reuse and reclaim

My studio, my house, and my life is overtaken by fabric. Fabric yardage, fabric remnants, fabric scraps. Vintage fabrics, mod fabrics, silly fabrics. Fabrics collected and acquired over decades, lovingly washed, folded, and stored in piles. Fabrics left over from numerous projects and experiments.

Despite a promise to not announce any resolutions for this new year, I hereby declare 2012 the year of no new fabric purchases. Not only will I try not to buy more fabrics, I am also determined to use more of all the wonderful goodies I have on hand.

The last few days I have spent making pillows from fabrics originating from modern fabrics, a wonderful Charlotte, NC, based company that specializes in reselling remnants from furniture corporations and other industries. I am also creating small zip purses, using vintage linen and cotton prints. This new line of work will have its own place in my etsy store, some of the pieces are already listed, more will be added in upcoming weeks.

No promises can be made without caveat. I am running short on silk and wool for eco dyeing. And there may be a need to reorder my house linen fabric for new production work. But other than that I should be all set!

all about color

Work samples by my wonderful classmates.

Colors are not always what we perceive them to be. A piece of dyed fabric can look pale and unassuming on its own, beige and boring. But accompanied by another pale shade of cloth, both pieces may come to life. Color is on my mind, after this past week's natural dye workshop with Rowland Ricketts at Shakerag. I had a wonderful time, catching up with old friends (you know who you are), meeting new ones, and getting to know Rowland who is an amazing artist – generous, knowledgable, and fun.

Something is brewing.

Black willow bark samples hung to dry.

Towering trees everywhere.

Rowland's beautiful silk yarns.

The lovely compost pile.

My first attempt at shibori.

The focus of the class was the natural local landscape, and the colors we can gain from it. We were encouraged to collect plants that were either plentyful or invasive, and then by using japanese inspired dyeing techniques and mordants we managed to produce a wonderful range of soft (and sometimes not so soft) shades of cloth, yarn, and threads. I am much inspired and ready to fully make these natural dyes my own.

Documenting and organizing.

My finished samples. I love the range and the hues.

experimentation x 2

Two amazing women and their books have brought me on a joyful creative journey lately. I already gushed over India Flint, and her inspiring book Eco Colour, but have now followed lightly in her footsteps by experimenting with dyeing my linen fabrics using nothing but plants and natural materials. So far I am thrilled, mainly because many of the hues I have achieved are ones that I have unsuccessfully tried to produce for a long time using synthetic dyes. It is very hard to get pale shades of color from procion mx dyes. The soft greens here, created from boiling carrot tops in an iron pot are just perfect.

So is the grayish lavender color from the black bean water left over from our latest chili batch, and the rusty warm tones achieved from seeped onion skins, and the pale acid yellow made from chamomile tea bags...

I even tried India's famous eco printing technique, where you bundle your plants in tight fabric layers and put them in a steam bath to coax out the colors. I used geranium leaves, and although the result is nowhere near perfect, the impressions and imprints are intriguing.

I also recently purchased Natalie Chanin's book Alabama Studio Style. Her beautiful designs, technical skills, and innovative business methods, have inspired me for years. I love the new soft stencils she use, and decided to try the diluted ink spray bottle method included in her book. Well the result was quite disastrous – the ink bled everywhere, soaking through the felt stencil, making big blobs and splattering the fabric beyond the stencil. But once dried, I realized there was something appealing about this distressed mess. I added flower clusters, printed using rhododendron leaves, that echoes the blotches, but prettier. For some reason I just love the result. Next I will layer it, and add stitching, still using the same shapes.

The most wonderful side effect of these experiments, is that they taught me to cherish imperfection. I am by nature a perfectionist, wanting everything to be uniform, smooth, unblemished, aligned, and beautiful. These natural dyes come out mottled, uneven, and the stenciling is obviously quite ugly on its own. But somehow I have come to terms with how it all happens. The beauty is in the process, not necessarily in the end result.

I will take some time off for travels this week, but will return soon, with new reports, impressions, and imagery.

I just have to make an addendum to this post. Yesterday afternoon I found out from dear Claire at Shakerag, that I got a spot in India Flint's class this summer, after months on the waiting list. And guess who is the guest lecturer the week I am there – Ms. Natalie Chanin. I am so lucky!

just words

I have some technical problems with my photo managing software (I still love you, sweet mac...), so this will be my first post without pictures. Much is going on over here, worthy of sharing.

I've introduced a weekly shop update in the etsy store. Every Tuesday morning, I will list a handful of new handcrafted pieces. Most of them will be one-of-a-kinds, and most of them are truly new, not re-lists. Check in tomorrow for this weeks goodies.

I am happily experimenting with soy milk mordants, and natural plant dyeing per Ms. India's inspiration. I am amazed by the beautiful, subtle colors I have achieved so far. This is what I meant to post about, so look for more once the photo issue is resolved.

Lastly, we are taking off for Toronto next week. Can't wait to see this beautiful city, taste its foods, stroll by the waters edge, and visit with friends!

india flint

Images courtesy of India Flint. All rights reserved.

