Sunday 13 February 2011

...lots happening in the gap....

Heck!...it's been a while...

...but we've had some major computer glitches AGAIN!

Intermittent internet has meant that I've hardly spent any time on the lappy over the last couple of weeks.

Must say though....I DO get an awful lot more done if I know the computer is off limits :-)


Most of the time has been spent up to my elbows in dye-stfuffs...

...but I now make sure I use my super-duper-yellow-marigolds...

...that are so long...I could birth a calf!

After having bright orange hands on Christmas day...

...followed by turquoise...jade green...and cerise on various other days...

...and little itchy patches happening...

..I went and bought a few pairs of suitable gloves to work in.

I've been dyeing cotton fabric, 28/2s cotton thread and felt.

It's been such fun...

...and I was delighted to find that (with a little tension fiddling)...

...my lovely threads can be used on the sewing machine :-)))

So I did a bit of machine quilting...






...with some hand-stitching to finish off of course!

I'm loving these threads...






...and have even been moved to use them for a bit of canvas stitching!



They worked brilliantly for that too...

I decided to "fiddle" with the felt a bit...

...and have developed a process that stiffens the fabric quite a bit, and also seems to concentrate the colour on the surface.

The result is a lovely textured felt that is stiff enough to take quite a bit of stitching, and can be used easily for small jewellery items.

Here are some of the colours...














Now I can spend some time stitching onto it :-)