Learn to sew. Sewing isn't really all that difficult. It's an acquired skill. This will take time and it's more trial and error than anything else. Sewing is both an art and a science. There are no hard and fast rules. Your local fabric stores may have classes. If not, your local school district may have a community education program that offers a course.

If you have nobody around to teach you, there a lots of books available to learn from. I recommend this one: The Complete Book of Sewing: A practical step-by-step guide to sewing techniques; DK Publishing, ISBN 0-7894-0419-2. It's got lots of color photos of tools and techniques. It's a great reference book. Hell, I still don't know everything.

 

All those crafty accessories. Basically, I comb every inch of craft and hobby stores to find stuff that will work. All those Sailor Moon accessories are made this way. You just have to look around and use your creativity.

 

Tools. The right tools can give you better results. For example, I keep a supply of paintbrushes, paint trays, sandpaper, and toothpicks around. I've found for clay sculpting, the wood tools work better than the plastic ones-- they don't stick and smooth out the clay better. I keep a cordless drill around too! Comes in handy.

 

Adhesives. Using the right glue can make a difference. Folks, hot glue just doesn't cut it for everything. Hell, I don't even use the stuff at all. E-6000 will hold together just about everything and is much stronger. Depending on the material, I also use styrofoam glue, Tacky glue, and fabric glue. I always do a test, however.