New Items in Shop
Posted: April 20, 2014 Filed under: natural dyeing, Shop | Tags: cotton, leaf prints, natural dyeing, ribbons, shop, silk, supplies, threads Leave a commentI have finally got round to stocking up my shop. All the items listed have been coloured using natural dyes. I have sat on them for a long time (at least a year) because I wanted to see what would happen with the passing of time and I am happy to report that they have remained the same as the day they were dyed. I obviously cannot vouch for long term light/wash fastness but this is probably true for all types of dye whatever the source. Here is a sample of some of my stock;
silk perle threads
Fabric packs
ribbons
Click here to go to shop or on the link at the top of the page
Prints on Fabric
Posted: April 18, 2014 Filed under: dyeing, Work | Tags: leaves, natural dyeing, prints, textile art 2 CommentsAlong with the paper, I have been busy printing on fabric, since the first leaves of the season give quite distinct results to those gathered later on in the year. All the leaves were gathered from the Common.
The most interesting prints achieved so far are from the willow. The photo does not do it justice.
Scholarship
Posted: April 15, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Common, Embroiderers Guild, Exhibitions, textile art 5 CommentsI am very pleased to announce that I have been awarded an Embroiderers Guild Scholarship. This will run from now until April 2015 and involves a project and an opportunity to exhibit (again) at the Knitting and Stitching Shows and at the Embroiderers Guild AGM next year. Since the work I did last year surrounding Southampton Common threw up so many possibilities, most of which were unrealised, I am going to continue with this line of investigation. The papers from the previous post are a starting point as are the birch bark experiments from the one before that. There are so many more leaves available this year compared with a year ago. I also have the luxury of a lot more time to experiment.
During my daily walk on the Common this morning I was shocked to discover there had been a fire during sometime in the last 24 hours
.
Luckily it was confined to a fairly small area, it could have been so much worse. It occured to me that were the Common were to be devastated then again I would be thwarted!
Paper Prints
Posted: April 11, 2014 Filed under: dyeing, Work | Tags: Common, leaves, natural dyeing, print, textile art 2 CommentsI have been doing a lot of printing on paper. I am looking for new possibilities for collage on muslin. This selection is on cheap watercolour paper. I am always intrigued by the differing results gained by different papers. More results in another post
Birch Bark
Posted: April 1, 2014 Filed under: dyeing, Work | Tags: Common, natural dyeing, textile art, work 4 CommentsI am continuing to use the Common as a starting point for new work. During all the windy weather many birch trees came down and I have been collecting bits of the bark with the view to exploring its dye potential.
A rather lovely piece. The bit that has the dye in it is the layer of bark under the white outer. It was extremely difficult to prise it away from the wood. However I managed to put together enough for my purposes. I decided to use the ‘slow method’ of leaving it in a jar I wrapped one of the pieces of fabric in some old beer bottle tops also gathered from the Common. It has been stewing away on my window ledge for about 3 weeks. The intention was to leave it longer however I noticed this morning it was looking distinctly murky so I decided that enough was enough and I tipped the whole lot into a pan and then boiled it up to kill anything that was growing in it. These are the results
I think there is potential here and the whole process merits further investigation.
