the first sign of Fall...

CLICK ON THE IMAGES FOR CLOSE-UPS

this was the only leaf lying on the ground. all the leaves on the Chinese Tallow tree are still green and in tact. the first one to fall...

such an unusual configuration of color

i did finish the small silk piece that i've been showing you. i'm now working on the edge...some crocheted dangly bits. hope they will be finished by my next post.

15" x 15" habotai silk squares with an embroidered cotton backing

another idea for a toggle and some ball buttons...

did some weaving on the back threads of the label and added some hand dyed silk edges

2 more ball buttons for my fun time cloth...with piping this time

i watched a very interesting video this week on the history of knitting in the UK. thought you might enjoy it. you will find it here. for some reason, it starts near the end, so just move the bar all the way to the beginning. it is worth watching the whole thing.

i did promise you another knitting sample. this one is for double knitting. the pattern shows up on both sides so it's a double thickness. there is no wrong side. and you will find the tutorial videos for double knitting here.

double knitting...i drew a graph for a checkerboard pattern

i'm doing black bean dyeing today so hope i can show you some results next time. the beans soaked for 24 hours and the liquid has been drained off. i'm getting ready to mordant the fabric with alum and cream of tartar and then into the dye bath.

 

the temperature has started to cool down so the days are much more comfortable. hope you are all having a great weekend.

blogger is not cooperating today so some words and images might be oddly placed.

where do i start....

i did so many things this week that i can't possibly get them all into this one post so just a few of them....
the top of the silk cloth is finished and i'm almost finished embroidering french knots on the back. just french knots scattered in color blocks to match the colors of embroidery thread used on the front. it will be stitched today and i will start working on the edging.

click on the images for close-ups...

pale pink cotton backing with french knots

i did some more smocking on the toile fabric i'm using in my 'fun times' cloth. haven't worked on that cloth in a while. i used a section of the smocking to make a toggle...something Karen demonstrated this week in Simply Stitch 2.

smocking on the toile fabric

the bottom toggle is the newly made one with smocking in the middle and web stitches on the edges.

i did start the embroidery based on the watercolor i posted previously. i'm using white dupioni silk and floche thread.

those are bullion knots stitched on the bumpy bits. i stitched those on before cutting out the circles and applying it to the base cloth.

i have lots of what looks like a rayon thread that my grandma gave to me way back in the 1970s and i decided to try using it in my bobbin lace. she used it to crochet doilies. i thought it might be too slick but it does hold the tension needed and is quite nice to work with.

a lace pricking of leaves. just started doing the leaves and a couple of stems. i have lots of different shades of this rayon thread so i'm mixing them up to give a variegated look.

for those of you who like to try new knitting patterns....this one was new to me and is called 'Cross Stitch Knitting'. i just loved the way it looked and had to try it. there is a video here if you would like to have a go at it. it's quite simple once you see how it's done.

this is my sample with some yarn i had left over. i just love it.

i'll have another knitting sample for you next time. i'm working on it right now and it's not quite finished.

the weather is slightly cooler and we've had a bit of rain which has been wonderful. more expected today.
my plumbago does so well this time of year. glad i can see it out of my kitchen window.

blue plumbago

hope you're all having a great weekend and i'll see you next time.

working with watercolors....

i watched this video on facebook this week and it inspired me to take out my watercolors once again. i love the look of a watercolor painting but have not practiced enough to get good at using this medium. this video gave me some good pointers and i did something i hope to transfer to cloth....not in color but in white.

click on the images for close ups.

watercolors and inktense pencils

i'm still having fun with my pleater that i showed you in my last post. i'm trying out different fabrics and will probably make a sampler of some kind.

a double layer of cheesecloth through the pleater. the selvedged edge makes a nice finished ruffle.

this is cotton lawn with some iron on transfers applied and run through the pleater.

i decided to smock some of this to open up the pleats. this is 'my kind of smocking' i don't really know how to smock correctly.

i'm close to finishing the top of my nine patched irregular pleated piece. i have to decide on how to edge it and what type backing to use.

