Dinotopian Librarian: Building Better Accessories, Part 1

Alright, to cap off our random trawl through Dinotopia and Terra Nova, I wanted to show how I made the awesome accessories from my Dinotopian librarian look. Up this week is the document tube!



This is a great prop because it's useful and (as all the best props are) dead simple to make. The sewing takes some time and force (note: get a thimble. Or at least a pair of decent pliers), but the construction is super simple. So stand back and get ready to make... a TUBE.

Honestly, you're not even making a tube, you're just decorating it.


Materials:

-A cardboard tube, ~12 inches long (the sturdier, the better. You can certainly do this with just a wrapping paper tube, but I used a heavier tube used for transporting art, and I would highly recommend it.)

- Enough fabric to cover the tube, plus a little extra (you need at least a little overlap on all the edges. I think I ended up using a sheet of crocodile skin pleather about 14" x 12")

-Acrylic paint (for optional decoration)

-A large translucent crystal that fits in or on the end of the tube (I used a large quartz shard because I happen to have a ridiculous amount of them laying around [it was like a scene from The Dark Crystal trying to find the right one, I swear to god], but a plastic or glass ball or crystal would work as well)

Actual picture of me trying to find just the right stone, damnit


- The usual sewing bits and bobs (needle and thread, pliers or a thimble to push the needle through the cardboard, a clamp or some pins)

- A strong glue (such as E6000)

-Color-changing tea light

-Metallic gold acrylic paint


Step 1: Covering the Tube

Just like wrapping a Christmas present: roll the fabric around the tube, cut off most of the overlap (but not quite all), and secure the ends. Only with a needle and thread instead of tape. I went ahead and did a cross stitch up the join because I thought it looked nicer.



Step 2: Finishing the Ends

At this point, you should have maybe an inch of spare fabric on either end of the tube. For the top end, go ahead and fold the excess fabric into the tube so you have a nice sleek mouth, then sew around the top to hold it in place. I went for a whip stitch over the edge for a rougher look.



For the bottom of the tube, I got lucky. The crystal I eventually found fit almost perfect inside the tube, and with the excess pleather folded inside, the crystal was easily wedged into the tube, keeping the fabric in place. It hasn't even wiggled since then, so I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and I haven't touched it. If you aren't so lucky, you might need to sew the base like you did with the mouth, and glue the crystal in place.



Step 3: Adding a Belt Loop

It's not rocket science. Just take a spare piece of your fabric (or a contrast fabric. Even a bit of ribbon would work fine), make a loop wide enough to stick a belt through, and sew it to the mouth of the tube.

Step 4: Decorations

As always, it's easy to take this in whatever direction you want from here. For my part, I:
  • Added a little gold wash to the quartz point. I really just rubbed a little acrylic paint into the natural crack and crevices to give it a little shimmer
  • Painted a message in Dinotopia's footprint language onto the tube
  • And, as the piece de resistance (wow, that looks so stupid without the accents), I dumped a color-changing tea light into the bottom of the tube to make the crystal glow
Is it weird if I say I would be delighted to beat someone over the head with this?



And that's about it. Like I said, dead simple and you get a surprisingly nice product for relatively little time and skill

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