Dyeing Nylon

I finally got the shrug finished and am posting pics of the sweater before and after it was dyed. I used Procion Lemon Yellow, 1/4 tsp. and then just a tinch of Emerald Green, and I got this pretty apple green. I simmered the sweater for a good 45 mins and then used vinegar to set my dye. It was a nylon/cotton blend. The trim was an acrylic/rayon blend and it didn't take the dye at all. I trimmed it with trim that Sio got at the the thrift shop, so except for the thread, the entire thing is made with recycled materials.
The little nylon slip I dyed with Cushings Rose Pink. You can't see it in the picture but I have added 2 bands of rose print fabrics to the bottom. I need a vintage silk flower to pin to the cleavage. I was going to take off the lace because I knew it wouldn't take the dye, but it looks nice so I'm leaving it on. Later on today I'll take some better pics and then list the shrug on Etsy.
Sio taught me how to knit the continental way last night and I am making a skinny scarf from recycled yarn that was once a tank top. It's kind of a skinny ribbon yarn, red and black. As soon as I finish it I'll post a pic.

Victorian Charm

I don't know, maybe it's because Valentines Day just passed, or maybe it's just because I like the romantic Victorian look, but whatever it was, I was inspired to make both of these projects. The coasters are the latest scrap project and they are pretty; I can see using them at a tea party with pretty pink and white rose china tea cups and tea pot. The cuff was inspired by the little floral earring that I have sewn to the center. It was a clip earring and I broke the back off and sewed it to the cuff. I think it turned out very nice. I still have the other earring and I might use it on a choker. I also dyed one of my slips pink and am going to turn it into a dress today. I have some yellow cotton printed with pink rosebuds that might make a nice band for trim.
I think my next scrap project is going to be to use up all the 4 1/2" squares that were given to me by a friend who used to work at Hancock. I have a huge bag full, I'll bet there's enough for a twin sized bed, maybe even a double. Then I'm going to look for a flannel sheet at the thrift store for a back and sell it or use it as a summer quilt. I have one already, it's perfect when a sheet isn't enough but a regular quilt is too much.

Vintage Clutch

I made this little clutch for Etsy. It's the same pattern as the blue strips one, just the smaller size. I also got the bath mat finished but gave it away to Holly before I had a chance to take a picture. I have some crazy quilt sachets to make up for my third scrap project this week, I might make them tonight.
I went to Salvation Army last night and got 2 shirts to turn into the corset on Threadbanger. Then I got this real cute linen cotton blend skirt that I am going to shorten, add some trim to the bottom ,and an applique.I also got 3 slips for slip dresses, a cotton rose print skirt that I took apart to add to my quilting stash, and this nifty embroidered table runner which will become at least one bag, maybe two. Plus a sugar bowl and a towel so I can try another bath mat. All for $18! I call that pretty smart shopping.
I have started hand quilting the applique blocks at moms in the afternoon. I am sewing them into groups of 4 and then quilting them 4 at a time and the first 4 are almost finished.

This is Pretty Cool!

I stumbled across www.threadbanger.com, and found this really cool video. I can't wait to try it.


There's also a tutorial: http://www.threadbanger.com/post/5655/how-to-make-a-corset

Bits and Pieces

Since I've been spending so much time at mom's house, I went and bought a new machine that I can just leave there. It's such a pain dragging my machine back and forth every day, so I wasn't getting any stuff for Etsy done. This will make it so much easier, and once mom is well I'll have a back up machine for if my other machine is being tuned up, or to take places. This one is smaller and lighter so it's a lot more portable. Every once in awhile Carla needs a machine, so she can use it too.

I did some dyeing with a cotton/nylon blend, and it actually turned out very nice. I am making a shrug out of a thrift store sweater; once I have it finished I'll post pics of the dyeing process and the finished shrug. I finished quilting the wall hanging for the quilt show at work, too. I have to put on the binding, and then I want to do some beading. I am calling it Rain Over the Mountains, so I want some tiny sparkly beads that give the feel of raindrops. I'll post pics of that, too.

