First Fruits!

Thanks to everyone who commented and the private emails I received about these fabrics and my process. I'm taking the good advice and making up these samplers so you can try it out in your own work. I'll be working my way through the alphabet to name them - this is "Amphora".  The pale blue mottled piece, left center is linen, and everything else is vintage damask.

The ruler is up so you can see the scale and I've gone to some trouble to make sure this looks to my eye and my monitor as color correct as I can make it. That big golden triangle is a piece of the Butternuts from day before yesterday - the crew from yesterday are tumbling in the dryer right now and will be well represented.

I'll be posting these groupings for sale over at Random Acts of Dyeness and hope to get a half dozen up this morning.

To the far right, you can see a piece of a direct print of one of the Reveres -  a good example of what I do with my hand dyes -

here's a better look. Printed on card stock, 11"x17"

All this from just three colors. These are pretty wet but if the butternut results are any test, these won't be all that different when dry.

dyedeck action

I cut up more fabric than would fit in just one pan  (methinks this studio minion is planning a mutiny) so two other colors were called into action.

I will follow the rest of the rules for the processing.

The Butternuts are about to hit the dryer after a thorough thrashing with synthropol in the washer. I'll update this post with pictures in an hour or two.

Now it's stitching time....


ps...as promised...and a portion of all of these will end up in the store..

for JB

Dear JB.
    I just couldn't bring myself to take scissors to your beautiful tablecloth so different things are going to happen here.

There is no more satisfying stitchery that a new sharp threaded with a double strand of 12wt Sulky cotton biting effortless through four layers of supple vintage damask. Once the tension is applied the two pieces become one. This must be what stitching flesh is like, healing.

I'm just going to allow the colors and the cloth have their way with me for awhile.

Thanks again JB where ever you may be.

butternut break out

I'm going to let them all just hang there in the rain for today - save me the water and energy of doing it by hand. The ones with other colors going on are overdyes.

This is a pleasing method..mixing up enough of The Color of the Day in one of those deep steel hotel tubs, tumbling the fabric chunks altogether then letting them stew for a few hours until another good tumble with a  dose with soda ash sauce and then an overnight soak.