Encompassing Designs
  • Home
  • Shop
    • Kits
    • Patterns >
      • Christine Little >
        • Signature Designs
        • New Designs
        • Seasonal Designs
      • Deborah Sweet
      • Susan Leslie
      • Patricia Perry
      • William Morris
    • Supplies >
      • Backings
      • Frames
      • Hooks
      • Books
      • Extra
    • Wool >
      • Abrashed
      • Custom Dyeing
      • Dyed Bundles
      • Dyed Curly Mohair
      • Dyed Spots
      • Dyed Values
      • Dyed Yarn
      • Jacquard Dice Dyes
      • Natural & Colours
      • Plaids & Textures
      • Dye Books & Swatches
  • Ordering
  • Blog
  • Workshops
  • Our Story
  • Contact Us

The red dot saga continues.....

8/16/2018

3 Comments

 
Picture
Furtherance to the previous blog about the 36” wide Red Dot not being manufactured anymore; I’ve received numerous phone calls, emails and comments on FB about alternate ideas on how to draw off patterns.  Some were quite innovative but any would demand a drastic change in the way we do things at the studio.  Light tables would be my first choice but then we’d have to create all our patterns on some sort of see through material, preferably vinyl and then where to source that and what sizes I can get.  The heavy art paper I use wouldn’t allow the light to show through enough to see the design through the linen with clarity.  We’d have hundreds of designs to do over as the red dots wear out; we’d need a year of Sundays to convert them. For future designs we could start putting smaller ones on vinyl and use our existing light table, saving the red dot for the big ones.  Red Dot can be pinned to the backing nicely so the linen doesn’t shift around which it tends to do, and with red dot you can stretch out the linen corners so they are square as it tends to curl along the edge.  Once you stretch the linen and pin it to the red dot it stays.  Taping linen to the glass would be tricky as it is slippery as heck to work with and tape wouldn’t stick well.  Duct tape would hold it but then leave residue on the linen and my customers would love that!  Not! 

Converting all the designs we have now would be labour intensive and then storage would be a problem with all the patterns rolled up so they don’t have creases where it would wear and crack over time. We’d need an entire room dedicated to patterns!  I like tucking them in the filing cabinets, nice and neat. 

The surface for transferring has to be flat or it would be harder to work on with a marker.  I suppose we could tape it all down to the glass first but tape can leave residue that would need cleaning off.  I hate tape, it’s one of the banes of my existence, it sticks to stuff.  I’m not trying to be funny because that’s what its designed to do, but it’s indiscriminate and leaves behind a film places you don’t want it too and that can be a bitch to remove.   I could do an entire rant on tape, especially the cheaper stuff you buy at Staples because it’s horrid to work with.  It comes off the roll easily but is flimsy and moves in the slightest breeze, sticking on itself like hugs at a family reunion and good luck tearing it apart.  Then you have to use twice at much on parcels because it doesn’t grab well, you have to rub it several times to keep it to stay in place. We now only buy expensive tape from the post office, they understand shipping and quality products, producing one that is heavier, sticks well and ranks low on the cursing.   
​
Anyway, I wanted to say that I appreciate all your comments and thanks for taking the time to respond.  I think perhaps our future might encompass a large light table and I am more than happy to undertake that down the road as the last resort, but in the meantime I’ve broke the bank buying up as much of the red dot as I can afford.  Damnit! I don’t like change so I am fighting it, throwing punches with my VISA.  I just ordered two more bolts from Fabricville at loan shark pricing, but that will do a lot of patterns so I don’t have to worry about running out anytime soon. Really, I only delaying the inevitable and with my luck they'll start producing it again and I'll have wasted my money buying it at retail pricing. 

I hope to do a lot of designing this fall so I'll try not to begrudge it....

3 Comments
Rickw
8/16/2018 02:37:36 pm

Hi,

I use tape on my sliding glass door on sunny days and I don't have any residue from the tape. I get the linen very square and I can stand up when I'm drawing. You might want to have the light box mounted on a wall.

Have you tried 'blue' tape? The painter's tape. I'm sure they make residue free masking tape. Staples is not your friend for 'cheap'.

I've not done anything with 'red dot' but I've only been hooking for a few years. It seemed too complex for me. I like going directly from a photocopy scale up of my design to linen,

Good luck!

Reply
Starr
8/16/2018 05:21:51 pm

If it comes to glass table light box for drawing your designs on, consider an opaque glass. I have a clear glass and table & it’s ok if pattern and linen cover whole table, but it pattern design is smaller than table top, the light shines up at you, making it extremely hard to see. I finally put white paint on underside of glass to make it easier on my eyes 👀
That’s my hint

Reply
Christine
8/16/2018 05:22:43 pm

Yes Gregg used frosted glass on my light table for that reason. So glad you mentioned it so others building one will select opaque glass.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Christine Little has been ranked #5​ out of the 60 top rug hooking bloggers by Rug Hooking Magazine!

    Picture
    Picture
    Max Anderson, Australia, recipient of my Nova Scotia Treasures rug.  An award of excellence for promoting Canada through his writing.  
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    July 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Picture
    Picture
    Gift Certificates are available for that special rug hooker in your life!  Any denomination, no expiry date! 

    Picture

    Categories
    (Click on the categories for past blogs)

    All
    Announcements
    Beginner Class
    Christmas
    Colour Planning
    Contests
    Copyright
    Coupon
    Customer Rugs
    Cutter Servicing
    Dyeing
    Equipment
    Featured Hooker
    Giveaway Draw
    Guest Blogger
    Guest Blogger
    Health & Fitness
    Home & Heart
    Hooked Rugs
    Hooking Groups
    Hook In Talk
    Initially Yours
    Jibber Jabber
    Just A Bit Of Fun!
    Life's Experiences
    Life's Experiences
    New Design
    New Ideas
    Pattern Of The Week
    Patterns Hooked
    Pets
    Rants
    Recipes
    Rememberingfbe7326ff7
    Rug Schools
    Show & Tell
    Show-tell
    The Rant
    Tips Technique
    Tips Techniquef0cd117ab4
    Visitors
    Workshops

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture





















    Picture
    We have a pot to "Fiz" in!

Shop Hours:
Monday - Friday 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM 
Saturdays 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
We are closed during ice and snow storms
​so please call ahead.  If school is cancelled we probably are as well.  

Toll Free: 1-855-624-0370
Local: 1-902-624-0370​
encompassingdesigns@gmail.com

498 Main Street
P.O. Box 437
Mahone Bay, N.S.
Canada B0J 2E0

​Follow us and keep up to date
on our specials, new products
​and events!
Picture
Picture
Picture


Home
Shop
Ordering
Blog
Our Story
Workshops

Contact Us




​​​© Copyright 2023 Encompassing Designs. Website by SKYSAIL