Everything you need to know about smoothing worbla!

I  I When I first began working woth worbla I hated it. Hate is a strong word but suiting. It took me many tried and a grey deal of wasted material to make anything worthwhile from the stuff. 

Of all the skills needed to work with worbla, smoothing the seams is both the most valuable and hardest earned. So, dear reader, in the interest of saving you some time, frustration and wallet strain I give you; everything you need to know about smoothing worbla! 

You'll need:

-worbla

-a good heat gun (just pull up your pants and invest in this tool- if you buy the crappy ones you'll just kill them constantly.) 

-a pressing tool- some people use the pressing thingy from a mortar and pestle (not sure if the pressing thingy is the mortar or pestle...). I personally use a long since dead portable USB charger- it's got a metal casing and it serves the purpose, plus I would have thrown it out anyway! 

-a buck to press the worbla over. I use a variety of bowls for round things and glass heads easily acquired from any antique store for mask type applications. 

First things first, heat a pice of worbla and spread it over the pressing buck as best you can. There will be wrinkles and that's okay, those will be smoothed later. Look at this wrinkly piece of junk! It's still salvageable! 

Secondly, get your handy pressing tool and heat gun- apply a bit of heat only to the spot to be worked on. 

Now it's time to go to town with your pressing tool. I both roll out the seams like you would cookie dough with a rolling pin: 

And I use the end of the tool to more or less bash the thing into submission with small taps and dragging motions: 

It takes time, and a bit of patience, but this is the bestetiod I've come across for making seamless joints. Not to mention it saves a ton of prep work with filler material at the pre painting/paint prep stages. 

For inquiring minds, this is the rest of said project coming to life:

With filler and ready for paint prep;

Happy worbla working!

As always, all information and photos from this blog are the intellectual property of dark knits boutique and may not be reproduced or copied without express written consent.