The Blazer Project - Round 1

Last fall, a woman approached me and asked me to dye a blazer for her. She had a white corduroy blazer that she wanted dyed black. After some negotiation, we ended up with a contract which spelled out all the problems I could foresee. These ranged from shrinkage issues and un-dyeable polyester to uneven color coverage. We agreed on navy blue instead of black.

I decided to do a vat dye (rather than low water immersion), using a 5-gallon bucket. I mixed the dye and put it in about 2.5 gallons of water. I added the jacket, agitated it and let it sit for two hours, stirring it around every 15 minutes or so. When I was ready to add the soda ash, I let the jacket drain into the bucket until my arm got tired. Moving it to a tub created a mess! I'm glad I don't vat dye on a regular basis. I had blue dye all over! With the blazer in a large tub, I poured soda ash over it. I manipulated the jacket to get the soda ash spread throughout. I'm not sure I did a good job, as a blazer is much more difficult to work with than a yard or two of cotton! I expect to dye it twice, maybe three times to get an even color.

I rinsed the blazer the next day in the washer (delicate cycle, cold water). This is the blazer (front and back) after the first dye. There are light and dark areas of color as I expected. I love the color changes, but not what my client is looking for!



The topstitching thread is obviously poly. I'm going to color it (probably with a Sharpie) when the dyeing is finished. Round 2 tomorrow!

Measurable Work

My cash register table needs a cover. For a couple of years worth of shows, I've made do with a big black tablecloth. I fold the too-wide length under and pin the too-long sides up. And promise myself that I'll make a custom cover that FITS. And stuff happens and I don't get it done and I go to the next show and go through the folding and pinning and promising.

I woke up this morning to the sound of a thunderstorm. I planned to spend the day cleaning out my flower beds for spring, planting some early color. With my outdoor plans stymied by the heavy rain, I realized I could make my often-promised table cover AND satisfy an on-going need to produce measurable work.

I started by raw-edge appliquéing strips and chunks from my scrap tub onto a base of muslin about 6" wide. When the first piece was 24" long, I started another. When I had enough 24" pieces to cover my table, I joined them together. I added a skirt black polyester to surround the table and hemmed it so it hangs just an inch off the floor. I finished all the seams so the poly wouldn't ravel. Not creative, but satisfying. I did some top-stitching with varigated threads. I will notice the color, whether anyone else does or not.

This is the finished piece. Colorful, somewhat creative, measurable work. I'm happy. Except that I'm not sure I like the idea of Mike Piazza in an A's uniform.

New Pincushions

Outside, we have a foot of snow on the ground, the end result of The Blizzard of '07. I've shoveled the snow. I've shoveled the drifting show. I've shoveled the snow the plow threw up into the driveway. I've shoveled more drifting snow. I'm tired of snow! I spent the afternoon inside, declining the offer to go to a movie (Zodiac) so I could stay AWAY from the snow! I made these three pincushions which I may list in my etsy shop later.

This cute little froggy just called out to me "I want to be a pincushion!", so now he is. I needle felted the wool, starting with a "bead" of wool that had been machine felted. (Making felted wool beads didn't work out the way I wanted, so I'm using the beads as a base for other felting projects.)






My second pincushion was a cute little pink cup. You can't see it, but on the saucer was a black poodle. Almost too cute to hide! I tried to felt a striped pattern on the top of the wool, but it looked weird, so I turned the wool upside down in the cup. The matching pink saucer MAKES this pincushion!






My third pincushion was felted last week. I machine felted a wool base because this cup is so big. I hand felted on dark red wool yarn, then put it through another machine felting cycle. You can still see the texture of the yarn, as well as a little of the base wool peeking through. Not as "cute" as the first two, but I like it.

Dyeing Wool Yarn

I've recently been dyeing wool yarn with Procion dyes and vinegar. What I've discovered is that wool absorbs dye differently than cotton. When I'm dyeing cotton fabric, it is easy to get the textures and shades that make hand dyes so appealing. But that darn wool yarn soaks up the dye! Case in point: I poured blue dye in a dish, put my wet wool yarn on top of the dye, then poured on yellow dye. During the heating process, the blue dye absorbed into the yarn, mostly overwhelming the yellow. There are some bits of yellow left, but nothing like I anticipated.

This picture is from one of my students - these are her colorwheel fabrics:

Thanks Mary R!

First Dyeing Workshop!

I had fun today! I taught my first dyeing workshop for the Omaha Quilters Guild. Each person got a 3-jar set of the three primary colors. Following my recipes, they dyed 12 fat quarters.

Here they are, hard at work!

The end result was a tub full of colorful baggies.

Happy dyers, each holding their fabrics.

After being dutiful students and dyeing with my recipes, they got to play. Most people chose to dye two 1-yd pieces, other dyed half yards, and one mother-daughter team dyed fat quarters. The pictures show just a few of the colors which were dyed. So often in dyeing, the prettiest pieces are those which are created by accident. The last photo is one of the wipe-up rags - beautiful!

Color Wheel Bouquet

Last fall, I was asked to teach a couple of dyeing workshops for the Omaha Quilters Guild. It sounded like fun, so I dove in. I developed two workshops, which I am teaching this weekend. If you are interested in more info about the classes, go to DellaJane Dyeing Workshops

I decided to have the beginning dyers class dye a color wheel. After I'd run through it a couple of times, I had several samples and thought I should make a little quilt using the fabrics. And so, for lack of a better name, I designed and made Color Wheel Bouquet. I really think the name is boring - if you have any suggestions, PLEASE share them!!

Color Wheel Bouquet





Back to prepping for the class!

Sketchbook for 2007

I love blank books! Lined & unlined, mostly the covers attract me to buy them. Many don't get used, some get used once or twice, others are filled up. I found a WONDERFUL blank book in a bookstore in December and decided to use it as a sketchbook. I don't pretend to be an artist when it comes to paper and pencil, but I do sketch a lot of things I see. The sketches are done on a scrap of paper, a napkin, or the back of a receipt. The sketches often end up trashed just because I'm tired of dealing with the small piece of paper. I'm hoping that keeping all these tidbits in one place will allow them to inspire me down the road.

I carried the book to Sedona, Arizona on Dec 28, my official Sketchbook Start Date. Another page was done at the Heard Museum. I find I am writing notes as well as drawing. Words come easy & often! The page I've chosen to share here was done as we traveled on I-40 east of Albuquerque. We made 150 miles in 7 hours. Not bad roads, just heavy traffic due to road closures the day before.

There isn't anything particular inspiring in these images, but they recall the day for me in vivid detail. Other pages are similar. I'm not sure that "Sketchbook" is the correct name for my book. Maybe I'm more of an Illustrated Journal person. So be it!