15" x 15" irregularly pleated squares with french knots and embroidered bands...all on habotai silk cloth.

so it's been a busy, enjoyable, productive week here. we finally got some good rain yesterday and things are looking green again. the temperature has cooled down. it was actually in the 60s this morning and delightful. hope you all have a good weekend.

mostly pleating this week....

i'm making good headway on the pleated nine patch i showed you last week. it's here if you missed it. i have 3 more patches to do before i sew it all together and a few more bands of embroidery need to be done.

click on the images for close-ups.

doing the embroidery on such a narrow band of silk is a bit fiddly

i did find a good buy on ebay for a pleater so i now have a new toy to play with...i'm loving all the experimenting with different types of cloth. i'll probably just make a sampler with all the experiments to use as a reference.

lots of needles to thread. moving the needles into different positions takes some patience. i should have taken a picture of the needle. it is a strange shape as it curves in the middle to fit properly into the roller.

my first try was with habotai silk. the fabric is rolled on a dowel so i could feed the fabric into the roller evenly.

a 56" length of silk made a 5" pleated section. this machine eats up fabric voraciously.

the next 2 experiments...the cotton lawn was a bit too stiff but the organdy or nylon (not sure what it is. it was a runner with a ruffle around it) pleated like a dream.

the cloth has to be quite fine to go through the bars and needles. anxious to put some of my hand dyed cloth through but trying to experiment a bit before doing that. the pleater didn't come with instructions so i need to find a good reference book for some help and ideas.

i acquired another piece of beautiful lace that looks like tenerriffe lace but i'm not really sure. it might be machine made. it will be perfect around the collar of the linen smock i showed you a couple of posts back. i took a small section and washed it in oxy-clean and it turned to pure white which was probably its original color. i might wash the whole piece now and then tea dye it a bit since the linen smock is a beige color.

the lace has crocheted balls on some of the edges. i have instructions for those so i can make a few more if i need to.

here you can see the little section on top that was washed in oxy-clean. i love that stuff.

and last night i was playing with the light and some of my free motion embroidery.

free motion embroidery with bits of lace stitched in...on cheesecloth

it is September but the weather has not cooled down much. still mostly very hot days. thinking about all of you who have been dealing with a bit too much rain. hope you are all staying safe.

pleating of sorts...

my latest obsession is forms of pleating. Karen Ruane demonstrated pleating on her little pleating machine and i've been experimenting ever since. i'm doing another form of irregular pleating by hand and am loving the way it's turning out. i've completed two 5" square patches so far.

click on the images for close-ups.

habotai silk, pleated and tacked down to a base cloth with french knots. a 5/8" embroidered band between the patches that are 5" x 5"

the plan is for a nine patch of these silk, pleated squares with the embroidered band between each patch. i have no idea what it will be used for...maybe just to admire, as it is so soft and light.
i already have a label for the back. i embroidered the first band in white, forgetting that i wanted to do it in pink and other pastel colors, so that first band now has my initials and the year and will be a perfect label.

a label for the back of the nine-patch

i continue to go to bobbin lace class on Tuesdays and still struggle to do this craft on my own, but i do enjoy it, so i continue. here are the last 3 pieces i finished. they will, eventually, be stitched onto a cloth project.

bobbin lace on a silk eco-dyed background

and couldn't resist this cloth at Joann's last week...don't those bonbon yarns match perfectly. i have some ideas in mind for this.

nice way to buy a variety of yarn colors for a small project

we finally got a good rain on Wednesday night...with lots of thunder boomers and lightning. lots of damage in my area with falling trees on houses and roads. the trees are so dry from the drought. i guess the trees, being so dry and unstable,  couldn't handle that downpour and strong winds. i was lucky and had no damage.

NOTE: Karen Ruane is contemplating another class real soon. it will include so many wonderful techniques and you will be able to just watch and/or participate when some technique appeals to you. check today's blog post for more information.

some unusual lace...

i found this lace on ebay and had to have it. it was referred to as 'turtle lace'. i guess because it looks like a turtle...i wasn't sure. i first just acquired a few pieces and was curious to know if it was hand made or machine made so i started taking one turtle apart. it is about 3/8" wide.

click on the images for close ups.

looks like a warp of fine thread and a form of needle lace and picots done with a thicker thread

i still wasn't sure but was leading toward machine made. and then i found some more on ebay with a label. it was made by the Bear Brand company in Germany so obviously machine made. i did acquire 5 more yards and have already found a couple of places where i will use it.

the 5 yards were wrapped within this very old, worn out band. i washed it all in oxy-clean and it came out beautiful.

still playing with cloth in many different ways, all inspired by Karen Ruane and my fellow classmates.
i tried some lattice smocking this week. it's very fiddly and at first tedious but once i really understood what i was doing, i got a bit obsessed. will have to go back to this and play a bit more.

not yet perfect but i'm getting there

also did some stitching on printed paper as demonstrated by Karen.

printed one of my cloth images on cardstock, added a bit of lace and did some free motion stitching

here, i printed the crochet nest dolls image (from last post) on heavy printer paper with some white lace on the right edge.

the knitting and crochet patterns i've  been printing out, when i see something that inspires me, have been piling up...will i ever get to them...i wonder.

