Flowering Plum Tests

Silk wrapped around a rock from Auburn.
Dye Bath flowering plum, eucalyptus, and a copper bowl. 

Silk wrapped around a rock from Auburn, same dye bath.
Pomegranate tea bags, with eucalyptus.

Eco Dyeing on Fabric

I have done 2 groups of dyeing, since the class with India Flint.

First Day:

Flowering plum, eucalyptus, and a old copper bowl in the dye bath. Above is a photo of a wool sample tied around a copper pipe. The areas that touched the copper pipe and where on the outside of the bundle turned a dark green. The pointy eucalyptus leaves (not the scientific name :) I found while hiking and I picked the most crusty leaves I could find, they had spots all over and the edges are chewed up. After dyeing, I strained the plants and kept the dye in a glass mason jar, to use again. The leafs from the dye bath I put in the pages of an old phone book to keep them flat and I plan to use them again and see what happens.

Second Day:

Flowering plum (lots of it) in the dye bath. This time I tried dipping the flowering plum leaves in "iron water" before laying them on the fabric. - I can post photos of the results tomorrow. 

Iron water:

Put water in a rusty metal bucket, added rusty bits that I found at a metal salvage yard in Redwood City. Then I added a cup of vinegar. Letting this sit for days.

Happy Dyeing . . .

Wayfarer's Windfall Cloth with India Flint

Samples stitched together before we cut into them.

Some of my samples.

Plants on wool cloth before rolling.

After dyeing waiting to be opened.

After opening.

Wool cloth wrapped and tied around a found rusty piece from a lantern.

Materials for eco printing.

Tin Thimble, darling shop in a fruit packing barn in Loomis. A must see for any fiber artist.

American River near Auburn, where I stayed. Went hiking on the western states trails.

Hiking in a meadow on Friday.

Needle Felted Character

These characters were dry needle felted. The bodies were wet felted.
The funky Gnome is my creation.

Checks and nose are added to the initial head shape.

Top view of nose.

Next you can see the mouth and chin forming.

The eye socket . . .

Ears and color details added next.

The finished piece is a wine cozy.

Baby Quilt

Quilt completed during my annual sewing retreat in March.

Embroidery for baby Weaver.

Back is organic cotton, purchased fabric at Hearts Fabrics in Santa Cruz.

Chartreuse Nuno Felted Scarf

For the last three years my mother and I have taken a felting class from Judtih Colvin. This year we created a Nuno felted scarf and a hat. We like to try what we have learned on our own; yesterday was a felting day in my kitchen. We purchased silk Devore from Thai Silks in Los Altos. The floral design doesn't take the dye and won't felt with wool fibers since it is a rayon. I like to give credit to Judith, as she came up with this design, and I hope you enjoy seeing this magical process.

Start with 2 1/2 yards of silk, cut the fabric in half to make two scarfs out of the yardage. Trim the edges around the designs that are rayon. This will create a discontinuous edge. Start with bubble wrap or a sheet of plastic (pool cover) with the smooth side facing up, then a sheet of plastic,  and last the silk fabric placed right side down. 

Start with one very thin layer, the fiber overlaps the edge only 1/4".

The second thin layer in opposing directions.
You only need two thin layers of fine merino wool.

Place netting over the area and wet down with cool water and roll up as you move along the length of the piece.

Once piece is completely layered with fiber, start the fulling process. This is the labor intensive part, which can take hours. Using hot water, and soap, you basically "man handle" the piece once you can see the fiber coming through the silk. 

Here is our work space, in my breakfast knock. Risers under my table are a must.

Once you are happy with the size of your piece, you are ready to dye.
Here are the dye pots on my kitchen stove.

Acid dye from Dharma Trading. Acid dyes are used on animal fiber like wool and silk. Mom used Twilight Grey, turned out more like a dark teal. We liked it, but it was not our intention. I choose Chartreuse which matched the sample that Dharma Trading had at the store. I am very pleased with this color.

Chartreuse in the pot.

My kitchen, towels on the floor, so we won't get dye on them. 

Mom's Twilight Grey Scarf

Scarf is still wet

Dried and ironed

Thank you Judith for teaching us. We throughly enjoy this process and are so thankful for you and your sheep. For those that want to try this, you can purchase fiber from Judith at her website:
http://www.judithcolvindesigns.com
If you have the chance to take a class from Judith, I highly recommend it.

Patchwork Collage Fabric

Have been experimenting with this collage technique using my dyed fabrics. Above is a small bag I made. This was a gift that MaryLou was given at my sew group holiday party. This technique starts with 2" X 2" squares, layers of machine quilting, with a final decoration using the cover stitch on my serger.

Squares laid out and ready to quilt.

Horizontal and vertical stitching, using two different grey threads.

Cover stitch curved over grid.

Finished bag, was given to Sangeeta for a birthday gift.

This combines silk with some of my dyed cotton.