Another hand dyed warp

This is a warp for a shawl. The yarn is Aunt Lydia's Bamboo Crochet Thread that is a light fingering weight. The dyeing was deliberately uneven after the successful with the tencel scarf. I wound the warp in 2 groups hoping that with only 2 groups I could get patterning across the entire warp. I will find out for sure when I beam it but I know I got some patterning. This afternoon was sunny so I spread some poly navy fabric I inherited on the driveway and spread the warp out.

More info about how I dyed the warp:

After winding the warp I soaked in for a while in water, rung out most of the water and dumped it the standard soda ash/water solution for surface application of dyes. I then rung out most of the soda ash solution and lined up the 2 warp bouts. I laid them on the upside down lid for a plastic container zig/zagging the yarn 3 or 4 times so it all fit on the lid. I mixed the dye with warm water in a container and used a syringe from the farm store to apply the dye to the yarn. I put the dye on one side and then flipped it over to make sure both sides got enough dye. After the dye was all applied, I added a bit more liquid since I was aiming for low water immersion kind of patterning. After a bit I folded the warp up and put it in a smaller container I could put a lid on and move easily.

Dyed rtw, dress form and new project

I am not sure the color is okay on the rayon blouse and skirt . I didn't get them out of the dryer until after dark so I will check the color in the morning. I think they may not be dark enough. If the top matches last month's skirt I may wear them to church tomorrow.

I need a break from finding a skirt I like with the cross-over empire bodice. Inverted box pleats do not work on my body. I undid part of the waist seam on the right side and played with the pleats until I think I have a better pleat. I have no desire to continue with the skirt right now so I decided to sew something else and let this muslin wait.

I have enough red knit to make 2 tops and a skirt. I have a coordinating stretch woven cotton print for a skirt. I am making the woven skirt first. This will be a straight skirt, long as usual. I cut the skirt out and have the pockets almost sewn. These are simple slash pockets like the ones in this post except there is no pump opening. With skirts I just clip the pump to the waistband.

I am going to use a narrow waistband on this skirt. I rarely put a zipper or pocket opening in this casual of a skirt but I might check the zipper stash for a matching zipper. I am going to sew a slit instead of a vent - I didn't remember to cut a vent.

Dyed Dress

I dyed the dress last night by squising it into a rope, twisting it and wrapping it around a pvc pipe. I used rubber bands to hold the dress on the pipe. I used a pre-mixed royal blue and squirted it on all the exposed fabric. I then let it batch until this morning when I un-twisted, hand rinsed twice and then washed and dryed the dress. The colors are a bit spotty so I will probably overdye in a semi-even way with the same dye. The already dyed areas will darked but the contrast should be more pleasing.

The picture below is an opening in the right side seam for pump tubing. With no pockets I will need something to anchor the pump, but at least I have an opening for the tubing. I will probably try a safety pin first, if that works I will then look at a permanent attachment for the pump.

Show Entries and Rayon Chenille

My weaving guild has a show “Utah Fiber Celebration” this spring. Here are pictures of the scarves I entered. For more about the show, check out the article in a local paper.

The scarves in the basket are square silk scarves I dyed. The other scarf is a rayon chenille shadow weave scarf. This was my first finished chenille piece. It is so soft after wet finishing.

I have since woven 2 plain weave rayon chenille scarves. The first was woven with the silver used in the shadow weave scarf. I didn't take a picture before I gave it to a friend.

The second was woven with white chenille. After wet finishing, I plan on dyeing the scarf. I have a shawl on the loom and warps wound for another shawl and 2 scarves.

Tie-dye t-shirts

I dyed t-shirts for my brother, sil, their 6 children and the exchange student living with them this year. The children picked the colors without knowing I was going to dye t-shirts for htem. When they picked blue, green and red, I decided to do a spiral with red in the middle with blue and then green on each side of the red.

Here is a picture of the family with their t-shirts on.

Displaying dyed items

Saturday I had the opportunity to display some of my hand-dyed items as part of an art display at my church. The picture is one I took of the display. The bottom left is some silk scarves. The pink on the table is a silk scarf and some rayon I low water immersion dyed. The turquoise/royal blue and the while/purple are silks I shibbori dyed. The top at the back is a clothing blank from Dharma I low water immersion dyed.

Hand Dyed Fabrics

These fabrics are impatiently waiting to be sewn. The pink fabric is rayon challis, the aqua fabrics are silk charmeuse and silk noil, the purple fabrics are silk noil and sandwashed habotai.