Best sewing pillow forms & foam according to redditors

It’s not tempurpedic brand, but you can buy memory foam for crafts that may satisfy you in the same way. You can typically find it at craft/fabric stores, or like this on Amazon.

Some of those polystyrene beans can be noisy, the more expensive models often use shredded 'memory foam', usually some form of viscoelastic foam, usually low-resilience polyurethane (LRPu).

You can buy the shredded foam by the pound; let it expand, then substitute volume-for-volume in place of the existing beads. Use a shopvac with a drywall dust bag insert to remove the existing beads or they will get everywhere and stick to everything.

First: get yourself a nice big pad of 18x24 newsprint, some charcoal (a mix of soft vine charcoal and compressed will give you nice range of values and edges to draw with) a kneaded eraser to pull out highlights and correct mistakes, and a chamois cloth (get it really nice and dirty with charcoal) for laying down smooth tones. It's messy, it's weird, but it gives you much more range than a pencil and costs almost nothing. Working larger and sitting further away will help you to form the habit of drawing from the shoulder for smoother line quality. You want this, especially while you're in the early learning stages. Your first step is to teach your body and eyes what to draw, not how to draw X Y or Z or even how to tattoo. That comes much later, and I'm glad to see you already knew that.

Before you jump into the figure focus on basic geometric forms - basic white cubes, cylinders, cones, spheres, etc. Draw them from life, not photographs or imagination. Something like this would be great. I know, they suck - every student I've ever had has let me know, but now they're off making Big Hero 6, League of Legends, and many other awesome projects and would tell you the same. These basic forms help you by reducing variables so you can focus on how light wraps around the form. The difference between a highlight, form light, form shadow, a core shadow, reflected light, and a cast shadow is difficult to pick out when you're dealing with lots of subtle plane changes. This is where you learn the basics of value control to distinguish between different levels of light. Lay down these values with masses, not individual lines. It's kinda half-way between drawing and painting with a broad brush by using the side of the charcoal rather than just the tip.

Certain types of light/shadow produce different edge qualities, pay attention to how hard or soft transitions are from light to dark and think about the physics behind it to understand why - pinning up some light fabric on the wall with a single light off to the side is a fantastic way to see this - the cloth catches the light, creating form and cast shadows as the light wraps around the folds and reflects a little light back onto nearby surfaces.

The goal here is to understand how to represent the light accurately to describe the form (that is all you're doing as an artist- recreating light to trick the eye, it doesn't matter what the subject is) When you're feeling confident with this (and probably filled up 1-3 of those newsprint pads) move on to still life set ups and introduce some more complex forms and add a dash of color (1-2 at a time, keep it simple) Feel free to start playing with the figure, but you'll be hard pressed to find anything more complex and subtle to attempt. Without a teacher present, Andrew Loomis books will be an invaluable resource once you get to this stage. They're free online as PDFs for the most part.

The down was about $70 for 500g from this Amazon seller. If you look in one of the pictures where I had the outer shell laid out there are some small grey pillows on the floor. Those pillows are how the down is shipped. They are ~200g of down each.

This was my first time using down, but I thought it was pretty good quality.

I don't have any handy, but I can put these on order:
https://www.amazon.com/Feather-Goose-Repair-Pillow-Feathers/dp/B00UYAE17E

Is 4 lbs enough?

Shit I’m sorry, each the top and the bottom are $30 not combined, I did it in March and I misremembered this is the bottom and heres the top there’s a chart for how much you need

I'm in the exact same boat. I dont like the look of a futon mattress folded halfway, so I'm looking at this. Getting two of them side by side is almost the exact dimensions of a full size mattress. And when not in use, Im thinking of having one serve as a backrest. I just havent been able to pinpoint how much it would be to have upholstered.

Can someone explain why this sub seems to like these things?

I am of the opinion one should learn something the analogue way until experimenting with a tablet. For one, I find digital art to be lacking texture and sometimes emotion. People wonder "did this person just put an image into photoshop and trace details?"

I would highly recommend spending $20 mastering these basic shapes under a single light source. One could even use an egg, a marshmallow, a shoebox, etc instead.

