List of vegetables for dyeing

Looking a bit more into this dyeing business, I found a list of vegetables with the possible colors one can get from them. The method itself, was the same. So here:

Light Purple: small quantity of grape juice
Violet blue: red onions skins
Blue: Canned blueberries, red cabage, purple grape juice
Green: spinach, grass
Yellow: orange or lemon peels, carrot tops, ground cumin, ground tumeric
Brown: strong coffee
Orange: yellow onion skins
Pink: beets, cranberries
Red: lots of red onions skins

And then I found another list of possible dyers but not the colors one would get... so if you try them, tell us!

Marigold flowers
Tansy flowers
Dahlia flowers
Walnuts
Apple leaves
Oak leaves
Crushed pomegranates
Onion skins
Corn husks
Walnuts

So there... if you know of anything else, we can add to the list!

Another interesting link from a website called Pioneer Thinking. There is a long list of plants and the colors you might get.
I suggest you check Jenny Dean' s website and books. She is a guru in natural dyeing and a very generous person. Wise and fun!

New old machine

A few months ago I received as a gift, a very old sewing machine. The neighbour of a friend of mine, a very old lady, was moving away and she wanted to get rid of this machine she hasn't use in... decades. It is actually a machine from the 60s. Old.
I have absolutely no clue about machine sewing. The little sewing I have done in my life has always been done by hand. I always wanted to learn and never had anybody to teach me (my grandma refused because since I was going to University to study big things, what was the point of learning how to sew... that was her reasoning which I still don't get).
I had that machine laying around (like everything, in the living room) until a few days ago I finnally sat my mother in law in front of it and gave a command: "make it sew!". No, not really or I wouldn't be alive now.
She sat there and patiently showed me the laberynth the thread has to follow, through loops and holes and little needle eyes. The secret thread underneath...aaaaha! so that is how it works! I didn't know about it!!! And all sort of things. And she said... ok. Sew. That was a command. And I folded a piece of fabric and stepped on the pedal... and I haven't stopped since.
No, not a pro yet (or ever)... not by chance. Buuuuut, just to make myself learn, I decided to make two little bags to take as a present to a play date with my kid. We were going to visit girls, so... little bags I made:



And then I got excited by the results (hey, pretty darn good for a first timer!) and made a combined bag, two different fabrics... and lining!!!!




Wait wait... that is not all... I do work with hand made felt after all, don't I... I made a few laps of felt and then tried them on the machine... shouldn't be so thick next time. I tried that "free hand sewing' thing... kinda fun!

(two different shades of green merino and some linen fibers)



(beige merino -black in the front- and those stripes are silky lint).


Not fully satisfied, after all I am in experimentation phase, I went and downloaded a bunch of free patterns from Amy Buttler..........pffffffffffff.... not only is everything in inches (ok, I could do the math...could...maybe...); but I think...nonono... Im sure that that is a complete other league. Delusional, moi???? naaah.
So back to simple.
I harvested some lavender from my garden yesterday, so this morning I made small little sachets with fabric scraps, stuffed them with lavender and put them around in my drawers. My drawers, because my husband can not imagine his socks smelling like lavender. I made extra small sachets to include in the packages sent to customers.


And last... recycle, recycle, recycle.... nothing gets thrown away: a multi-scrap sachet.



This should provide enough reading for the rest of the week...hahaha...
Have a nice monday!

Wallhangings

For a while now I've been working on some wall hangings. Mostly experimenting with shapes, fibers and embellishments.
Making a perfectly square piece of handfelted fabric is not as easy as it may seem. Keeping all those fibers straight is quite difficult. They tend to... 'disperse'.
After hours with my hands in soapy water, I did find my own way (which probably is no discovery really) of making perfectly square pieces. And then... I figured they were boring. See, they are not me. I am a firm believer that what you make, if you let your juices flow instead of "copying"; will be a reflection of your personality. Which means that if in life you are a bit messy, loud, spontaneous... your art will probably be too. And I am messy.... and loud... and spontaneous. Exotic they call me here ...which is too funny. Let's bare in mind that I live in The Netherlands and I come from a latin country. Latin culture by definition is all 3 of those adjetives, and more!. (nononono, doesnt mean that the dutch can not be messy. but it is quite unusual! ).

Anyway...
I have this Milschschaf flees which I got some time ago, which is super soft (and still smells like sheep) and used it as the base. I then used merino wool to' draw' the shapes on it. I used silk to give some light to the petals too. But that was not it. I used chenille to needlefelt the contorne of a flower, some rainbow yarn to make stems and leaves (also needlefelted) and I hand embroidered some details as well. Wait! almost forgot! there are some linen fibers as well! pheeewwww... lots uh? Yeah.
I like them. And no, they are not perfect squares. And you know what, better. They remind me of these old mexican paintings made on leather that were always hanging on the walls of my dad's study. Very ethnic!

My husband added a piece of wood on the back for support and then a little hook so they can be hanged (otherwise they wouldn't be wall hangings, right? ).





There are a couple more to come!
Since I am not a good photographer I know the picture do no justice to the actual piece. But... one works with what one has, uh?
These two are listed on my etsy shop. In a few days, some more.

Hand felted flower brooches

Well, i just finished an order (that came from a contact outside my e-shops) for 15 flower- brooches. I hd fun macking them, mainly because this funky art loving person whom asked me to do them, wanted unusual flowers, not the typical daisy (I suppose it is a daisy...botanics, not my thing). So I did some shapes that resembled flowers and I handstitched motifs, attached beads, mixed fibers and colors...and I liked the result! Luckily, so did the client.

Now I have a problem. I've run out of brooch pins and the place where I bought these other ones -now gone with the brooches- doesn't carry them anymore... anybody out there reading (I know there are some people, I can see countries and all! hahaha) sells supplies, knows of a good supplier...ideas??? Thanks!!!

anyway, here some pictures...

Painting Porcelain

For a long time now, Ive been wanting to give porcelain panting a try. Last week I had -finnally!- some time to go to the shop and get some material. The good thing about this products is that if you dont like the design you've made, you can easily take it out with a sponge and warm water. When you are happy with your drawings, you let it dry for about 4 hours and then you fire it in a home oven at about 170C. Let it rest...and voila! Done! They are even dishwasher safe! Once fired, the paint wont come out. Im afraid however, even though I haven't done it myself, that if you cut on top of the drawing, it will get scratched... I have the feeling!

Anyway, after drawing half of the cups and saucers we own, I finnally came up with the following, which are now for sale at my DaWanda shop, Florcita.