Better with age

Glorious Weekend !

Can you believe the weather?!...it's roasting hot in April ! I'm not complaining, it's great to be able to get outside in the garden without the winter coat. So, yes, this weekend I have been mostly pottering about in the garden but also darting in and out the house to tend to my dyeing pots doing their thing! First on my list to get done was to dye some silk for a custom order I had received a couple of weeks ago. The custom order is for three 90cm x 20cm eucalytus printed silk scarves for a lady who wants them for her sisters wedding later in the year...... I emailed these photos to my customer and she is very pleased with the results so far and can't wait to see the finished results..... the next few nights will be spent sewing these up!

Also on the go was a new batch of silk hankies.

The first to be dyed revealed this cheery lemon shade, seen here drying on the line....

I then went on to do another two batches!!

The photos below show all three colours together (not sure this is the best light though).

Once labelled up, these will be sold in sets of three, one of each colour.

Lemon, Lilac & Dusky Pink...

Finally, with spare eucalytus and silk lying around I wrapped the two together and poped them in the steamer....

But now i'm stuck woth what to make from this???.... I was thinking for a change to make it as a Sarong, being summer and holiday time, or as a Curtain, as homeware is something I am looking into introducing this year too, or I could just make it an oversized shawl/wrap....

Help, i'd love to know your thoughts !

Wednesday's Wants....

Waste not want not....

I hord every piece of scrap fabric, no matter how big or small!
I have finally got around to putting all these scrap pieces to good use, other than the odd pieces on greetings cards, and decided to try my hand at brooch pins.....

Three peachy patchwork designs have been added to my Folksy Shop with many more to follow....hopefully this weekend....

Here's the first three.....

Finished with little button clusters and measuring approximately 6.5cm in diameter, perfect little treat or stocking filler perhaps?

Available now on Folksy.

Keep an eye out for more designs......

Finally...

...the silk from the jar experiments has been made into a scarf!

Do you remember this jar with the silk stuffed inside and left to do it's thing through snow, frost and sunshine?

The final destination for the silk was in a aluminium bucket with several exhaust dyes poured on top. Lots of reclaimed iron nails were added. The top of the bucket was wrapped with cling film and then it was left out in the sunshine and rain for a further couple of weeks.

I didn't report on this at the time as it was when I lost my camera back in July so I couldn't take any pictures to share!

So, anyway, here is a final piece (finally) to show you all.

I have made a triangular scarf...

The piece of silk has enough left to make a second triangular scarf and hopefully a long scarf or a circle snood scarf.

I think it was worth the wait :)

New Prints

Some quick photos of yesterdays experimenting with eco prints.

I was trying to create new designs to use in my greetings cards collection....

Apologies for the creases and various shades of white due to my camera settings!