![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
How to fold a napkin...
Jan. 24th, 2018 08:52 pm...holder.
Honestly, normally, this woulda gone on my list of things I'm not gonna make: napkin holders. But it's part of a special order, which makes it different.
The difference? Most of the pots on my Oh God No, Nope, Never list get suggested thusly: You know what you should make? [Ridiculous suggestion redacted]s! You'd sell a million of them! Whereas a special order says Could you make just one? For me? As part of this bunch of tableware pieces I'm also willing to pay for?
I mean, seriously, how can I say no?
Besides, it's January. I have time to mess around with design ideas, even if only for a one-of-a-kind item. (Though I'll probably make two, just in case.)
So here's my step-by-step attempt to make a napkin holder.
First, throw a bottomless cylinder, with smooth straight sides and a reinforced top, not unlike a utensil crock.
Then dribble water onto the wheel head, and drag it under the pot with your cut-off wire. This allows the bottom to slide as I reshape it from a round cylinder to an oblong rectangle.
Let it get leather-hard overnight, then mark where I'm going to cut away and reinforce the edges with an extruded coil that's about the same size as the bead around the top. After that, cut out the ends and smooth everything down.
For the last step, I cut a slab to match the inner dimensions of the piece and attached it level with the bottom of the notch. Then it's dry slowly, bisque, glaze, and hope those big, unsupported flat surfaces don't droop in the firing.
Honestly, normally, this woulda gone on my list of things I'm not gonna make: napkin holders. But it's part of a special order, which makes it different.
The difference? Most of the pots on my Oh God No, Nope, Never list get suggested thusly: You know what you should make? [Ridiculous suggestion redacted]s! You'd sell a million of them! Whereas a special order says Could you make just one? For me? As part of this bunch of tableware pieces I'm also willing to pay for?
I mean, seriously, how can I say no?
Besides, it's January. I have time to mess around with design ideas, even if only for a one-of-a-kind item. (Though I'll probably make two, just in case.)
So here's my step-by-step attempt to make a napkin holder.
First, throw a bottomless cylinder, with smooth straight sides and a reinforced top, not unlike a utensil crock.
Then dribble water onto the wheel head, and drag it under the pot with your cut-off wire. This allows the bottom to slide as I reshape it from a round cylinder to an oblong rectangle.
Let it get leather-hard overnight, then mark where I'm going to cut away and reinforce the edges with an extruded coil that's about the same size as the bead around the top. After that, cut out the ends and smooth everything down.
For the last step, I cut a slab to match the inner dimensions of the piece and attached it level with the bottom of the notch. Then it's dry slowly, bisque, glaze, and hope those big, unsupported flat surfaces don't droop in the firing.