Category Archives: General

fabric, bleach, storque

Posted on by

210fabric.jpg

I went a little nuts on Friday and did another fabric purge.  I seem to do this about once a year- go through all the fabric I STILL have from my mom (and my own stash too) and decide  what I am ready to part with.  This time it was lots of wool- plaids, suitings in gray, navy, black and brown.  And also some silks, cotton knits, terry cloth, seersucker, etc, etc…   Things that I am very unlikely to use.   I worry that they will get ruined if I just leave them in the attic for another generation- how crazy would that be.

I was looking on Ebay to see if it’s worth trying to sell rather then donate it all to local fashion programs.  One of the auctions for wool yardage said that their fabric was all wool because they had done a bleach test on it.  I have never heard of a bleach test for wool so I googled it and found a description.   Now, I have a question about this- I can understand that bleach eats away natural fibers, but what if your fabric is a mix of wool and cotton or silk?  It would still dissolve, right?   Anyway, I tried it out and confirmed that some things were all natural and some things aren’t… so I know more then I did before.

Remember this post that started such an interesting discussion about buying handmade?   Since it was prompted by my visit to Etsy and my conversation with Vanessa who works on the Storque, I forwarded her a link to the post so she could see the thoughtful comments everyone left.  Vanessa wrote an article today that links to the post and quotes me and also some of you in the article.  I can’t wait to read the comments the article get- it continues to be a fascinating and important dialogue.

another scrappy cashmere scarf-

Posted on by

this time for me! With a trip to London looking very likely now, I figured I needed to do some wardrobe enhancement.
29scarf2.jpg

29scarf1.jpg

I’d been meaning to make this for a few weeks. I made the big decision of what colors to use and laid it out for a general idea more then a week ago- and then it just sat there-

29scarf3.jpg

When I heard the news about a possible trip, that was the push I needed and I put it together yesterday. I got some input from Eleanor since she has been wearing her scarf for more then a month now. She suggested that I make it wider. This one is about 14 1/2 inches wide. I put a lettuce edge on it. People think it is hard to do, but really it couldn’t be easier. I do a zigzag stitch around the edge- that is it. The zigzag stitch stretches the knit just enough to give it a ripple effect. What would really be hard would be to put a zigzag edging on a stretchy fabric and not have the waves.

Now I need to make myself a new bag!  Back to the drawing board…

London?

Posted on by

It is looking as if I might have a chance to go to London in 2 weeks (around 2/21).  If that happens, could that lead to any fun, blog-related meet-ups?  Or is there anything going on that I should jump at the chance to see?  I think spending whatever time I had at the Victoria and Albert might be worth it, all by itself.

a couple of things…

Posted on by

lovelyhearts2.gif

I said I would post a link, but I forgot- sorry!  My sweet bird applique is here at Artstream.  Half the selling price goes to Breast Cancer Research.  There are lots of other small and not too expensive pieces of art- check them out.

This is a show I hope to get to this weekend-

be-mine-postcard2-1_low.jpg

My Boston Handmade buddies!

I went to the thrift store this morning, looking for white wool to do some more dye testing… except that the dyes haven’t showed up yet- arg, I want them now! ah… ahem…  and there wasn’t much white wool, but I hit the jackpot on some wonderful cashmere and angora mix.   It was a lucky day-  you just never know.

Fairy Grandmother

Posted on by

So much more sensible then a fairy godmother!

25fairygrandmother.jpg

She is a garden fairy, but no gauze-like raiment for her- she is wearing a very warm and sensible woolen coat.

25face.jpg

25birds.jpg

I was thinking of these as fantasy tropical birds- not  actually peacocks.
25back.jpg25shoes.jpg

Her wings are knitted wool lace and her fairy slippers- wool with angora puff.

25wings.jpg

When I was in the fabric store recently, I found this little hook in with the drapery hardware. It is just the ticket for hanging up the wool dolls. I think it might damage cotton though. I bought 10 of them to test out- ten cents each.

25clip.jpg25wingclip.jpg

Monday wips

Posted on by

Actually, this photo is from Saturday-
24wip1.jpg

She is finished now. I am doing the last step- cleaning off any marks from the water-soluble pen. Now she has to dry before I photograph her, so you’ll see all tomorrow.

24wip2.jpg

And here is the next one, waiting for me-

24wip3.jpg

They are Fairy Grandmothers.

Projects creep out of my studio when it is really cold in the attic.

my art history

Posted on by

You might have noticed that I added some new categories last month. One of them is “my art history“. I figured that it would give me a place to show how little has changed over the years!

When the studio building where I worked burned down in 1999, it took me a while to realize that one of the biggest loses would be my sketchbooks- years of them. I have been thinking about the recurring themes in my artwork. If I post examples of the artwork with those themes, it is a way of remembering what was in those sketchbooks. And as I try to make some kind of order in my studio these days, I keep finding examples.

I figured this needed to be posted today, since I finished up another tiki yesterday.