A 9 year old could draw an accurate sphere from observation no problem even if they can't yet understand the theory of light and form. By this observational exercise, the theory diagram will be self-evident to your son and intuitive over time. Later, the inverse of these forms (a bowl, the inside of a shoebox) are equally important.

Given this knowledge, your son will be well equipped later on, and perhaps the tablet could be a gift for going to middle/high school.

tldr: IMHO a tablet offers little chance to improve one's art compared to a marshmallow.

It's not attractive.

​

Put into perspective, sitting back in a recliner, legs spread.

Top layer of foam has a half-circle cutout the same size as the launch. Rounded the protruding edges a bit.

Bottom layer is set back a bit. I decided to make the overall thing a bit big to start with so it would hold the launch well. Might shrink it some as i fine tune it.

The whole thing sits flat on the recliner in front of me and holds the unit at the right position, it never falls over or has problems.

​

Currently I sit it on one end of a towel, facing me and lay the other end over the top and it provides a complete towel cover for the brace. Was working out the fine tuning of it before I attempt to make a vinyl cover for it.

My next thing after making a cover is to see if I can add velcro on the rounded inner and put some on the launch so it can be positioned to ride a bit higher than against the pubic bone. Currently I use a rolled up hand towel to raise it.

​

I have a few other things I've done. Some case modes and suction mods. Was half-debating posting some "Boggleby's Tips" kind of posts but wasn't sure if anyone would care.

​

Anyway here's the foam brace (2 views) the black stuff along one edge isn't dirt or muck, it's where I used a pen to mark the cut. :)

​

https://imgur.com/gallery/CBVjaL7

​

This is the foam I used, we had some for another use. (If this is an affiliate link i cannot tell, please don't shoot me if it is): https://www.amazon.com/FoamTouch-Upholstery-Cushion-Density-Standard/dp/B00UKG6S1E/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=FoamTouch+Upholstery+Foam+Cushion+Medium+Density+Standard%2C+4%22+L+x+24%22+W+x+72%22+H&qid=1562470221&s=gateway&sr=8-1

​

Adhesive spray to bond the two layers that will not damage teh foam: (Trust me, do not use this indoors, if you get overspray you are going to regret it): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AZ735/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

> The head model I can't find.

My only suggestion for this is to buy blank-faced styrofoam wig head to mold your plastic over.

> I'll also be tinting it black.

Instead of dye, use a window tint sheet. Dye won't make the plastic opaque. At best, it will give it a very faint shade of gray and your face will be completely visible. If you're wanting to obscure your face, window tint is your best bet.

You mentioned looking for the best deal, so I’m assuming you aren’t looking to pay a premium for down that is certified as ethically sourced. If you’re not looking fir that, then you would probably be happy with this.

Unite Down Bulk Natural Goose... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072MFLZCP?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

I’m very happy with the quality and it costs a lot less than what you are looking at. It is advertised as 750 FP, and it seems to be at least that. It arrived in a few days and weighed as advertised. They sell different amounts. I paid $45 for 16 oz. the quilt feels great.

https://imgur.com/gallery/wo4rGv8

For what it’s worth, I’m going to pay the premium for certified down next time.

> saying goodbye to VR-face

and also goodbye to light leak around the sides/temples which is also addressed. I'm going to do this for sure!

I ordered

(1) 2" x 18" x 18"

(1) 3" x 18" x 18" (going to see about 3" in spots. for science)

https://www.amazon.com/Upholstery-Cushion-Density-Replacement-Padding/dp/B00EV3W43S?th=1

I recently used this to make 5 foam batts in a few sizes.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N6RQ3HJ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are great for larger pieces and plates. They don't work well for small 1 pound bowls, they just slide away. I epoxied the foam to a wood bat and it holds marvelously. With a sharpie you can put circles on the foam for centering and it is very forgiving of odd lipps/imperfect circularity.

Am I missing something? There's 850 down on amazon for a better price than and that's not sale price

Edit https://www.amazon.com/Feather-Filling-Bedding-Pillow-Standard/dp/B06WLR4W4V/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1511328368&sr=8-12&keywords=850+down

>I don't quite understand the difference between open cell and closed cell foam.

Think the difference between a sponge (open cell) and a styrofoam cup (closed cell).