I was looking at a quilting book at work, and the authors showed how they keep their small scraps seperated by color in plastic shoe boxes. I think that's the greatest idea, so I bought 5 of them and sorted about half my scraps. That's all that would fit; I have soooooo many of them. Anyway, I set myself a challenge to try and use scraps for projects at least twice a week. I've posted pics of two of the projects. The little clutch is from a Quik Sew pattern which is available on line here: http://www.sewing.org/enthusiast/clutch_purse.pdf It comes in two sizes and makes up very easily. They close theirs with a snap; I'm doing an elastic loop and button. I haven't picked out a button yet. I have another one cut out from a vintage tablecloth and ready to go; I'll probably get it sewed together this morning. The second project is the appliqued flower blocks; I have 7 done. They are a nice take along project. As I finish 4 I am sewing the blocks together and then hand quilting them. There are a group of 4 almost finished at Moms. I also found this really cool bathmat which I can run up pretty quickly on the machine: http://montessoribyhand.blogspot.com/2007/11/recycled-bath-mat-tutorial.html
We actually need a bath mat here. It says in the tutorial to cut the squares using a template, but I think I'll use my rotary cutter and mat at least on the bigger scraps. I might have to use the template on smaller pieces. I like this idea a lot because it gets rid of scraps and puts old towels to good use.

We Are The People We've Been Waiting For

Well, Super Tuesday has come and gone and we still have quite a race for the Democratic candidate. I voted for Obama; so did John, Carla and Jimmy. Melissa had me convinced that Hillary's health care program in the long run is better than Obama's, but I voted for Obama first because of his stance on the war. He has criticized Bush's war strategy for a long time. The second reason is because I think at this point in history we need some one who can really inspire people to change because the changes we need to make are so huge and will affect us in ways we can only begin to imagine. I heard Obama use the words "it won't be easy" and "sacrifice", and I'm not sure that people really understand the magnitude of the sacrifices we will have to make, but to have a leader who isn't going to bullshit us and tell us the only things we have to do is hop in our cars and go shopping is a real start. I think when a lot of suburbia figures out what it really means to have to sacrifice they'll sour on the whole idea pretty quickly, but if we can begin to build the new infrastructure we need for a world without fossil fuels; if we can begin to create jobs that can sustain a new way of doing things; if we can really begin to look at the problems facing us in the 21st century then whoever is leading us has begun steering us in the right way. As energy sources dwindle then the people who are living their selfish little lives in suburbia will be forced to jump on the already moving band wagon of a new way of doing things. I think Obama can really inspire people to move in the right direction. I think he is already a force for change that Hillary isn't. And he showed how he can bring us together for change when he said "We are the people we've been waiting for" That line was magnificent, and was the high light of his speech last night. I know I wrote a bit not too long ago about their being no prophets among the young anymore. But instead, maybe there is a real leader.

Silversun Pickups

About a year ago I'd say, Chris told me about a song called Lazy Eye, by Silversun Pickups. I heard it, and liked it, but lately it's really grown on me, so I listened to as much Silversun Pickups as I could. They are my latest favorite band; they reminded me of Smashing Pumpkins but toned down a bit. After having read a lot about them on the internet, it seems I'm not the only one who thinks so; I think it was Rolling Stone who said they were what Smashing Pumpkins would be if they had traveled out west. The drummer, Christopher Guanlao, kind of reminds me of the drummer from Swervedriver. I can't put my finger on why, exactly, except the styles of drumming sound kind of the same to me. Brian Aubert who both sings and plays guitar, has a kind of croony voice like Billy Corgans, except less nasally and much less...well I hate to call Billy whiney, but there it is. He can get whiney sometimes, and Brian Aubert does not. The distorted guitar is also reminiscent of Billy, but in a quieter way. Quieter doesn't mean less confidant or with less feeling; Aubert along with the rest of SSPU's put as much feeling into their music as Pumpkins ever did. My favorite song is called Checkered Floor; unfortunatly I can't find any video of them doing it. Instead, here they are doing an acoustic version of Lazy Eye. Enjoy!
"http://www.youtube.com/v/QEgM3aJQBLc&rel=1">

