Odds & Ends and the Earth

April and May are dedicated to the element Earth at Project Spectrum. I will be making another Haori (if all goes well). This one with a brown outer fabric and a green interior. I managed to complete the dyeing this week. The green fabric went well, its the smaller piece and I didn't try to do anything too fancy with it.

The brown took two dye baths to complete. Both used Itajime shibori but on the brown I put some folds into the fabric before I pleated and clamped it to give it some more interesting dynamics. After the first dye bath it looked a bit blotchy to me so I went back into the second dye bath with a more simple fold just to fill out the color some more. I'm reasonably satisfied with the end results. I've done this technique before using rice paper to good effect, but paper is easier to fold crisply and clamp securely... I'm thinking about getting some bigger clamps for the larger fabric bundles. a trip to Home Depot is in my future!

I'm picking along at the ginkos its all hand stitching for the moment so I am working on it a bit at a time (a very kaizen project)

I dyed some baby clothes for my ETSY shop

tested some linen fabrics for discharge

dyed my first belly dancing veil

started another sampler with the heat set

and finally had a chance to rake out the back garden, getting my first sunburn of the year in the process.