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Miss G as a Weeping Angel.
Miss G was able to wear her costume to school for the
entire day, much to Little e's jealousy. This is a shot
I took just before she walked to school. You can't
tell in this photo, but we've sprayed her hair silver and
she has silver makeup on the edges of her face.
Fezzes are cool, dontcha know.
I got out the red wool that I fulled last winter, and
set to making Sweet G a fez. Once the first fez was
done, Little e needed one. Then a friend of Miss G
needed one. You see how this goes?
Oh yes, a girl and her fez are a lovely thing.
In our latest round of Ladies Art, Ms T and I played
with a new dyeing method.
This version of fabric decoration uses a seaweed based
gelatin to thicken the dye (the same fiber reactive
dye I use in batiking) to a paint like thickness.
The idea is that then the dye can be directly applied to
the fabric by brush, stamp, or sponge, just as you would
fabric paint, but the finished fabric will not have the
heaviness or stiffness paint creates.
It's an interesting process, and one I need to play with
more. The first round of dye wasn't thick enough,
and next time I'd add more dye. There is also a time
element to this process. The dye becomes impotent
after a couple of hours, so you need to act quickly.
After the business of Christmas is past, I want to try
working with this method again.
Sweetheart G has two friends with birthdays this month.
So she and I made messenger bags for her to give as gifts.
This new size of bag is one of the things I'm making for
the holiday market this year.
It's a nice size for carrying to the coffee shop with a
hard cover book and a snack. Oh, and an iPad just
happens to fit inside as well.
I'm loving working with wool. It's just so tactile and yummy. Both of the recipients loved their bags.
Last weekend, Big E and I ran away.
Armed with a free night voucher from the Best Western
promotion this summer and childcare from Auntie O,
we ventured up the gorge.
It was a gorgeous day.
We drove through the countryside visiting farms.
We collected apples, pears, and honey.
But, I have to say, the best part of the adventure
was the chance to do nothing.
No dishes, no laundry, no errands, no chores.
So nice. We ate lovely meals (I didn't cook) and
watched bad movies while eating carmel corn in bed.
Totally awesome!
There is something about creating something with
your own hands for another that makes gift giving
into something bigger.
I want my workshops to provide a bit of calm creativity
in the middle of what is often a busy and rushed
season. Making gifts should provide the maker with a
sense of pleasure.
All materials are provided, and while each class
has examples of what could be made, ultimately
what you make is up to you. This isn't paint by numbers
or insert tab A into slot B to make C.
Each class begins with an explanation of what the
materials are, as well as simple methodology,
add some ideas to get you started, and then...
see where it takes you.
Just click on the flyers to expand them.
The last two classes (the only ones that are adult only)
can be taken as a series or singly.
Thermoset vinyl is the material that I use to embellish
many of my dice bags. It is a material that can be
easily cut with scissors, it can be layered, and once it's
been heat set to fabric, the finished item can be washed
in a washer. It can be applied to ready made items,
but I prefer to embellish fabric and then sew the fabric
into an item.
Which leads me to the last class. The tote making
class is an arena where you can use fabric I have,
fabric you have, or fabric you have made or embellished.
It's the "I have this, what do I do with it?" solution.
So there you have it. Come and make some gifts,
have fun, and be creative.
I've been trying to sew. You know, the whole building
up inventory for the holidays thing? The messeger bags,
the dice bags, and totes, and... well stuff.
But, Mr Fuzzypants has his own agenda.
He says, "What? Oh, just work around me. I'm totally
cool with that."
"I'm just gonna take a little nap here while you do
whatever it was you were doing. What were you doing?"
My cousin asked for a special tote, so how could I
disappoint her?
So here we are, I used some of the batiked fabric I
made this summer for the lining. I still feel like my
Tardis is in progress, but I'm happier with it.