More Reclaimed Yarn

Here is another scarf I made using another sweater. The yarn is a bulky aqua/green/grey acrylic mix which reminds me of the sea. I am really into the reclaimed yarn thing; I can't wait to go to the thrift store and look for some more! I got 5 balls from this last sweater; front, back, 2 arms and a big turtleneck. However, the stitches were pretty loose so there wasn't nearly as much yarn as there was in the pink sweater. I used 3 and 1/2 of the balls; the turtleneck, front, one of the arms and half the other one. The pattern is shells and v-stitch. I also am posting a picture of the cardigan I appliqued and listed in the store.

I took a long sleeve v-neck t-shirt and cut it apart just above the waist, pinned in a 5 inch strip of very dark burgundy stretch velvet and then pinned the bottom of the t-shirt back on. I am going to add a hood made from the stretch velvet, and then sell it as a dress. I might add some trim to the strip in the middle, maybe some black lace or something, and a burgundy flower pin at the v, and maybe a few gold beads to the lace. I have it pinned to Mildred right now while I think about it.

On another front, the economic news is all bad. I read JHK's Clusterfuck Nation almost every week and he's been predicting this for months. http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/

I actually think it's going to get a lot worse, and when Peak Oil is added in there's a good chance that it will never get better. We are on our way down the slippery slope that will increasingly become life with less and less fossil fuels and more and more waste of what we do have left while we continue to pursue a way to keep a lifestyle that is just not sustainable in any form.

Finished Scarf

I finished the scarf the day before yesterday and it really turned out very well. I double crocheted in the back loop on every other row so there is a ridged pattern. If it wasn't pink I'd keep it. The yarn is such a nice blend of cotton and wool. I'm going to list it in my new Etsy store today. I'm going to add a link to the store eventually in the side bar. It's http://www.vintagereconstructed.etsy.com/

I also unraveled another sweater Sio had bought and started a shawl. I thought there would be enough yarn, but now it looks like there won't be. I'll probably take it apart and make something else, or if I can find another yarn to add in I'll just take it out partway and then do stripes with the 2 yarns.

Recycled Sweater

My mom is back in the hospital, it turns out she has a lot of ulcers which may have been caused by the stroke and all the aspirin based blood thinners and her high blood pressure medicine. Siobhan drove her to the hospital early Monday morning. I'm not sure when she'll be coming home but we are hoping some time today. I was over there most of Monday and then Sio and I were there yesterday afternoon. I called mom this morning and she isn't sure what is going to happen today. As soon as Sio wakes up today we'll go back to visit for awhile before work if she doesn't come home.

While I was there yesterday I started unravelling a sweater that Sio had bought at the resale shop and then began crocheting a scarf from the yarn. I got the front unraveled, and then this morning I started on the turtleneck. I unravel a section and then crochet for a bit and then unravel a bit more. I figure I'll get a scarf, a hat, and maybe some arm warmers or fingerless gloves. The yarn is pretty and perfect to put on Etsy for Valentines Day.

Chris

It seems like all the bad things come at once; first mom had a stroke and then Chris had to go to the emergency room and was in Intensive Care because he somehow lost 7 pints of blood. They still aren't sure how, he has an ulcer but they said it wasn't very big and didn't seem to be bleeding. They want to give him a colonoscopy, but he said they had to wait til his blood count got back up and stayed up, so that means he will be in the hospital til at least Tuesday. He was not a happy camper when we left the hospital today, but they had moved him out of ICU and he looked a lot better. He was getting his last pint of blood. He had been sick all week, but he thought it was the flu or something, and he never looked to see if he was bleeding. He was at work yesterday and was going to come home again because he felt so bad , but his bosses mom, who used to be a nurse, said he needed to go to the emergency room. Thank God she did because another day and he could have bleed to death. I talked to him 3 times on Thursday, and he has said he was going to go to the dr, but then he said he felt better. Anyway, I know he is feeling better now because he's worried about how much everything is going to cost him (even though he has insurance), he was watching the Green Bay/Seattle game, and he complains constantly about wanting a cheeseburger which he can't have til after the colonoscopy. And he looks good now; last night when we went into the ICU room where he was he was so pale and white. I'm so glad they were there to make sure he went to the hospital. I've never met Sean's mom, but I owe her so much; I don't even want to think of how it might have been if she hadn't been there and he went home instead of the hospital. I'm going to call Safety Lock on Monday morning and tell her thank you for saving my son.