"Pluck Foam" is a pretty popular product for applications like this. Basically it's open-cell foam with a grid cut into it most of the way through the foam pad. This lets you "pluck out" various squares to approximate the shape of the object you're wanting to protect. Commonly used when transporting minis for wargaming.

Not sure you'd find some that thin, though. https://www.amazon.com/SRA-Cases-Pre-Scored-Insert-EN-AC-FG-A019/dp/B00NPWLUHW/ this one is $11 for a bit over a square foot, but it's also 5x thicker than what you're talking about.

Acoustic foam might be closer to what you're wanting, it's certainly in the right price and dimension range, but it's also got that "egg crate" pattern that might be annoying for your purposes. https://www.amazon.com/acoustic-soundproofing-insulation-soundproof-dampening/dp/B076JNCQ39/

Upholstery foam might also be what you're looking for. https://www.amazon.com/Density-Cushion-Replacement-Mattress-Padding/dp/B074TTHFD8/

Was browsing amazon for foam for a work project. https://www.amazon.com/IZO-All-Supply-CentriPUR-US-Upholstery/dp/B074TTHFD8/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_201_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=05GJMK83VEYM6KB5D80F

I feel the glass would cause more problems overall. It'd be heavier, and if it were to fall you'd have broken glass on both sides of the print.

For backers, are you looking at something like foam boards? I used to work at Aaron Brothers before they merged into Michael's, and you could buy full sheets of board from them.

32x40 sheets were about $12 if I recall; to save money you could maybe piece together the 27x41 to get the last inch, or buy the next board size up (which might be better since it sounds like you have multiple things to frame).

They also have the backing paper that seals the frame, and is usually on a roll like this, specifically the blue-grey color. That was sold ~50c a yard, and I haven't looked very hard to get it in bulk. I always saw it referred to as "preservation sealing paper" or "archival backing roll."

Glazing, they could sell you as well, but they may not be willing to sell you an entire box.

That seems like it would be annoying to use, the "hot spots" (where your arm makes the most contact with your desk) are the only part you should need to worry about if you're trying to reduce pain. If you want a pillow top desk you could buy a sheet of memory foam, cut it to size, wrap it in a pillow case (if you want to get fancy), and glue it down with some caulk to keep it from slipping (or just glue a rubber mat to the bottom to give it some grip.)

You can also buy it in a flat roll out sheet like the old school stuff but better.

Amazon Link

Have you thought about making your own bag? Going to a goodwill and picking up an old tent (for the nylon) and buying a lb of 700 fill down would cost you about 80 bucks and could make a really good bag if you have access to a sewing machine.
https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Solutions-USA-Brand-Hungarian/dp/B01DYSGKTE/ref=pd_sbs_201_14?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EWBK2W2ZJ16EJ2WZ8TCG

Id probably go with a decent 20 degree bag and stock up on clothing layers. I think its worth it to spend more on a down bag than a synthetic if you care about weight. Have you looked at the cheapo chinese knockoffs on alibaba?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DUYLJ52/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_4zFCybMWPTQXS

Honestly I would recommend selling your zpacks quilt via r/ulgeartrade or facebook and use the funds to buy a quilt with better designed footbox. Adding down wont solve your cold feet problem, and will be a messy hastle.

Footbox comparison: https://imgur.com/a/B0Xnz
See how the zpacks is basically an envelope with no room for your toes? So your toes stick into your insulation. Vs the second style which is an actual box and has room for your feet without them sticking into your down. I know this is not the answer you want but i hope it helps you in the long run

If youre stubborn and don't want to sell the zpacks then here's some down, I've bough from rose feather before. I don't think it's RSD certified but it's good quality stuff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAE17E/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdb_t1_y9UIAbE5HE61F

I bought this one because its pink: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UY17EGI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_gHpCybZE62A1E

The color switch works better than I thought. Id say find a cheaper alternative than Sephoras.

The kid would be way warmer with a ½" high density upholstery foam Mybecca 0.5 x 24 x 72 High Density Upholstery Foam Cushion (Seat Replacement, Upholstery Sheet, Foam Padding) Made in USA 1/2" X 24" X 72" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ3ZBPW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_zUoLAbHPK789G and some reflectrix

How much foam? I get upholstery foam from Amazon. http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EV3W43S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1