a quilt and life lessons.

this thing.  i finally finished this thing.  nearly two months and three iterations later, it's finally, finally finished.  

finished size measures approximately 24.5" square, and uses a combination of cotton, linen/cotton and silk, dyed using a combination of synthetic and natural dyes (indigo, cutch, madder, sandalwood and alkanet).  this piece incorporated some of the fabric i dyed during shabd's class at TAC i took during the holidays; the fabric had been sitting around patiently since then, waiting for the perfect opportunity to be used.  the natural dyed stuff was done during my huge wave of natural dyeing about a month ago.  

this piece, in all its unfinished glory, had been sitting around gathering dust waiting for me to finish when i finally decided this weekend was going to be the weekend.  little by little and stitch by stitch, it started to come together under the sewing machine, becoming tangible proof that sometimes, all it takes is a decision and the tenacity to stick to it, to get things done.  lessons in life, i guess.  

shop update.

they're finally available! i dyed this rope about a month back when i did all the fabric and yarn dying, and these were amongst the first to go into the dye baths thus the colors turned out much deeper and richer than some of the later fabric/yarn batches.

limited edition cotton sash cord necklaces dyed in either a madder + cutch or indigo + madder colorway in two beaded styles, now for sale in the shop. when i say limited edition, i mean it - there's only four total available in madder + cutch and one available in indigo + madder. while the colors on the rope turned out even better than i had hoped, it's really the beads i'm super excited about. i managed to score these amazing glazed pumice beads with smaller glazed (what looks like) stone beads mixed in, and these guys are just the texture mecca. i mean it, folks. mecca. all sorts of nooks and crannies, caverns and little stubbly goodness abound on these beads, and no two are alike.

there will be also be another update along a similar vein in a couple of weeks on convertible necklace/bracelets, so stay tuned!

sneak peek.

just a couple snaps of some updates coming soon to the shop. all hand dyed with natural dyes, beads alternate between glazed pumice and stone, with the most interesting textures on the surface of the beads. super lightweight, too! ideal for these 95+ degree days we've been having. stay tuned.

natural dyeing part two.

serendipitous pattern in the indigo during oxidization

and...part two, the fabric!  a combination of cotton and cotton/linen fabrics were used, and some ran through the dyes with the yarn in the very first dye batch resulting in super intense, relatively darker colors.  if you find yourself experimenting with natural dyeing in the future, burgess' book is a big help but i've found it's best if used only as a guide.  there are a number of natural dyes not covered in the book that i used such as cutch, alkanet and sandalwood, but there are a variety of resources online such as dharma and this site that can help with figuring out the quantity needed depending on how much stuff you're dying.  i also found that i preferred the lighter, muted shades of each dye rather than its brighter, more intense "true" shade - much of that will come with experimenting with different ratios of dyestuff to fabric and type of fabric than what will typically be relayed in the book.  just something to keep in mind.

left to right: madder first batch, madder later batches, alkanet

left to right: indigo later batches, indigo first batch

left to right: cutch first batch, cutch later batch, sandalwood first batch

left to right: indigo later batch overdyed with cutch, indigo later batch overdyed with madder

i also dyed a ton of little muslin bags i'd bought ages ago, this will hopefully serve as the packaging for some jewelry i hope to release in the next few months (more info about that when the time draws nearer).

left to right: madder, indigo, indigo + madder, indigo, indigo + cutch, cutch, madder

and since one batch of indigo dye goes a long way, i started rummaging through my closet trying to find additional things to dye and came upon this old "sleep shirt" of mine i haven't worn since it was all yucky and stained; one go through the indigo bath and voila, new shirt!  score.

o hai new shirt!

natural dyeing part one.

 

weighing out the alum

cotton dyed in cutch

i've been itching to try natural dyeing since getting rebecca burgess' book 'harvesting color' as part of a christmas gift from chris (and recommended by erin considine, thanks erin!) - i finally got my chance last week after hoarding enough fabric and yarn to finally justify one big enough go at it.  i'm pretty pleased with the results.

the primaries, clockwise: indigo, madder, indigo, indigo, alkanet, cutch

clockwise: madder + cutch, indigo + madder, alkanet + cutch

all indigo + cutch, top and right cutch overdyed with indigo

left: madder + alkanet, right: madder + cutch

cutch + indigo

alkanet + indigo

i used madder, cutch, alkanet, sandalwood and indigo.  the prep process which covers the pre-washing of the yarns and fabrics and mordanting can be pretty time intensive - i learned my lesson to do these well in advance for next time.  

laying out to dry

i combined multiple colors on a few skeins of yarn and some cuts of fabric, my favorite combination thus far is a pale madder combined with a light indigo - it makes a complex mauve/purple/grey shade with variations in both shade and color in the final result:

madder + indigo

i'll have more photos of how the fabric turned out in part two, i ended up with way more photos than i thought i would!  i'll get the post up later this week, stay tuned.

sewing seeds fundraiser.

image courtesy of textile arts center via erin considine

if i didn't already have plans to attend the pete & pete reunion tonight, i would totally be here in a heartbeat.  what a great idea to have a natural dyes CSA, especially since living in NYC i'd be hard pressed to go out and source my own slightly more exotic dyes outside of onion skins and coffee; find more information on sewing seeds here.  please go and support a great idea, if not just to see what goodies shabd, ilana kohn, baggu and erin considine have to auction.  can't wait to see what the folks at TAC have in store!