Alright crafters, the results are in! There’s a TL;DR at the end of this post, but we did want to explain how we got here and the choices we’ve made along the way, too. As a quick recap, the mod team noticed a pattern of off-topic conversations and uncivil conversations whenever someone posted crafts related to Harry Potter, and members of the community raised concerns about allowing such content in the subreddit. It was compared to hate speech, due to JK Rowling’s increasingly vocal bigotry and use of her political, economic, and social platforms to further that agenda, as documented here and here. We knew there would be no perfect solution to this problem, and that anything we did would leave some people feeling hurt and upset. But we felt it was important to address the issue, so we asked the community a little bit ago in this post about what they think we should do, and we discussed it as a team as well.
While some commenters opposed the idea of banning it, those discussions were largely centered around concerns about whether it would lead to more censorship. In our experience, posts about other “problematic” topics and IP do not lead to the same level of off-topic conversations and arguments that Harry Potter posts have. Additionally, Rowling is causing a significant amount of concrete and widespread harm towards entire marginalized communities, and as members and supporters of those communities, we felt that removing her influence from this subreddit should still be on the table. So, we created a poll to get simple, concrete feedback on one question: To ban, or not to ban? We limited voting to accounts that were at least 60 days old, and had at least 50 Reddit karma and 10 community karma, in order to keep it to community members and try to avoid brigading for either side. So, here are the results:
A screenshot of the survey results
As we can see, it wasn’t a complete landslide in either direction, and those who voted definitely tended towards strong feelings on the topic! After gathering 1,232 total votes, 53% of those who voted in the poll are in favor of banning posts related to Rowling and Harry Potter, while 41% of voters are against banning it. Our intention with this post was to gather feedback on the community’s feelings, because comment sections alone aren’t always representative of a full community, and we wanted to give those who aren’t comfortable commenting or aren’t well-spoken a chance to speak their minds. And it seems like the results are pretty clear! While there’s a decent number of people who don’t support Harry Potter posts being banned, the majority certainly does seem to support this ban - as do the members of the mod team.
So, what does this mean for the subreddit? Well, crafts that are directly related to Harry Potter can no longer be posted here. If your craft isn’t obviously Harry Potter, and you don’t reference it at all, you can still post it - for example, a red-and-gold scarf is perfectly welcome, so long as you don’t describe it as a Gryffindor scarf. Wands are fine, even if they’re similar in style, so long as they aren’t explicitly “inspired by Harry Potter.” But a papercrafted Hogwarts, or a replica of a specific character’s wand? Not allowed. We are currently working on updating the wiki in general, and will add a page about this ban in the wiki, including informational resources like the ones posted above and guidelines on what is and isn’t allowed. But generally speaking, any identifiable reference to Harry Potter is going to be a no-go, and moderator discretion will be the ultimate decider on what is and isn’t considered “Harry Potter-related.”
This also doesn’t mean we’re planning to start banning all kinds of IP and inspirations - as stated earlier, we found that Harry Potter posts generated far more issues and conflict than any other IP, and no other IP has been raised as a concern to the same degree. We talked about it, and while we all have companies or creators that we as individuals don’t love to see discussed in the subreddit, no other topic has been so universally controversial and caused so many problems from a purely logistical moderation standpoint. If, in the future, another similar issue does arise, we will handle that as it happens. We may not ask for feedback in the same way, because to tell the truth it stretched the issue out and caused more stress than we meant it to. But for right now, no other topic seems to be causing so many problems both within and outside of the subreddit, so we have no current plans to ban anything else.
Comments on this post are locked, as we don’t want to encourage debate about this topic. We had plenty of that in the original feedback post, and at this point we’ve made our decision. However, if you would like to clarify any aspect of this new rule, or you still have questions about why we chose to do this, please feel free to reach out via modmail! Please also note that we’ve had a couple of mods leave recently, bringing the team down to just four of us. While we are adding new members to the team soon, it’ll likely take us a bit to work out all the kinks with this new rule, as it does with any change to the subreddit! Please be patient with us in the meantime, and remember that the mods are people too, and we are all dealing with our own issues and responsibilities irl.
TL;DR After a community vote, and much discussion from the mods, posts and discussion about Harry Potter and JK Rowling are no longer allowed in the subreddit, and will be removed going forward.
the whole thing was extremely satisfying, i used colored plastic sheets and extra thin black lining tape, cut everything down and glued it to a clear plastic sheet then added some mod podge on top for texture. i free handed all the designs but wanted it to feel kind of midcentury geometric. anyways it was tons of fun and im so happy with the result ^_^
edit: i have caused a bit of confusion with my use of the term “acrylic sheets”- the plastic sheets (both clear and colored) i used were thin, and easily cut with regular scissors. sorry about that!
