going to learn to sew this winter, or at least how to use a sewing machine.

[Lee]

Oh! Oh, yes, I'm learning to handsew properly instead of freewillying it.