What I have been doing the last couple weeks.

So, what have I been doing? Well, just before Valentines weekend I dyed some lace and vintage textiles found at one (or a couple) of the many local thrift stores. I was in a green mood so inspired by one of my fellow LillStreet monitors I mixed up an immersion bath of a sort of chartreuse color. I like how the color came out.



Then for Valentines weekend my husband and I got away for a romantic weekend in Saugatuck, Michigan. There is a lovely antique mall just outside of Saugatuck in Douglas, and of course I just had to stop by. I went a little bit nuts. It was a vintage-textile-and-textile-supply-palooza! They have these nice people who wander through the mall who's only goal is to help you or run your stuff up to the front to be put in a numbered cubby (this place is huge - it takes at least an hour to walk through it if you are hurrying). Needless to say you don't realize how much you have actually collected till you get up to the front...lol. Anyway this was my haul (not sure what I am going to do with it all yet, but I will think of something).



I bought tatted and crocheted lace, a tatting shuttle, lots of thread on wooden spools, two bags of edging and piping, a vintage heart pin cushion, thread on a wooden spindle, a vintage wood grainer, and a vintage mirror and brush set (I wanted the mirror to use at craft shows so people can look at themselves wearing my scarves or my mother's hats - the mirror we have is way too big).

I also have picked up my silkscreened-embroidered piece again and have been working on that (you can see some of the progress I have made on it below)



The last thing I think I will show you is a rough sketch that I am thinking of adapting for an embroidered piece.



I am thinking of embroidering it against a green cloth. It is really kind of an organic image and green make me think organic. Maybe I will use one of the ones above that I have already dyed. I will have to think more on that. Right now I am thinking that I am pretty tired. I woke up fairly early this morning for no reason. I didn't have to work until the afternoon I could have slept in, but nooooo, my brain wanted to wake up and be active. My body said "hey more sleep would be good", but my brain would have none of it and just had to have things its own way. The result being a nightowl who is tired early. So, I say unto you "Goodnight".

Dyed Scarves

I was going through my pictures and thought I would toss up a few pictures of two scarves that I dyed with thickened dyes. The picture to the left is a (almost) full length shot (don't mind the messy workroom behind the scarf).










The picture to the right is a detail shot of the scarf above.












The picture to the right is a detail shot of the scarf in the picture below.











This is the full length shot of the above detail.










Both scarves were dyed using thickened dye (fiber reactive dye with alginate). The scarves are silk charmeuse. I used a method called "canning" where by you take a small can the size of a small can of tomato paste and cut out both ends and put the can down on a piece of plastic and then pour the thickened dye into the top of the can. Then you drag the can onto your scarf and around your scarf in any manner you want and then drag it back onto the plastic (those are the thick lines you see). The dots on the second scarf were made with my finger dipped in thickened dye and rubbed in a circle on the scarf. I had a lot of fun making these scarves.