Last Dye Run

I did one more dye run to try and get some more intense colors, and it was really worth my while. I got a fabric which will work perfectly with what I think I want to do. I also got 5 other nice fabrics that I will put aside til later. If I have time I may just be able to do another piece in time for the show, too.

OK, I cut strips with jagged edges and laid them down on the stabilizer vertically, over lapping each other. I have some purple sparkle organza that I am going to cut into swirls and lay on top. I am then going to put a sheer white organza overlay over the top. The piece which I dyed tonight will be cut to come down in curves and jagged lines over the top of the overlay. I will do some kind of silhouette of a landscape, probably mountains or hills on the bottom to overlap the bottom of the overlay. I may build it up using greys and charcoals and even black. Once everything is built up I will layer and quilt it. I think it's going to look really good, although maybe not; it may turn out that the fabrics I dyed are too light for the organza overlay, but if it is I'll try tulle. I'll post pics as I finish each step.

Sample Piece

I finished the sample block from the book, and I think it's OK. The top 2 pics are of it with the pieces pinned in place on the stabilizer. I was lucky to have a scrap of the star batik print left over from a bag I made for Siobhan ages ago, and it looks good with the block as a border. I quilted using Sulky embroidery threads, but I had white thread in the bottom and I should have changed it because it came through onto the top. The quilting is echo quilting, and it worked well. I think I am going to take a day to do a practice piece using free motion and see if I can do it acceptably. If I can I'm going to quilt it myself instead of asking Gloria. One of my big concerns is that I left the stabilizer in place like the book said, but I think it might be better to use a wash out or tear away as far as the actual quilting goes. I think I got some of the wrinkles because of the stabilizer.

The bottom pic is of the dyeing I've done over the last couple of days. I dyed all the fabrics except the bottom left hand piece that looks like stripes. I added half a yard to my model garment stuff because it looks like it was dyed to match the pieces I dyed. I may dye a bit more today, but maybe not. I'm still not sure exactly what I want to do for the actual wall hanging, but I need to figure it out in the next day or two.

Hooray for Dyeing 2

I did another dye run this morning. I was looking for sunset/sunrise colors. I had another fat 1/4 of Kona, a piece of tan Quilters cotton and a white on white print that I dyed. I used yellow, coral pink and sunrise red on the Kona; it's to the left in the pic. I mixed a bit of turqoise with the red to get a purple color which I also used on the Kona, although you can't really tell. I used the coral, red and purple on the tan, which is the piece on the left. The colors came out more subdued, but the turquoise and red started to seperate and there are a few spots where you can see the turquoise. I don't know why it did it on the one fabric and not on the other.

What I really like is the white on white print. Again, I used yellow, sunrise red and coral pink and it looks really nice. I am going to dye some more of this using darker colors. John and I are going to Blicks when he comes home and I am going to buy indigo and purple.

Hooray for Dyeing!!!!!

I sat down and really looked at the book Joan gave me for the quilt show, and it could be one of the most remarkable quilt books I have ever had. It's called Quilting by Improvisation and it's by Vikki Pignatelli and the ideas just scream for hand dyed fabrics. I have read it now in a couple of sittings and I think I am going to do two things. She supplies a pattern in the book which she calls "My Star Dances", and I am going to copy that and perhaps add a bit to the outside of the block using different hand dyed and batik fabrics. Then I am going to pull out a bunch of fabrics that I can dye and overdye and see where they take me. I have an idea of what I'd like to do and I may make a rough sketch, but other than that I'm just going to let it go and see what happens. I started dyeing fabrics today, the 3 here are low immersion dyed, however I did do a little smushing and used an eye dropper to get dye inside some of the creases and folds. I really like the effects I got on the pale yellow piece. I used yellow, bubble gum and aquamarine. I used aquamarine, yellow and forest green on the turquoise mottled piece. They were both Kona PFD fabric fat 1/4's I cut. The piece on the bottom was a piece of grey cotton I had. It's thinner than Kona so it's probably some of the quilters cotton we have at work. I used turquoise and then darkened it up with black and poured on a bit more. I may do another batch before I go to bed; I need some dark blues and purples.

