The stitch and glue method was developed by woodwork teacher Ken Littledyke for the manufacture of canoes, using plywood panels joined by fiberglass tape and resin. The technique was then popularised by the first TV DIY expert, Barry Bucknell, in about 1964. The method was adopted, substituting copper wire ties rather than fishing line as in the early Littledyke examples, for the construction of the Mirror Dinghy. The Mirror is so named because the design was sponsored by The Daily Mirror newspaper, a fact reflected by the historically red sails. The Daily Mirror apparently wanted to bring cheap sailing to the masses. As such, unlike other construction techniques of the day, which required specialist skills and tools, Stitch and Glue was supposed to put boat-building within the reach of the average public.
Stitch and glue has become one of the dominant techniques in amateur boatbuilding. While the use of relatively few plywood panels (which minimizes the joints and makes the construction easier and faster) limits the shapes possible, the simplicity and low cost of the stitch and glue technique makes it the method of choice among most amateur boatbuilders. Simple software CAD packages are available for designing stitch and glue boats, and there are many Internet bulletin boards, newsgroups, and mailing lists dedicated to the subject of stitch and glue boats and various popular stitch and glue designs. Stitch and glue is not inherently limited to small designs though, as demonstrated by the boats made by Sam Devlin, who has applied the technique to making boats as long as 45 feet.[2]
Make crafts with small kids using construction paper and glue. These are typically simple crafts that even a preschooler can put together with very little assistance. Construction paper comes in many colors and can be used for everyday crafts as well as special holiday projects. So grab your paper, glue and scissors and get small kids involved in craft projects.
Using a piece of cardboard or poster board as a base, construct a word quilt with construction paper, glue, and markers or crayons. Cut different colors of construction paper into squares that are the same size. Help your child come up with a theme for her word quilt, and use the theme to create words and pictures on the squares you have cut out. You can divide the squares up and use half for pictures and the other half for words. For example, if the theme is space, draw pictures of planets and use words such as stars on the squares. Your child can glue the words and pictures to the cardboard in whatever pattern she likes.