21tiki1.jpg

21tiki2.jpg21tiki3.jpg

1972, I think. Carved out of a scrap end of a 2 x 4. In an early 70’s definition of feminism, my 2 friends and I signed up to take wood shop in my senior year in High School. We were the groundbreakers- the first girls through the door. This was a little project I did then.
Combine embroidery, a Spirograph, a 14 year old and some really ugly color combinations-

21emb1.jpg

21emb2.jpg

It is 3″ x 3″. I did this the same year as my sampler. I have no memory of how I transfered the image onto the fabric, but I see on the back that I wasn’t happy with my first try.

and some other stuff- Last Saturday, I broke down and got myself a subscription to Embroidery. I was so excited when I got an envelope in the mail today- 2 magazines- yippee! And another thing- I am having problems with my comments and email. I am not getting emails when someone comments so I have to go check things out regularly and when I email back, it might look a little odd. It all has to do with over-zealous spam filters or something… arg!

tweedy tiki and color work

Posted on by

Finished- one tweedy tiki-

130tiki.jpg

and the side-view-

130sideview.jpg

The signature-

130name.jpg

Here is one of the distractions that I was thinking about when I wrote the “revving” post. The tug got strong enough that I spent yesterday and part of this morning playing around with dyes. I have a collection of dye packets that I started accumulating in the mid-seventies when I was in college. They are mostly Cushing Acid Dyes. I have a paper with a photo of what the colors are suppose to look like. I also have my preconceived idea of what olive green or burgundy should look like. I have found neither to be even slightly helpful in guessing how a certain dye packet would look on my wool fabric. I decided it was time to test them all out and make my own reference.

This is what I did-

I collected all my white/off-white/cream wool fabric bits and set aside all the smaller pieces- odd shapes and smaller then 12″ x 12″- to use for my dye samples. I also cut up one white sweater with a 40% angora/60% wool content. I put 1/4 teaspoon (or less) of dye powder into a pyrex dish. (I have 2 pyrex dishes and a microwave that I just use for dyeing.) Dissolved the powder.  Added water, added wet fabric- at least 3 pieces of assorted textures, into the microwave for 10 minutes on high. Then I added a tablespoon of salt, stirred, and added a few more pieces of fabric, smushed into the dye. I let that sit for at least another 20 minutes, rinsed, threw it into the washer and dryer and then made my sample cards. I did 16 tests.
130piles.jpg

Here is an example card-

130card.jpg

Dyeing this way makes it almost certain that the colors will be uneven- fine with me. The first fabric into the dyebath comes out darkest. The later fabrics can be not only lighter, but very different colors… The fabric texture and weave can really affect the look of the color- for instance the angora always looks lighter and hazy because the fluffy rabbit fur doesn’t absorb the dye like the wool.

130handful.jpg

Now I have these great piles of interesting and some very odd colors. Lucky me!
I was trying to see if I had something that would get me my favorite acid green, so the few bits left in my stash wouldn’t be so precious. I’m not there yet, but I’ve ruled out a lot of things and I have some ideas for additional experiments. I love doing this- it makes me feel like a mad scientist!

revving

Posted on by

I don’t know what it is about January.  I feel like I spend the whole month revving my engine… I seem to spend my time thinking- I could do this… or, well, I could do this other thing… well you probably know how it is…

I am doing a lot of sorting out in my studio, moving piles around and hopefully clearing some things out that I’ll never use.  I am slowly getting a few things done…

hopefully I’ll have something to show in the next few days.

128bottom.jpg

And I am slowly starting to think about some new ideas and taking baby steps toward working on them.

128hands.jpg

Thanks so much for all your input on the “Buy Handmade?” question!  Hopefully, if anyone asks me again, I will have a better  answer.  I like thinking about the connection that happens when you buy or sell something handmade.  Interesting.

sweet birds for Artstream

Posted on by

My piece for the Artstream Gallery Lovely Hearts 2 show, to benefit breast cancer research.
not quite finished…
125birdsa.jpg

and done-

125sweetbirds.jpg

and then I put it into a shadowbox frame, which was more of a puzzle then I’d expected.  The finished artwork (unframed) is approximately 7 1/2 x 9 1/2.   I wrote in the artist statement, something along the lines of- it is a traditional valentine image interpreted in wool applique and embroidery.

Something I’ve been mulling about- when I was down at Etsy, I was put in front of a camera to do a clip for their series- Your Handmade Stories.  I was suppose to say who I am, what I do, and why people should buy handmade.  Well, I was stumped.  I am still stumped.  Why should people buy handmade?  … I don’t know.  I couldn’t come up with anything that I felt was sincere except, well, buy MY handmade, because I need to get it out of the house!

I can not think of why someone should buy something just because it is handmade.  Buy something because you love it, need it, it will haunt you if you don’t.  Buy art because it makes you think every time you look at it.   Buy things that are beautifully crafted because you appreciate the design, the workmanship and using something that is so well made will enrich your life.  There is a lot of handmade crap out there… along with all the manufactured crap.  I’m going to have to watch any videos that they post to see what other people say.  I’m really curious.