Fingerless Gloves and Capercaillie

These are the fingerless gloves I made from the sleeves of one of the sweaters I felted. They were super easy to make. I have a bunch of pearl cotton that Holly gave to me; I used it to embroider the flowers and do the blanket stitch on the opening. Siobhan suggested buttons, too, for embellishments, and I might use them on the next pair. I think they turned out very nicely. I really like hand embellishment, and I am glad I never could afford an embroidery machine. Hand embroidery is becoming more and more a lost art, and it really is easy and relaxing and a rather cheap way to make things look nice.
I have been listening to Capercaillie for the last couple of days, and even though they are a Scottish band I can't think of any other band that gives me a feeling of longing for my roots than they do. The feeling of the sea is evoked in a lot of what they have recorded, as well as a strong sense of belonging and even pride in a place. I love Newfoundland music, too, and a lot of Nfld. music does the same thing, but I love Capercaillie, and they do it much more consistently for me. They also inspire me more than other traditional bands do and the music has a direct effect on any projects I might be working on. I have been planning my hand dyed quilted wall hanging in my head and I see lots of sea colors, with maybe a splash of white sea birds appliqued on top, or maybe some sunset colors. I don't know yet, but I think I am going to start the dyeing process after lunch. Since this is going to be a wall hanging I am going to dye a lot of 1/8 yds. I have 2 yards of plain white Kona, and then quite a few lighter colors in my stash I can overdye. I haven't done any dyeing in awhile so I am going to have a lot of fun with these.

Thrift Store Shopping

Over the holidays, while Melissa and Mary were in, we visited the Village Thrift Store several times. I had been meaning to go ever since I realized it was there, which was several months ago, but had just never gotten around to it. As far as things go, it's on a par price wise with Salvation Army, however it doesn't have nearly as much furniture or housewares. It does have tons of clothes though, and it does 1/2 off certain colored tags just like Salvation Army. Melissa was really excited because they are so much cheaper than thrift shops in New York. She got a bunch of nice things for $28. I went with Siobhan, too, and she and I had a lot of fun looking and buying stuff. In 3 trips, and spending about $30, I got 4 sweaters, 3 skirts, 2 t-shirts, a jumper, a vintage early to mid 60's coat and 5 assorted pieces of household linens which I am going to transform into some different things. The jumper I bought for me and it isn't in any of the pics; it's already washed and hung in my closet, it will go very nicely with my boots and cream turtleneck John gave me for Christmas. The coat I got for Carla; it needs new buttons but that shouldn't be a problem. I already felted and took apart 3 of the sweaters, and I am going to make a pair of fingerless gloves out of the sleeves of one of them. I'm going to add a bit of embroidery; I'll post a pic when I'm done.

There is also a picture of the fat quarters Melissa bought me for Christmas. I love getting fabric, especially since I am going to try and limit my purchase of new fabrics, and Melissa got such a nice mix that I can make all kinds of things.

Happy New Year

Well I didn't stay up til midnight, I just couldn't do it. I had been taking so much Benadryl while waiting to get my other allergy medicine that I was so tired I was sleeping all the time. I got the other one now, and I feel so much better.

Carla came over yesterday and we took mom back to the dr's; she wasn't sleeping and her stomach was always upset. We all suspected it was her blood thinner that was doing it, so Richard told her not to take it til after we talked to the Dr. He put her on a different one, although she isn't going to take that one either for a couple of days. She seemed to be doing better when Sio and I left yesterday afternoon. She ate a little and seemed to be keeping it down. Rich is going over there later, and I will go later too. John and I are going to Borders later on and I'll have him drop me off there. I have a bunch of stuff to wash anyway; Sio and I went to the thrift store near here and bought some stuff. She is taking apart some sweaters to use for the yarn, and I want to felt a couple of sweaters I bought so I can make them into a bag and maybe one of the fleece lined scarves. When ever I had a few odd moments over the last week I have been beading a piece of corduroy for a bag flap; it's finished in the picture here. I'm going to sew the bag together this morning before anyone wakes up.

