Lest it be said I’ve done nothing creative in the past couple of weeks, I finished up two garments I had cut out from fabric from the stash. Both were patterns from Burda Style, May 2012. The skirt, is a black ponte knit, and the top an ombré Italian cotton shirting. It is hard to see in the photo, but the shirt has gorgeous subtle ombré horizontal stripes, in pastels, all up the front. It is a lovely shirt with the skirt.
And Brianna and I drove out to the Frances Irwin Handweavers in Blairstown, NJ this morning. I haven’t been in ages, and it was good to see all my weaving buddies. The program was a wonderful end of year hands on, in the technique du jour, which seems to be dyeing silk scarves with Spectra Art Tissue. The technique was featured in SS&D Summer 2013 and has become the darling of the summer camp set. Take a pre-washed silk scarf blank (from Dharma Trading, who else?) and cover it with Spectra Art Tissue (tissue paper with a heavy dye which you can get at Staples online as well as Dharma), and spray it with vinegar water. Remove the tissue after it bleeds, blot the excess dye, and heat set until dry with an iron. Later on we can wash and dry again.
OK, this was seriously cool. I actually wanted to see what would happen if I tried to dye silk hankies with this technique, and it was a total success.
My lovely creative daughter was of course the star of the show. First she decided on a Star Trek theme, and carefully laid pre-cut tissue on the silk blank, and voila! She had a lovely silk scarf in Star Trek colors and symbolism.
She always has to incorporate her love of cows, since she spent her junior year of college as a Teaching Assistant in the cow barn at UMass Amherst. They raise Belted Galloways (beef cattle) often called the oreo cookie cow. She cut some black art tissue, and added trees and grass, and of course, now she has a silk scarf with cows on it.
One more final family dinner, we won’t all be together for awhile…
I’m off to finish packing. Oregon here I come…
A cow scarf — how wonderful! And, the family dinner is so important — good luck with your son on his journey with the National Guard. We all appreciate all that they are doing here and abroad. Have a good trip to Oregon!
GREAT last picture and SO important.
What a cool way to dye and that Brianna, she is a treat……..Belted Galloways! I get milk from a farm that has a Belted Galloway cross, Not exactly Jersey cream but good anyway!!
Luv Brianna’s Cows!