Some unusual weavings...

There were some comments on Jude's blog this morning that inspired this. The leaves are from bulbs that bloomed several weeks ago. It was easy to stitch through the leaves as they are still pliable but didn't do much stitching. I'm anxious to see what happens to all of these when they dry. The basket shape was made over some twine where it was easy to stick in pins to hold it in place while weaving. I'm going to try leaving it there until it dries.

a velvet heart just for color. wove around the weaving with some linen thread.

did some stitching on this little one--just around the edges

beginnings of a basket

added a couple of strips of cloth for color and to hold it in place

i like the irregularity of the top (bottom here)

Shibori and Beet Juice

I had pickled some beets a while back and when all that was left was the juice, I had to use it for dyeing. The beets were delicious. Will have to make some more. I had bought a white cotton remnant last week and when I went to iron it, I discovered it had fusible on one side. I took some silk chiffon and fused it to the cotton. I then followed Nat's tutorial on Komasu Shibori and put it in the beet juice jar that was out in the sun. I couldn't hold out more than 2 days. I rinsed it out this morning and put it in the dryer and was pleasantly surprised at the results. The cotton side is very light pink but the silk chiffon side is a lovely dusty pink and the design shows up well. Couldn't get the exact colors in the pictures but you get the idea. I'm going to try the left over hanky pieces (see my last post) next which are a sheer cotton.

Komasu shibori stitched

stitches pulled up and ready to dye

in the beet juice for 2 days in the sun

left is the cotton side and right is the silk chiffon side

Bobbin Lace Accessories...

I carry my bobbin lace pillow to class every Tuesday and at home it hangs on a doorknob unless I'm working on the lace. The pillow needed a cover so that the bobbins were secure during transport. I made an over sized cover so that there would be room for all the bobbins and the pincushion. I also made little bags, from vintage embroidered hankies, to hold the bobbins in place. Now when my pillow is hanging on the door, I'm sure nothing will fall out. Now if I could only be that efficient when making the lace...

cotton cover with elastic edge

little bags to hold bobbins

made from vintage hanky

now pillow is secure when hanging on doorknob

Sorry the pictures are a bit fuzzy.

The latest in dyeing and stitching...

I'm working on several things at once --- I know, so what else is new--- and was inspired by a fellow SEW clothmate to work in red. I've also been stitching on some of the cloth from the wrapt tree project that will be used on a small child's rocker. The image is from the Nazca Lines in Peru. Encountered something strange with the arashi shibori this week. A section of silk organza would not pick up any dye. The organza is the same I used last week and has been washed and soaked before dyeing. It's almost as if spots of the organza is coated in something that is impenetrable. Anybody else ever encounter this? Here are a few pics.

arashi shibori bound with fine linen thread. white spots resisted dye.

cloth from wrapt tree project stitched with Nazca Line hummingbird

a peek at a red heart grid inspired by a clothmate on SEW

A Little Bit of This and That...

I'm still playing with hearts along with all my fellow heart whisperers led by Jude. And Shibori class with Glennis is still in progress so there's a lot there to experiment with. I've been all over the place the past couple of days going from one project to another as you can see.

follow your heart

shibori hearts on shibori cotton dyed with onion skins

an attempt at a shibori tree on batting with onion skins

arashi shibori on tea bags

New Bobbin Lace Tools

Fran Bloomer of lacebobbins.com visited us in class yesterday. She makes some beautiful bobbins and tools and I love adding to my collection. It was the last day of the Lifetime Learning session so we had a luncheon which we all enjoyed. This, even though we do not stop meeting on Tuesdays. Karen, our teacher is kind enough to continue coming on Tuesdays so that we do not forget the lessons we have learned. It's easy to forget even with a short interlude. Jo shared a crocheted piece she made over 50 years ago. And check out the bobbin lace moon on Karen's blouse. Click on the pics for a closer view.

some of my tools and special bobbins

this is what I bought from Fran yesterday

Fran's bobbins

and more bobbins

scissor protectors

Pat deciding on a tatting shuttle

Susan and Christine admiring all the bobbins

Karen's beautiful bobbin lace moon

Jo crocheted this piece more than 50 years ago.

Overdyeing nature cloths, shibori and hearts...

The cloths from the wrapt tree project showed some staining but they have really been enhanced by over-dying with onion skins. I also did some shibori stitching on a couple of pieces and dropped them in the onion skin dye pot. Was happy with the results especially since the Colorhue dyes do not work on cotton. Some of these pieces will be stitched together to re-upholster a child's antique rocking chair that I've had for quite a while. I'll add some shibori hearts as an embellishment. The heart's were inspired by Jude in her Whispering Hearts series. If hearts inspire you, you might want to join us there.

you can see the markings where the cloth was tied to the tree

there's even a ready made hole for some creative embellishment

shibori tied

shibori after onion skin dyeing

shibori tied and onion skin dyed. the wool really picks up the color.

shibori hearts-green is colorhue dyed. rust is onion skin dyed.

Arashi Shibori

We learned a new shibori technique this week in Glennis' online class. I've started small to make some samples and to get the feel of what works. I'm using a pipe-like thingy that is 6" in length and 1" in diameter as well as an old fashioned wooden clothespin. Here are some pictures with descriptions to give you an idea of how this works. There are several good videos on you-tube if you want to see how the cloth is wrapped around the pipe. Feel free to ask any questions you might have. For those of you who like to get real close-up, after you click on the picture, you can get closer by holding down the ctrl key and tapping on the + sign on your keyboard.

left shows how it looks as it's taken off of the pipe and the right is after drying and ironing. 

I wrapped some silk around a clothespin and put it in a pot of simmering onion skins.

only the top layer picked up the color

here you can see some silk organza wrapped around the pipe and the results.

I hope to get better results as I continue experimenting.

And the winner is....

Congratulations to Cheryl Razmus. She has won my first blog giveaway. I have sent you an e-mail, Cheryl, and as soon as I receive your mailing address, I will send the pincushion on its way. Thanks to all of you who participated. I hope to have more giveaways in the future so keep visiting.

Shibori dyeing with onion skins...

I decided to try the shibori technique using onion skins instead of the colorhue dyes. This was very successful and I know I will do more using this method. The silk picks up the onion skin color in less than an hour while simmering in the pot. I just put the onion skins in a stainless steel pot with water, brought it to a simmering point, threw in the stitched shibori and that was it.

The first pattern is the same as in the last post. Click on the pictures for a closer view.

rows of stitching, pulled tight and knotted

nice texture with just stitching removed

after ironing

Happy Results with Shibori

I'm very happy with these results. Thanks to Nat for her help. I'll just let the pictures tell the story. Click on the photo for a closer view.

stitched on the fold and on the raw edge

all tied up

out of the colorhue dye-- rose with a bit of black

wanted you to experience the first reveal

close-up of one motif

the whole piece measures about 8" x 17"

THERE IS STILL A CHANCE TO ENTER MY BLOG GIVEAWAY. ALL ARE WELCOME. GO TO THE MARCH 28TH POST AND LEAVE A COMMENT. WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED ON FRIDAY, APRIL 1ST.