My blanket is finally finished! After I fell in love with the sheep fabric and posted my plan asking for advice in case I got it wrong, I’m proud to report that everything went well. Alright, new yarn for the seam had to be bought, because I miscalculated a little and then the color I used wasn’t available, so instead I went with the closest match, but hey, handmade things are unique. Towards the end my fingers were struggling, so even my Dad helped out seaming for a bit, which makes it truly a family project. Nevertheless I’m super happy with it and if you could see my face, you would see my giant smile. This has been my first big project and it gave me a little confidence boost. The pup likes it as well, now we both have it cozy for the colder season 😁🐶🐑🍂
I know it's not perfect, still gotta figure out the corners and circles a bit more. Need to get a thinner tool for tucking fabric in too, but I'd say for my first attempt it's not too shabby. Gotta go pick up some red, black, and white fabric tomorrow so I can make a pokeball style background and then it will be done!
Edit: for all of your positive comments, I want you to know you’ve made my week. I don’t have very many people in my life I can show these to, so the feedback is cherished.
Hi everyone! I recently had my suit tailored for an occasion, and my tailor used hot glue to attach some decorations to it. I’ve since removed the decorations, but there are still visible glue marks left on the fabric.
I’m trying to remove the residue without damaging the suit or leaving permanent stains. I’m not sure what material the suit is made of, and I don’t want to make things worse by using the wrong product or method.
I’ve attached a photo showing the affected area.
Has anyone dealt with this before? What’s the safest way to remove the glue marks, and are there any products or methods I should avoid?
Thanks in advance!
Hello, this is a bit of a weird question but do you know any crafts that I would be able to do that don’t have any sharp objects or pens or scissors or glue or yarn? Pencils are fine I think! Thank you.
Hey guys, i bough a decorate your own teepee from hobb ycraft with the aim to turn it into a christmas tree the kiddos can sit in. Wanted to dye the canvas fabric green but it has pop up tent metal in it so im not sure what way i could get it to be a dyed base that doesnt touch transfer. Also hobbycraft doesnt say if it is 100% canva or a mixed blend 🫣 any advice appreciated. I seen a comment on the website with pictures of their dyed green but i dunno how they did it. They didnt say and theres no option to ask them 😥 pic for reference
I have just finished making a drum lampshade from a NeedCraft kit - it’s a PVC self-adhesive panel with fabric stuck on externally.
I would like to attach a lightweight Pom Pom trim to the inside of the lampshade, just above the metal ring seams where the fabric is folded over and tucked in - which means attaching to the PVC panel.
What adhesive should I use that will successfully bond the PVC panel and the Pom Pom trim? I’ve seen other lampshades that have the trim attached internally, rather than externally - and this is something I’d like to achieve as I don’t want the trim banding to be visible from the outside, just the little Pom Poms hanging down.
After four days of knitting over thanks giving I have finally completed our emotional support chicken. I made this from the leftover yarn from previous projects (including the stiffing which was made from the cotton insulation our groceries are delivered in during summer) which was very fun. I made some adjustments to the original pattern like making the wings larger and not adding legs since i feared my doggo chewing on the metal. The yarn i used was 100% fingerling highland wool and fingerling mohair. The light sections of the stuffy used three strands (white, grey, and white mohair) and the blue section was four strands (white, blue, white mohair, and blue mohair). The button eyes were also reused, being from my late grandmothers button collection. The pattern I used was Dotpebblesknits “Hen Knitting Pattern”
This whole thing was inspired by my mom making an emotional support chicken for her friend, who was traveling in her sailboat for the next year. Since life hasn’t been easy lately I thought it would fun and practical to make one too (both for me and my dog, though she has yet to take to it lol 😅)
Edit: the bot decided to remove my post for "promoting the seller of the pattern" which is not true and has been corrected by the human mods.
These photos show the different stages of creating a Waldorf doll’s head.
It all starts with a small ball of natural sheep’s wool. More wool is wrapped around it to build the shape, then the whole form is covered with a knitted tubular bandage. Using strong thread, I carefully shape the head and define the facial features.
Next comes the skin-tone cotton jersey, which gives the head its familiar look. Finally, I embroider the eyes and tiny mouth and add a touch of rosy color to the cheeks. And just like that, a little personality begins to emerge!
