Pulling this idea from the old site.
Here’s a thread for what didn’t work, including mistakes experiments that can’t be salvaged (but still learned from), crafting injuries, things that looked way easier on Pinterest, drunk crafting, gross miscalculations, and projects destroyed by pets.
Any “Don’t do what I did” wisdom may help someone else, and maybe that will be the silver living!
It can be any kind of art/craft, I just figured this category was the broadest.
Be mindful that one person’s “fail” may be another person’s best effort: please post things that went truly awry, not just less-than-perfect. As always, post only your own, but links to crafters talking about their own fails are probably fine.
It was time to start this thread because I just had a botch of my own.
I was excited for paint pouring outdoors in the beautiful weather, with an unwanted gallon of house paint in a nice seafoam green (nice in art experiments but not on my walls). I’ve read that house paint isn’t good to use for most art things, but I knew it would be fine for my purposes – and, sure enough, the fail isn’t about that. I did find that applying gesso on top of the latex paint created a crackle effect, fyi.
In a rush to find surfaces that would hold paint, I spotted one of my hardcover reconstructed book projects, basically done but the covers needed something more creative. Perfect non-plan!
I started pouring away with reckless abandon. Great fun, and lovely results on the first side I worked on. I left it sitting out to dry overnight. Then, this morning, I saw my error: the pages are soaked with paint, warped, stuck together, and still soggy, 24 hours later (creating a mildew hazard). Most tore while I tried separating them. Ugh.
So! Lesson learned: Do paint pours on book covers BEFORE adding the pages! Yes, that would be common sense, if pouring paint onto books were something I or most people had ever given any thought to previously.
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(Linda -2024 Choose Projects that You Want to Do :us:)
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oh no…is none of it salvageable? It is a lovely color…can you save the cover at least?
I loved this thread over on the dead place because some of the lessons learned were quite hilarious and we could all relate!
I agree, we at least need to have a good chuckle when things don’t go as planned. Or, in my case, when we barrel into something without thinking at all!
Yes, thank goodness there was success in the cover itself! The pages aren’t sewn to the cover, so it will be easy enough to replace them with another set of paper. And I may be able to save the inner portion of the pages, closer to the spine, so that it’s a tall, skinny book in the end.
@LeapFeetFirst, it looks and feels a lot nastier in person! the outer third of the papers, at least, are beyond what could pass as distressed. Though I will try to salvage parts!
Aw, I’m sorry the pages got ruined! But looking forward to seeing how the cover turned out… Thanks for reviving this craft-fail thread. Unfortunately, I’m sure I will be posting here, too!
What a crushing disappointment. Would you be able to iron the pages that are stuck together and get them more flatterish? Could be transformed into a board book, might still be pretty cool.
@calluna It’s always so disappointing when a quick fun project fails unexpectedly. I’m really curious about the outside. Did it turn out the way you wanted?
We have a stitch and botch thread? Yay!!! How did i not know about this? I will be posting my latest failure today! I put so many hours into it before I finally admitted defeat.
JoyfulClover and I are doing a personal swap. We took vintage cut and sew panels and reinvented them. I bought this tote panel and decided to scale up my TM patch technique so she would have a super textured bag. Scaling up does not work! The whole panel warped and no amount of stitching could fix it. You cannot have a warped tote bag. This was sooooo many hours of hand stitching until I gave up. I ended up starting over and the second project turned out to be much cooler. I will post a link after she receives.
Edit: @JoyfulClover received the item, so I can tag her and remove the blur. JoyfulClover, now you know why it took me an eternity to complete this swap. Who knows? Maybe I can salvage it and make a Halloween pillow.
Look how textural it is! And I can see the remaining bits you repurposed!
I’m so sorry this didn’t work out, but I can see all the work! And really appreciate the effort. I hope inspiration hits and you are able to do something with it one day!
A while back I followed a needlepunch class with a few friends. It was a lot of fun, the teacher had prepared a few designs and provided us with all the tools, yarn and fabric. I chose the Girl with the pearl earring design. I completed about half of it during the class and put everything away when I got home.
Recently I dug it up from the cupboard with the intention of finishing it. You work from the back while doing needlepunch so I hadn’t really seen the front yet. Well, ehm, I’m not really sure if it’s worth finishing:laughing: Turns out doing really detailed designs is very, very difficult. The teacher’s sample piece looks much better! needlepunch - zoownatas
She looks so surprised , lol. I have to admit, this cracked me up . It seems like working from the back without seeing the front to guide you would be really difficult and take a ton of practice!
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(Linda -2024 Choose Projects that You Want to Do :us:)
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I would finish it and say it was the princess in Frozen…
Though I will try to salvage parts!
, lol. I have to admit, this cracked me up 
. It seems like working from the back without seeing the front to guide you would be really difficult and take a ton of practice!