Prophet of bloom, is the name of her couture clothing line. She calls her blog not all those who wander are lost. These names exemplifies the imagination, travel lust, and free spirit of Australian born fiber artist India Flint. She is the queen of color; both vivid and subtle, faded and stark, and sometimes beautifully muddy and murky, all derived from plants and other natural materials. Threading light on this earth, and only using what is necessary, is India Flint's guiding light and it is evident throughout the artistic process. Even her preferred mordants, the fixatives used to make the dyes bonds with the fibers, are from natural origins.

I recently got India's book eco colour and am intrigued by the possibilities her techniques bring using leaves and flowers from our own back yards. Most plants are fair game, although some are more reliable than others (and be ware of the poisonous ones). Besides mordants, factors like water quality and what kind of vessel used, will affect the final outcome of the dye bath. The book includes vast plant lists, as well as safety and care instructions. It does not provide many exact recipes, instead it encourages the readers to experiment on their own using the book as a guide, and to celebrate unexpected results.

Image courtesy of India Flint. All rights reserved.

For her own fashion line, India Flint has developed a technique called eco-printing where leaves are layered with mordanted cloth, and then bundled up and treated with moisture, heat, or just time, depending on the preferred outcome. The result is magical impressions left behind by the natural pigments in the plant.

Image courtesy of India Flint. All rights reserved.

India is sharing her knowledge by teaching classes all over the world. This summer she will give two week long workshops at Shakerag, in Sewanee, Tennessee. I am currently on the waiting list for the first class, and although I do not wish for any of the current participants to miss this wonderful opportunity, I am secretly hoping that a spot will open up. I would love to meet India Flint, learn from her, and experiment alongside her.

Image courtesy of India Flint. All rights reserved.

to dos

My friend Mike doesn't do to-do lists. He is convinced that his former obsession with list making was one of the reasons his first marriage failed. My lovely husband keeps a long list of chores and projects on the computer, adding and deleting things as they come up or get done. He is perfectly content with his system.

I am always in to-do-list limbo. I am compelled to jot things down as I think of them, but these notes are scattered all over the house. If I am lucky enough to find them I will consolidate them into one list. Sometimes they get organized under random heading such as URGENT, BY MONDAY, LATER. But honestly, once a list is complete I rarely go back to check it. The longer the list, the more stress it induces. I don't like stress. Therefore I still keep my most pressing to-dos filed away in my brain, panic is never far away...

What is your relationship with to-do-lists? Do you add a recently completed task to the list, just to be able to cross it off? Do you use color codes? How do you organize your life? I would love some guidance and constructive advice on how to not let task lists overtake my life.

Check out my line drying post on the garden blog. I am in love with my clothes line and want to share that love with everyone. A special thanks to Jessica, who wrote so sweetly about inleaf and my work on her blog yesterday.

my wash room

After a lifetime of doing laundry in dingy basements, garages, and laundromats, we  finally have a real laundry room.  The small space next to our second floor bedrooms, was carved out and roughed in a couple of years ago, when we did a major house renovation. For many reasons, mainly financial, we have not finished the project until now. 

My lovely husband did all the work - laying, sanding, and staining the floor, making the shelves, installing the soapstone counter top, and all the painting... I was available for advice and good cheer throughout the project (yes, I know he is a very special man). I also love the new high efficiency washer and dryer, so roomy and quiet. Another favorite is the basket system for the boys sports gear. Here they find their jerseys and shin guards, and when they return from practice their grimy garments go directly in the dirty laundry bin. In theory their stuff never leaves the wash room unless it is on their bodies. I am no domestic diva, but I have to admit that this laundry room brings me happiness. No more hauling of baskets up two flights of stairs, or looking for boys' boxers in the dust piles on the basement concrete floor.

signs of spring

Slowly but surely spring is emerging. The star magnolia buds are unfolding and the maple flowers makes the tree aglow. To celebrate the season I invite you to visit the poppytalk handmade green spring market. An amazing array of artists are showing off their goods at this virtual market place. This is my debut as a poppytalk handmade seller, and I am impressed with the quality and beauty the market represents. You can find the inleaf table here, along with talented friends such as periwinkle bloom, enhabiten, and jewelweeds.

winter wonder

We woke up to more snow this morning. Wet and heavy, engulfing the neighborhood. Everything seems so pristine after a snowfall. This month I am starting two new partnerships. I am collaborating with Karen Young and her newly launched show:room, where she will promote independent artists and designers. Karen's own line Hammocks & High Tea is part of this small but talented group of eco conscious creative businesses. I have also placed my first ever sponsor ad on bliss. I can't imagine a better venue than Mrs. French's lovely blog, and I am proud to be a bliss supporter.

wedding favors

One of my favorite projects during these past weeks were the clutches I made for my friend Lynn, as gifts to the bridal party at her daughter Lauren's wedding this weekend. I had never tried to make framed purses before, but got inspired by red ruby rose's beautiful creations on etsy. They are leaf printed on organic hemp, and lined with vintage cotton. The sewing part was easy, at least compared to the trickery and patience it took to attach the purse to the frames. I do have it down by now, at least I think so... It is always fun to explore something new, and I am pleased with the final result.  Lauren and her soon to be husband Lincoln are renowned wedding photographers in Portland, Oregon. They are getting married this evening, among friends and family. I know it it will be a beautiful event and I wish them the best of luck and all the happiness that married life brings.