Lightbox

A lightbox makes tracing embroidery designs, doll templates or quilting patterns so much easier – and there are options to fit every budget.

Commercial lightboxes come in various shapes and sizes from compact battery-operated models and A4-size plug-in types through to the full-size A1 light tables used in drafting, architectural and photographic businesses. Some are made from moulded plastic while others have timber or metal surrounds and the light source is usually fluorescent or incandescent, with single or multiple tubes or globes. Lightboxes are available at many large craft shows, by mail order, online, or from photographic or doctors’ suppliers, but they are not cheap. So are there any other possibilities – apart from the sunny window?

With a little ingenuity, there are lots of options. You might already have one in your dining room or lounge room as an extending dining table will do fine. Pull the table apart without the leaves in place, put a sheet of perspex, acrylic or glass over the gap and a lamp underneath – and trace away. A glass-topped coffee table also makes a perfect light table with the addition of a light source!

For working vertically – as on a sun-lit window – a TV tuned to a station that’s not accessible or a computer screen opened to a blank document can suffice – but not if they’re plasma or LCD.

Then there’s an open top-loading washing machine with a window or sheet of perspex over it and a torch inside – it is also at a good working height. Even a clean open oven door can be used with a lamp below it.

Check out kerbside clean-ups or the garden shed for any old windows, or drawers from kitchen cabinets or chests. The framed glass of a single sash or awning window is easy to use and store, while the drawer can be quickly transformed with a pane of glass and a light inside. Sturdy old suitcases or wooden crates are other boxes to look out for.

Anyone who’s handy of course can make their own lightboxes, either from scratch or by recycling items such as those already mentioned. Paint the inside white and mount a fluorescent torch inside so that you can still change the batteries. Or you could check out the pre-wired electric lights designed to be installed under cupboards or in bathrooms.