Give Me A Child......

After the laissez-faire attitude of my younger days produced two non-Reds fans, I took a different approach with my younger children. I truly believed that strict adherence to the Jesuit motto "give me a child until she is seven and I will give you a Reds fan" would work! Note the mismatched, yet stylish outfit - a sunflower print skirt with Reds shirt and hat in this picture of Alyssa & Caitlin taken at Riverfront Stadium in 1997. Years later, my faith is shaken.


Caitlin competed in the National Catholic Forensic League Tournament in Albany, NY this past weekend. She had a great time, made some new friends, but didn't break (meaning she didn't advance to the next round). She was polite to others, chewed with her mouth closed, took a shower every day and was generally kind to babies and small animals for the entire trip. All this Good Behavior took its' toll. Before she got on her plane at the Albany airport, she bought a NY Yankees t-shirt!

O M G !!!!!!

Even worse, she has not shown ANY remorse! And she plans to WEAR the shirt to school tomorrow. Top layer of clothing, right side out. The logo of The Team We Love To Hate right out there for God & everyone to see. I may not be able to show my face at the grocery store for a month or more. And I can just imagine what my "friends" will be saying behind my back. Woe is me. The only bright spot in this otherwise horrific evening is that she had the good sense to pass on the Cubs t-shirt when they changed planes in Chicago. Thank God for small favors :)

In the spirit of locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen, I sent a strongly worded email to her Forensics coach, suggesting (nicely of course - Caitlin gets those manners from me :) that perhaps her chaperoning skills need some updating to prevent a similar ugly incident with an Atlanta Braves shirt later this summer at the NFL National Tournament. I remain a baseball fan by birth, Reds fan by the grace of God.

Prom Dresses - Color and Bling!

Prom dress shopping - not the most anticipated event on my calendar! Find something DD likes (minimal pouf), in a Mom-approved style (not too revealing) and an acceptable price range before my shopping clock strikes midnight and I run screaming from the store. We went to Black Tie, White Satin in Fremont, Nebraska. The Prom Loft (400 dresses!) was full of color! A rack of 7 orange dresses, each a different shade caught my eye & had me returning over and over. None of them fit our criteria, but the colors were beautiful! Another collection with colors ranging from pink to magenta to almost purple were wonderful as well. Animal prints were big, but tiger stripes in any color combination say the opposite of "Prom Dress" to me! The acid green dresses were beautiful, but not right for DD's skin tones.

The black dresses are always my favorites. Start simply and jazz it up! I love the way the designers use bling to create their designs of repetitive straight lines, wavy lines and organic waves. Without my camera, I could only sketch. Wanting more color, I picked up several booklets of photos, which resulted in this collage:



P.S. We were the only one of the 3 mother-daughter pairs to decide on a dress. It is ordered - now to find gold shoes.....

Overdyed Skirt

While I was in Houston for Festival last year, Christine T. stopped by and asked if I could overdye a summer skirt. It was light blue, with a light stain which made it unwearable. She wanted it gray with hints of purple, then picked a piece of fabric from a scrap bag that was more purple than gray. This is the result - I like it!

The Great Blazer Dyeing Experiment, Final Product

I dyed the blazer for the 3rd (& last) time. I decided to use a large tub this time so the blazer could lie flat. I hoped this would help even out the color. It helped, but the end result was still not an even color. More appealing than the color in Round 2, but not even. Pictures taken inside look pretty good, but full sun shows the extent of the unevenness of color.





Many of my other initial concerns were realistic. The poly thread didn't dye. I haven't found a marker which will color the thread and blend well. The corduroy seems to have shrunk while the lining did not. The jacket doesn't hang as nicely as it did. I knew the lining would not take any color, but the white looks good next to the blue. There weren't any surprises, which means I thought it through.

My client hasn't seen the final result. I don't think she will be satisfied. I wish she had liked the initial dye job. The color was much prettier than the color in the final product! See First Round and Second Round of The Great Blazer Dyeing Experiment.

The Blazer Project - Round 2

I've dyed the blazer a 2nd time. Read about Round 1 . I wanted to tone down the blue, make it darker AND less bright, plus even out the color. Again, I used a 5-gallon bucket. I didn't take it out of the bucket this time, which made it easier to slosh around when I added the soda ash. It was also MUCH easier to rinse. I poured off the excess fluid, let the jacket drain for 15 minutes or so, then was able to move it from bucket to washing machine with minimal mess.

When I took the blazer out of the dryer, it looked good! The color was beautiful and it looked even. But! Take it out into stronger light and YUCK! This color looks horrible in the sunlight. When it isn't in full sunlight, the color and shade are what I want, this picture shows that I have some work to do. The white threads didn't dye, and after some discussion of Sharpies on QuiltArt, I'm hesitating about using them. My best argument for using them is that when the halo effect starts to happen 10 years down the road, this jacket isn't likely to be around.

Back to the dye bucket!

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!

Pink! Orange! Yellow! and always - Black!

A beautiful day! I went shopping for something to wear to Caitlin's Confirmation. I absolutely LOVE Coldwater Creek. Having a brick & mortar store is so much more fun than catalog shopping! I bought a pink silk jacket (lined in a soft orange) that has wonderful (!!) threadwork in matching pink thread. I wish I could tell people I made this jacket. Throw in a black w/bright flowers skirt & a black tee & I'm set. I bought a second tee & a purse too. The pink purse called my name, but when it didn't match my awesome jacket, I went with my favorite - black.

I'm rinsing fabric that I dyed earlier this week today. Wonderful reds, rich oranges and strong yellows. Yummy!

The red at the back of this photo is my DyeCloth for that day. I threw the leftover dye on a cloth that was all kinds of "ugly" and got a yard of this wonderful red with very dark places fabric. A beautiful day!