Help - My dryer squeaks!

Dryer work in progress!

I enjoy creating from scratch, making up new ways to do things and fixing broken things.  It's one of my passions.  All of this was great when I was sewing little rag dolls and snaking out the shower drain.

Recently a little problem developed at my house.  The dryer.  Now I like the dryer as much as the next person.  It's a modern convenience that I really and truly appreciate.  Back in 2000 or so the dryer in my building broke and for one long summer my entire apartment was strewn with clothes lines.  NEVER AGAIN!

As a real life grown up & home owner I feel that it is my responsibility to fix and repair appliances promptly and with the least amount of fuss.  The problem with the dryer is that it wasn't broken, broken.  It was making a noise.  So, I did what any normal human being would do, I ignored it and hoped that the noise would go away.  I closed the basement door when the dryer was running and we couldn't hear it.  Problem solved.

Well cut to a month later - the dryer is so loud that you can hear it in every room of the house even with door closed.  It was time to act.

I googled "my dryer squeaks" and discovered that this is actually a very common problem.  It seems that the rollers or bearing [which ever my dryer has] needed to be replaced.

I called the local dryer repair people and was informed that for the low, low price of $230 they could send someone to my house to tell me what was wrong with the dryer.  I already knew what was wrong with it.  I needed it repaired.

Apparently, fuel from the repair shop to my house costs $230.  That fee could not be waived.  The kind repairman, I was told, would be able to repair my dryer for $230 + parts and labor.

That's when I decided to cut out the middle man and tackle this sucker on my own.  First, though, I did the calculations.  Cost of dryer repair = $230 + parts and labor.  Cost of a new dryer = $500 on sale.   Cost of new to me/used dryer = $200-$300.  Cost for me to fix dryer = cost of parts + shipping.

Even if I totally screw up and break the dryer the whole deal won't cost me too much.  So, with nothing to lose, I took the dryer apart.

Many thanks to the good people at AppliancePartsPros.com and RepairClinic.com!  I was able to troubleshoot and repair the dryer on my own for about $80 + 2-3 hours of my time (since I had NO IDEA) what I was doing!

Turns out, there was a groundhog size ball of lint in the blower housing [I think that's what it's called].  The rear bearings were bad, the ground strap was broken, the front bearings were seriously worn and the dryer was off balance.

Taking the drying apart and replacing broken/missing parts was easy.  Getting the dryer belt back on was a BEAST!  But I did it - YAY me!

We are now able to dry clothes in peace and harmony!

Where do I pick up my supermom cape!?

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Edited to add a few pictures that I found in my camera.  These are of the work in progress

I took a picture of the wiring BEFORE I disconnected anything. 
That way I could remember how it all went back together.

This is the dryer drum. 
I replaced 1 tiny piece on the back of this drum to stop the squeak.

This is the drum back inside the dryer. 
I cleaned out a MOUNTAIN of lint before I took this picture!

FIXED!!!!!

Angry Birds Goody Bags

I wanted to make cute fabric goody bags for my son's birthday party but was shocked to discover that Angry Birds fabric is hard to come by.  So, I improvised.

The design is pretty simple and is based on a picture i found for Angry Birds Space.

The process was pretty simple.  Here's what i did.

Total cost for a dozen goody bags was $8.  I bought 1 yard of plain red fabric (on sale), several pieces of felt, red ribbon.  I also used a glue gun.

I ended up not using the thread and opted instead to use a glue gun.  It was MUCH faster than sewing!
If your artistic, you can probably free hand draw the pattern.  If you're not so artistic, here's how you make a pattern.

So that i would have perfect circles, I used a bowl and a shot glass.

I used a bowl and a shot glass to draw the circles.  I made the triangles and the diamond without any help.

Next, cut out the shapes.

The large circle will be used for the eyes and the body.  Cut the large circle in half.

Next make the background for the eyes.

Fold a half circle in half and mark point.

Now for the body.  Take the other (uncut) half circle and fold it in half. 

Mark and cut this circle as pictured. 

This is what your circles should look like.

Now find the small circle.  Mark and cut as pictured.

This will be the white of the eye.


For the top of the beak, mark and cut the diamond as pictured.

Now your pattern is all ready.

If you are making 1 goody bag,

Cut:
1 - black eye piece
1- brown body piece
2- white eye pieces
1- gold lower beak (large triangle)
1- purple tongue (small triangle)
1 - gold upper beak (diamond)

Cut 1 square of red fabric for the goody bag.

Next, lay everything out to make sure that it looks good to you.

Adjust everything so that it's sitting just right then sew or hot glue it all in place.

In terms of placement , i centered the face on the center front of the bag.  I sewed the ribbon tie just above the eyes.

Next, fold the angry bird face in half and sew the back seam.

sew the back seam

Next, adjust the bag so that the face will be flat.  Sew the bottom seem.

sew the bottom seam

Turn the bag, inside out.  Finish the top edge.

Now fill with goodies!!!!