Raincoat: I made a yellow rain slicker out of a yellow rubber Playtex glove. I cut off the end of one of the fingers and then cut it out to make the hood. I used the hand part for the coat. It turned out really cute. You can use those black fasteners that you see on a bra for the fasteners for the coat.

Cheryl in TX

Waste knots: To make waste knots more relevant to easing mini stitching, start by putting the needle from front to back of your work 4 or 5 stitches *forward* of where you are going. Then your first few stitches will actually cover (and thus fix in place) the thread underneath. Cut the knot off when you get to it, and there is no need to weave in the tail afterwards. This works with petit point, and other stitches that are close together. Won't work with crewel, where stitches are further apart and isolated.

Kay in Ottawa, Canada

Arts & Crafts Style: For the folks looking for Arts & Crafts style miniatures, Janet Granger has a beautiful William Morris inspired needlepoint rug chart in her book. Also, Swiftwater Crafts (by Frank Preene) has some exquisite furniture and he uses the most beautiful woods; birds eye maple - my favorite! His web site address is: www.swiftwatercrafts.com

Tammy

Seed Beads: seed beads can be used for foodstuffs in clear jars as if they'd been canned: yellow is corn, green is peas, etc. You could also use them to make beaded lamp shades, the ornate things at the end of light pulls like on ceiling fans, drawer pulls, cupboard handles, put them at the bottom of a clear glass vase for a special flower arrangement (like marbles in "real" life), On top of lids for pans, canisters and/or cookie jars, centers of flowers, decorations on tiny little hats, and of course dresses, tops, etc. Okay, out of ideas for now!

Sloan

AUTHENTIC STUFFED MATTRESSES: Instead of using real straw, I would opt for shredded paper twist or something similar. I think that the straw may disintegrate and perhaps draw bugs too. For the mini friend that asked about the old crepe paper, could the paper twist that you can get at craft stores work for your needs also?

Fran

Stuffed Mattress: Why not use pulled-apart cotton balls for stuffy a 'lumpy' mattress? That's what I plan to do for the pirinhas (feather beds) in Baba Yaga's house.

Molly

Stuffed Mattress: I wonder if 'Perlite' would work as a filling to make a mattress look lumpy. Perlite is a white crumbled product used in making up a potting mix for plants. Also thought sawdust might work.

Bobbie

Granny Squares for an Afghan: Just use a regular size pattern for making granny squares, but use DMC and a 13 or 14 hook works good. They are very slow going, but work out well with patience.  If you don't have directions for making them I could send them too you.

Marsha in WI

Granny Squares for an Afghan: I think you could just follow a full size pattern to make granny squares. With a size 15 crochet hook and thread rather than yarn, they should be the right size.

Cheri Stewart

Granny Squares for an Afghan: I have made mini granny squares using #14 crochet hook and sewing thread from a full size pattern. Looked great. I like using sewing thread because of the multi range of colors.

Marjorie in CA

Felt Hats: If you have access to WOOL FELT it's wonderful to work with. This can be done with craft felt although it seems to have a mind of it's own and does not dry as sharp as the wool would.

1) You need a FILM CAN with smooth sides, NOT the one with the ridge at the top.

2) Piece of 5/8'' DOWEL 2 1/4" long.

3) 2 Tiny RUBBER BANDS, like the ones they put around green onions in the market. Larger ones leave an ugly dent in the hat.

4) Glue. I use Designer Tacky or Veverette

5) A square of felt 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 for a one piece hat (crown & brim all in one piece)

Submerge the felt in warm water and squeeze out excess water, you don't want it dripping but it must be wet all be way through. Center the felt over the dowel and wrap a rubber band around and around till it is firmly held. Stand the dowel in the film can and bring the felt down against the can top and secure with the other rubber band. The crown will go slightly off center but that doesn't matter. When you trim this later you will cut around the brim about 1/4" or approximately where the bottom of the last rubber band comes so you want to work that rubber band down the film can at least 1/4". That band tends to mark the felt and you can avoid this by moving it down.

Set aside to dry, I usually leave them 24 hrs. When you take it off the can if you have used wool felt it will be real sharp on all the folds where the Poly felt relaxes and has a different look. Now the fun begins, trim with feathers beads, roses, ribbon or what ever is your fancy. For a two piece hat, make the crown the same way we started the first hat. Cut your brim any size suitable and put a 5/8" hole in the center. When crown is dry trim it to the height you want it. Put a tiny bead of glue around opening of brim and place crown in hole. Press both parts together and leave to dry.

Helen from San Diego

MINI KNITTING PIN SIZES: I checked my mini knitting pins. UK size 18 is 4/0 USA 1.25 metric size 19 UK is 5/0 USA - no exact metric size. I use metric 1.00. If you need any more sizes let me know. I can't crochet so don't know about crochet sizes.

Liz

Waste Knots: This is a way to start off an embroidery without having a knot on the back.