Every stage takes patience and careful handwork, but seeing the transformation is one of my favorite parts of making Waldorf dolls.
I'm hoping this is a "High Quality Question" as according to the rules lol.
I'm wanting to make a deck of playing cards with my SO and wanted to get an idea of the order / how to go about it. My current understanding is:
Purchase thin cardstock (around 176gsm).
Glue the cardstock to each other (must be the exact same material) by lightly applying a form of glue (paper cement? I've also seen some sources say spray on glue) uniformly in between the stock so as to create an internal core than will aid in durability and elasticity. Once lined up properly, use a credit card or similarly non-abrasive straight edged item to remove any air bubbles in-between the layers. Place a heavy, flat object on top to create even pressure for the paper to adhere.
Print out the faces of the card on one side of the paper, then the backs of the card on the other.
Laminate the sheet, cut using a guillotine, and round the edges.
Is there anything wrong with this process? Does the printing need to be done before the gluing? I know there are other ways to do this, such taking existing cards and laminating them with a one-sided piece of cardstock, but I want these cards to be truly homemade.
Tomorrow my aunt has an event with her family, and she wants me to attend to keep the children entertained. She’s seen how, in past years, the parents basically don’t give a crap about what their children are doing, so she wants me to go and take care of them. She gave me a bag full of (used and new) art materials and told me to choose whatever I want from it.
It has:
- Construction paper (a variety of colors)
- A small set of brushes
- An unopened bag of beads
- A box of 24 Crayola crayons
- Markers (I still have to see which work and which don’t)
- Pencils (colored and normal)
- 5 glitter glue pens
- Mini plastic cups
- 12 Small sticks of clay/playdough (unopened)
- Polly pocket Sticker by number activity book
- Robot Cutouts
- Cheap water colors
- Liquid glue
- Two small sets of acrylic paints
- A bag of stencils (letters and numbers)
- Three sets of temporary tattoos
- White paper
- Two coloring books
- Alphabet beads
- Adhesive wiggle eyes
- Stretch cording
- A table cloth? (Random, but thought could include it)
- Two scissors (I’d guess they’re for me, because they are big ones)
- Rocks and two erasers.
It’s a lot of materials and want to make something fun for them. I thought maybe because there’s a lot, I could probably offer 2-3 activities. It’s just in case they want to do something at the party. If any of you have something in mind, I’d love to hear your suggestions.
Edit- I forgot to mention something important, and is that I don’t know the age of this children. I know some part of the family, but I’m not sure how small/old they are. Could be a 4 year old, could be a 7 year old.
So I run a dnd game and want to make a fake newspaper for my players that they could read. But I want to make it feel like actual newspaper. From what I can find the paper is moderately easy to obtain, but how should you print it after you have it? Is there a method you could do DIY wise or any groups or resources that would allow small amounts of prints? I would only need about 5 max but one could work if needed. I can make the design of the newspaper but just need to be able to print it off.
DETAILS:
While out thrifting I came across this yellow embroidered shawl, and hot damn I couldn't stop myself. It was whispering to me. What was it saying? 'Drink some wine and make something. Ignore your responsibilities'. And that's just what I did. My electricity might be off, but my fashion is ON!
My shirt pattern comes from an old shirt that I deconstructed. Honestly the easiest and cheapest way to get a pattern. I cut along each seem, take mental notes (and promptly forget them, due to the wine), and boom! Pattern. I recommend tracing it onto some butcher paper. I don't know why, but like my old manager says, "extra work is fun. But don't feel joy. Joy is for the elite."
Unfortunately there was no way to match the patterns symmetrically due to the nature of the shawl, and my own laziness and impatience. There are some construction mistakes (mostly unevenness and symmetry) that I wish I'd corrected but if we're talking past regrets and mistakes, that one doesn't even make the list.
Total time was roughly 4.5 hours of sewing, or roughly 6 episodes of the show 'Carrie', that are confusing because you're sewing and not paying attention to the plot, and your husband gets frustrated because you keep asking questions about what's going on with the 'Psychic Laura Ingalls Wilder', and also because there's a Singer Heavy Duty buzzing away on the other side of the living room, but you refuse to take it upstairs because you simultaneously want to spend time with your loved one and also completely ignore him in pursuit of crafting.
I don't know exactly what the fabric is, but it feels and looks like a Gaberdine. I started with maybe 2ish yards of the fabric and 3/4s of a bottle of wine and used both in their entirety for this shirt.
