It's Been a While.....

I feel like I'm getting back in the swing of things and at last have some things to report.

A bit more dyeing, with an 'e', for a start. This time a 12 step colour wheel covering the basic colours. As per Elizabeth barton's instructions the dyes are all mixed....

.....and cloth has been torn and labelled........

......the first session yielded this delicious result......like a handful of lollipops.......

The best results came from the scraps of silk organza - how I wish I had an excuse to dye metres of it........

The pale Arashi Shibori from the previous dyeing session was overdyed with pure dye solution and produced a much darker shade.......and looks quite dramatic - if I do say so myself.

 Back with more news soon,

Sue xxxx

Greyscale II

I repeated the greyscale gradation using three different fabrics to see what the differences would be and it was quite enlightening........

The initial results using sheeting (a slighly ivory / cream base cloth) which produced results more blueish grey than what I would immediately call grey......

Left page: results using a very white cotton base cloth. Right page: results using Kona cotton (PFD 1287) which also has a slight cream tone.

White cotton gauzy muslin and undyed samples of each cloth.

The two very white base cloths yielded results closer to the dye painted onto white paper - which I guess shouldn't really be a surprise.....

Following Elizabeth Barton's suggestion I also made small posters using a small sample from each piece. By putting them side-by-side the differences are more apparent. Each fabric (left to right - sheeting, white cotton, Kona 1287 and muslin) was dyed using the same concentration of dye solution + water.......

The four sets of fabric together.....

Snippets of each fabric and colour .....

Jumping ahead to lesson three while the dye was out I tried some Arashi Shibori...

I think I will rewrap this one and overdye it using a darker concentration of the same colour...

This one has some areas that should be usable........

All in all a great learning experience. Hope to show something made with it in the near future,

Sue xxxx

PS: My record keeping is not usually quite as neat and tidy as this but I rather like the look of it..

MIA

I feel like I have been missing in action. Certainly there hasn't been much sewing action but summer usually brings a whole other set of activities that historically (as in my history) tend to take precedence.......

There's the tennis for a start, so the TV is on for many more hours than is usual. It's also a time for catching up with family and friends and usually a short trip away to the Snowy Mountains. (This time with lots of photos of eucalyptus trees and leaves for one of my upcoming projects.....

For me this trip signals Christmas is over and I can put my feet up with a good book or two.....(see 'Happy New Year' post), notably these.....and start to plan new projects.

.......very different but I enjoyed both.    

There have been some houseguests, with more due soon..........

......and two batches of crabapple jelly, the second one twice cooked as it didn't properly set the first time - which has intensified both the glorious colour and the flavour.

We have been to three very different but highly rated movies - 'The Book Thief', The Railway Man' and 'Saving Mr Banks'............

.........and another batch of greyscale fabric dyeing (which needs its own post).

Add to that a couple of swims and a few walks and it has been a busy but pleasureable time - just not much blogging......

I am making a concerted effort to get back on track before my head bursts - it is so full of ideas - and it's time for some action instead of thinking and reading.

Hopefully back soon,

Sue xxxx