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...

I've Fallen.....

....off the blogging wagon !!

Things have been so busy lately; roof repairs, DIY, day job, family etc, that there are not enough hours in the day!

I've had a pile of sewing to start on for about 3 weeks but haven't had much time or energy left to get set up and get on with it, a couple of dyeing projects to get underway, and a comission order that I have had fabric sortages for! So plenty in the Lissi world to be getting on with.

I will improve on the blogging again, hopefully with experiments and tales to tell soon ....

.... pictures from a stall share one Sunday at Tynemouth Market a couple of weeks ago. Twas cold, and eye opening to what some people thought was worthy of selling (ie glorified car boot sale)!!

Wednesday's Wants...

Wednesday's Wants...

Mellow Yellow & Lushious Lemon

A Little Different....

Silk tie-dyed with logwood giving purple base, fabric left wet with nails laid in/on the fabric.

Two triangular scarves to come from this for the more daring purchaser !

Wednesday's wants....

Weekend Results

Last week i received a delivery of some new fabric and couldn't wait for the weekend to arrive so I could get out the dyeing pans!!

This year I made a promise that I would be more experimental in my dyeing again, and new fabrics is one of them. The fabric I bought was a very fine cotton, lightweight and perfect for spring into summer time wears.

My first dye batch was with Logwood which has produced a lovely dusky pink - perfect colours for the coming seasons ! All the edges are to be left raw and unfinished, and all that needs adding is signature label - never have I had so little to do with a piece.....

There's another length in the pot now simmering away and I will probably let it cool over night.

Let me know what you think, and hopefully they'll start popping up in my Folksy and Etsy shops in the next week or so.

Wednesday's wants....

Local sights

Thought I would share these pictures of Anthony Gormley's Angel of the North that has been on my doorstop for nearly six years yet I only visited it last weekend......at last.

Wednesday's Wants....

Multi task sunday

Don't weekends always seem to go so fast?!....infact faster than the other five days in the week I would say!

Ours has been busy.

On Saturday we drove over to Durham in the hope that Ste could speak to a jeweller about a possible job. He met and spoke briefly and was asked to ring and arrange to go back during the week as the poor guy was full of clients and customers waiting to be seen. So seen as this was not a straight no, we are a little hopeful about it.

On to Sunday. A day at home. I should have made a list as I know I haven't done half the things that were floating about in my head, but here's a few of the more interesting bits....

decided to gather some dyed silk and leave it to soak with the addition of some lovely rusted nails. I will seek the result next weekend so it can dwell all week in the shed.....

fought with the printer and forced it to print on silk as I have ran out of labels ....

cut some dyed silk ready for sewing over the coming nights (hopefully!)....

I also baked some cakes and cooked a hearty stew for tea, as well as all the other household chores that need to be kept in order !!

Below are a couple of new items, one of each as been added to my Folksy and Etsy shops.... and each shall be added to the other during the week....

And back to the 9-5 tomorrow ! Hope you all had a lovely weekend x

Wednesday's wants....

Wednesday's Wants...