103 degree yesterday and 104 today and no rain yet. the lake levels continue to decrease....but, Autumn is on its way so there's hope.

wishing all my Jewish friends a Happy New Year. wishing you health and happiness and lots of miracles for the new year.

a bit of a diversion...

i saw this crocheted pattern for nest dolls here and i couldn't resist. if you go to that link and scroll down, you will see the patterns for the small, medium and large dolls. i will be giving them as a gift. i did mine a bit differently than the pattern. they were supposed to be sisters but that little one looks like a little old lady so maybe she is the grandmother of the other two.

click on the images for close-ups.

 

 

they do fit into each other

i did finish the 6" square patch i showed you last week. now i need to make 3 more that are similar.

all stitched down with embroidery added

and a great find on ebay. i've been looking for a linen smock that i could embellish with some vintage lace and napkins that my grandmother left me and this one is perfect. it's 100% linen as are the vintage linens i have and in the same color family. another project i need to make time for.

the front with 3 pockets and a tab

the back with a pleat down the middle

it's been another productive week with lots of wonderful new information coming from Karen Ruane's Simply Stitch 2 class.

playing with patchwork...

of a slightly different kind...free motion embroidery using cheesecloth with scrap bits of cloth and lace. i learned this technique from Karen Ruane. Simply Stitch 2 starts on Monday. check it out here.

 click on the images for close-ups.

2½" x 2½"

2½" x 2½"

6" x 6"

these 6" x 6" patches will be the corners of my Fun Times cloth.

there were 5 winners in my giveaway last week and since only 5 people chose a number, everyone was a winner.

a huge treasure unearthed...

huge both in size and usefulness. it is 8" in diameter and will hold all my scraps from the white work i've been doing with Karen Ruane. i love that it's see through. i bought it at the thrift store several years ago and forgot all about it.

click on the images for close-ups.

it's light weight and holds a lot

still working on my 'Fun Times' cloth. it takes a long time to do all that embellishing but it is a labor of love. i am truly enjoying it. here are some sneak peeks.

lots of embroidery on the bias band and onto the ruffle

some free motion embroidery petals added

...and if you haven't already seen yesterday's post. there is a giveaway here. winners will be chosen on Tuesday evening. you will need to leave a comment with one of the numbers shown on that post to be included in the drawing.

eyelash yarn and lace GIVEAWAY...

continuing to unearth long lost treasures that are in my crafts room. i've given lots away locally. thought i'd share some of it with all of you who follow my blog. there are 4 different sets of items. decide which one you would like and leave a comment on this post indicating the number of the item. they are numbered 1-4. i will draw the names on Tuesday evening and post the winner on Wednesday.

click on the images for close-ups.

3 balls polyester eyelash yarn...20 grams each

3 balls polyester eyelash yarn...20 grams each

2 balls eyelash yarn...50 grams each (lavender and navy blue)

bubble gum pink lace...synthetic

there is quite a bit of the lace so depending on how many people want it, i might divide it up. it is not a pale pink. it is a deep bubble gum pink.
there are lots of patterns for eyelash yarn. you can google "eyelash yarn patterns" for some examples.
don't forget to indicate the number after your comment.

pretty tins hold unknown treasures...

i have quite a few tins where i store things but it's been so long that i've opened them that i had no idea what i would find inside. one had  all the fabric and instructions for a miniature wedding ring quilt. looks like i only managed one block and gave up...too many tiny pieces, i imagine. i don't really remember. the second tin revealed lots of crochet and knitted samples. i might be able to use some of those...if i remember where they are once the tin is closed. and the third tin, which is my favorite, with the piano keys, was empty. so i will have to find something to put in there. how about you? do you have hidden treasures?

hidden treasures revealed

i finished another long strip on the pink and white cloth i've been working on. it measures 6" x 20". i'm about 2/3 finished so not much more to go.

lots of stitching on this one

the words will be hidden in that little pocket

and this week, Karen Ruane showed us how she makes her pin pillows so i made a little one that is now tied onto my sewing machine so there will be a place for the pins i remove as i'm sewing.

my pin pillow tied onto my sewing machine. it measures 2" x 4"

 click on the images for close-ups.

it's been a good week for me. hope it's been a good one for you as well.