1. Make a knot in your thread.

2. Put the needle through from the top (right side) of the fabric to the bottom, about 2" away from where you will start stitching. Then come up where you want to make your first stitch.

3. Start stitching, leaving the knot sitting out of the way on top of the work.

4. When you finish your thread, end it off by weaving it through the backs of 4 or so of stitches to stop it unravelling. Cut this thread.

5. Now carefully cut off (*waste*) the knot that is sitting on top of your fabric as close to the knot as possible. Thread the 2" end into your needle on the back of your work, and weave it through the backs of some stitches to anchor it.

Your waste knot is now removed, and the back of your work isn't lumpy.

Kay in Ottawa, Canada

Dryer sheets: When I was dressing miniature dolls I used the dryer sheets to make patterns out of for their clothes. They don't tear like paper you can mold the pattern around the dolls body to fit and nip in order to get the correct fit.

Sclarise

COLORFAST THREADS: Sorry, most needlework threads have not been guaranteed colorfast for many, many years. Has to do with government rules regarding dyes that they can use; in fact, several of the manufacturers send out literature to the retail stores advising that the consumer should rinse them in warm water before using. Can you imagine???? I should think they would just run them through a warm water bath after they are dyed. But, no. The burden is on the user.
In fact, though, most are usually colorfast; the problems happen with the strong colors: black and reds are big offenders. In silk the darker shades in any color family are apt to run, and the real worst are anything overdyed. It's often recommended that you test each color before you start to stitch....i.e., wet a bit of each color and then lay them out to dry on a white paper towel.
Of course the above is all a royal pain, so I just make sure to always stitch on a stretcher frame and keep the work clean the whole time. I do lots of needlepoint and, of course, had advised customers for years and have not had a problem since I learned these facts of life. Naturally a customer would occasionally have a problem with newspaper ink or something spilled. Then we'd resort to dry cleaning, which may or may not get out the dirt or stain, but would leave the piece flat and shiny (you couldn't convince the cleaner not to steam press). Thusly, the best bet was to keep everything clean from the beginning! In spite of the above, and the care that should be taken, IMHO there are not better dollhouse rugs than those beautifully needlepointed on silk mesh with silk thread.

Ginger

Mini Needlepoint: Here's an article about miniature needlepoint. There's a bit of decent information in it, although I personally disagree with many of the do's and don'ts, cans and can'ts, and other technical info that the author provides.

Ginger

Mini knitting yarn: The yarn with which one darns socks (if one does that sort of thing) is suitable for mini knitting, or so my mini knitting chums tell me. Me, I stick to real size knitting.

Helen from York

One Ply Thread: I have a lot of machine knitting yarn in acrylic. I get it at the second hand store. It comes in large cones. It is also available at yarn and knitting shops. Further; the yarn used for Russian punch/punch embroidery, comes in spools and is a very small yarn that I use for making clothes for my small dolls, and mini babies, it also makes great afghans, blankets and bedspreads, is handy for a take along work project. It is acrylic, in many colors, and I crochet (only) with it. You can get it at fabric stores, craft stores, and Wall Mart etc. You might try Hirschner's catalog, they have all kinds of threads and yarns.

Second Hand Rhoda

Mini cord/piping: I am working in some upholstered furniture. I usually glue the fabric to the wood using Gutterman HT2 fabric glue, but I can't help having the edges of the fabric frayed and worn. In order to cover the edges and add some trim to my furniture I needed some tiny cord trim I couldn't find in any shop near where I live. I know there are some miniature shops that sell these mini trims, but they are expensive, difficult to find and, worst of all, limited in colours.

But here it comes my wonderful mother with a brilliant idea. Maybe it's something you already know, but it was a discovering for me and thought it was worth sharing.

You only need DMC floss, scissors and the help of another person. You start measuring the desired length of the lace. Multiply this length by two, for the cord will be formed with a "bunch" of six threads twice the length required and twisted to itself in the middle.

Now take the floss and form the "bunch" with the six double-length threads. It is not necessary to cut each thread. Instead, when you reach one end, hold the end and start in the opposite direction. Like a zig-zag.

Once you have the six threads together hold one end and give the other person the other end. Start twisting each one in the opposite direction. When the strand is twisted enough, you have to hold (firmly!) your end, while the other person grabs the strand BY THE MIDDLE and gives you the other end. Tie the two ends together with a knot and ONLY THEN let the middle part of the strand loose. Voila! the two parts of the strand will twist to each other making a tiny twisted lace.

When I glue the cord to my upholstered furniture I usually twist it a little more. It can be sewed instead of glued. If you want a thicker cord you can use more than six threads, or less if you want it thinner. As DMC floss (and other trademarks, of course) comes in many, many colours, this way I get an inexpensive, easy, home-made cord.

Ali from Spain

To make minis in crochet: You can use hook size from 11 to 14 depending on what you are making, and DMC floss 1 or 2 strands. You can also use crochet cotton size #30 for your rugs or doilies. It is best to experiment.

Linda in Canada