Post_Christmas blogging

We had the nicest Christmas with Melissa, and we were so glad to have her here as right before she came in Mom had a mini stroke. Melissa was really worried about her, so it was good she could stay over there and re-assure herself that her grandma would be ok. We really had a good time, we got to visit a lot; Christmas Eve was at Chris and Richards and Christmas dinner was here. We also spent the night downtown and went to Lincoln Park Zoo, and then to a bar. It was funny to see all 3 kids in a bar, but Sio turned 21 this past September. I have to say that I was really sad to see Melissa leave this morning, more than I usually am. But I am going to visit her in May, she gets her Masters and I am going to see her graduate. John said he was going too, but we'll have to see. He says things and then we don't do them, so if he can't I'll just go alone. In the meantime I am going to work full time on my Etsy store; that's my New Years resolution, although it's a bit premature. I created a new store and am having business cards printed up. I need to discipline myself now and spend 30 hours minimum a week working on projects to sell.

Christmas Sewing and Wool Quilts

I haven't had much time lately, I'm trying to finish up the Christmas gift sewing. John had the weekend off, too, so we did some of our Christmas shopping over the weekend. I think I'm almost done, I only need to buy one more thing. I have one present to finish and 2 more to make and then something Siobhan asked me to finish up for her because she isn't good at the sewing part of her gift. I hope to have everything done by the end of the week. Which will give me time to do what I saw on Simply Quilts this morning and I am very excited about. There was a lady on who was dyeing and fulling wool, and then making crazy quilt like pieces out of the wool. Of course any dyeing is fun, I could spend days on end dyeing and over dyeing. Then she butts pieces up to each other and adds a strip of fusible interfacing to hold them together. Then she flips the pieces over and uses her machine on a zigzig or other decorative stitch and joins them. She uses different threads for the joining, it can be invisible, the same color or a contrast. Then when she has the piece the size she wants she adds embellishments if she thinks it needs it. It was really cool, and I am filing it away as another one of those things to try. There is a quilt show in Feb and I could do a crazy pillow top. I could use the Dylon dyes, just set them with heat instead of warm water. They still work, they just aren't as brilliant as the Cushings. We have tons of things that would make nice embellishments. I think a whole quilt made this way would be too heavy, plus it couldn't be quilted anyway. But a pillow or table runner would be very nice. If it were a runner it could be backed with a dyed to match cotton flannel, or even a plain cotton.

Hammer of the Gods

There are bits and pieces of the Zep concert from London on You Tube, and they are still the Gods of Rock. Jason Bonham fills in on drums for his dad just perfectly, Robert Plant still sounds as good as he always did and Page can still play those great guitar riffs. The sheer power still drives me to my knees in worship. Go, watch and be humbled before the Gods. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KmqiUSX1jw&NR=1

Recycled Wool Scarf

Sio and I were talking about making recycled clothing, and I came up with this scarf. The back is hemp fleece which I got in a grab bag from Hemp Traders, the patchwork is recycled wool from my rug making stash and a felted wool sweater. This may very well end up as gift for someone although I don't know who yet. I have enough fleece to make 2 or 3 more more scarves. I though about using polyester fleece from work, but the problem is polyester. I know it's recycled pop bottles but the problem is still what happens to it after it's out of style, or gets a rip or whatever. It will still end up in the huge mountain of plastic that will never decompose and so will be here long after we are gone. I almost always use natural stuff anyway, but when it comes to recycling maybe it's a trade off. I would be saving some man made thing from the junk heap for awhile longer and if someone buys it and wears it then I've saved the manufacturing of a new thing Anyway, I do think this is cute and it will be very warm.