Batik workshop

Batik using red tissue paper

I was really lucky yesterday to take part in a batik workshop with the Textile without Limits group. This was a technique which I had always wanted to try, but never had the chance to do so. Our tutor was Nawal Gebreel. She was lovely, encouraging and also good with advice at each stage. We started off learning the basic techniques on tissue paper and also some thin white drawing paper.

Batik on paper

It was really interesting scribbling using a tjanting. Some tools were really good, with a manageable flow. Others just let the hot wax through rather too quickly for my novice attempts. It was such fun, using dyes and bleach as a resist. You can see the effect of the bleach on the red tissue paper - the bleach caused the pale patches with the wax resisting the bleach and leaving the red lines.

Batik - three colours

Lastly, in the afternoon we were allowed to use fabric. Nawaal had brought the fabric along for us to use. It had been previously treated with soda so that the dye will be permanent. We were using procian dyes. The fabric was stretched onto a frame, and pinned ready to use. I started off with the tjanting, drawing poppy seed head shapes which I had originally drawn when I took part in the Shelley Rhodes workshop in March.

Batik - closeup.

In searching my blog posts I see that I never got around to writing about the Shelley Rhodes workshop. Oops! Now that workshop was really interesting. Basically a drawing exercise, we got to use a wide range of materials, drawing on fabric and also paper. Stitching paper and fabric together, cutting and piecing the drawings we made too. It was completely out of my personal comfort zone, but I learnt such a lot about using different media when drawing and to not be afraid of rearranging a drawing which I am not totally happy with. The piece of work from this first workshop is shown below. It is still unfinished and I do pick it up from time to time to look at and consider working on. However, the drawings were perfect for using in the batik workshop. I had also brought along one of the dried poppy seed heads which I had used back in March, which allowed me to draw the full seed head as well as the details.

The work in progress from the Shelley Rhodes workshop/

A close up.

I shall be removing the wax from my batik later today. It will be really interesting to see how the piece looks once the wax has been removed. I used three colours in all. The first was a pale yellow, I then added more wax once the yellow dye had dried, adding more details and some poppy seeds. This was covered with the same yellow dye to which I had added a small amount of red to make orange. After the orange dye had dried, I added a lot of wax to cover some areas I wished to keep free of the final colour. With some advice from Nawaal, I added a bright red as the final colour. I decided part way through adding the dye, not to colour in the two circles which is why they look slightly odd at the moment.

I really enjoyed my day yesterday, and was so pleased to have been able to use elements of the work done in the previous workshop. Thanks Shelley and Nawaal.

Textile finds in charity shops.

Wooden buttons - so useful being in sets of ten.

I was extremely lucky to find some really interesting bits and pieces in charity shops today. A really pretty dress pattern, some nice buttons and a few wooden hearts.

More wooden buttons and hearts.

The dress pattern - a simple design just right for the summer.

Alongside that there was also a kit for a ribbon weave card. Now, I must admit that the design is rather dull although the ribbon pieces are quite pretty. I shall not be using the card frame for a ribbon weave, but will use it for something else at some stage. The ribbons will go into my stash of ribbons, as will the small piece of iron-on interfacing. Interestingly, one of the textile groups I go to will be having a ribbon weaving session next time. I have already done some ribbon weaving on my journal quilts a couple of years ago. I'm still not sure if I did it right, but had a lot of fun putting those pieces together. At that time I was using threads as well as ribbon and some lace.

The ribbon weave pack.

The last item I found was a package holding a variety of Vilene samples, leaflets, and a small booklet showing the different types and their corresponding numbers. I shall find this extremely useful when it comes to ordering new interfacing since I can now assess which type I shall need. There was also a large sheet of sew-in interfacing printed with a grid pattern. This will become useful when I do any patchwork blocks. I don't often do these, but there are times when I really feel the need to do something simple and straightforward.

The pack of Vilene bits and pieces.

Now to get back to some sewing once more. However, I have also started knitting again. This time a waistcoat in a rather interesting recycled cotton/acrylic mix. I can't usually knit with cotton, finding it too hard on my wrists and fingers. However, this yarn is soft and a pleasure to knit. It does tend to split, but not too badly to irritate.

A new project - knitting this time.

Whenever I really can't get myself started with a sewing project I always seem to start yet another knitting project. I really must stop prevaricating and make friends with my sewing machine again.

In case you are interested, this new project can also be found in the same book as my last knitted project.

Knitting and stitching.

Completed cardigan

 The cardigan has now been finished and put away ready for wearing at some stage. It was really quite a fast knit, only taking ten days to complete.

Journal Quilt for May

Other items completed this week include the May journal quilt for the CQ challenge. I have also started the June quilt, but will post that when it is complete. This still continues the theme of journeys. This time showing an aircraft flying over a map of Prague. The map has been printed onto a sheet of silk. The purple band is the one I had to wear when attending the 8th Patchwork Meeting in Prague some weeks ago.

The Sky's the Limit challenge for May also got completed, but missed the deadline by a couple of days since I just couldn't complete the stitching in time. The back is still just pinned......

Sky's the limit quilt - Filling in the Blancs.

Just to share the appalling joke - the background shows Mont Blanc with a blancmange to teh left, a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to the centre and the French entrance to the Mont Blanc tunnel on the right with a line of cars entering and leaving. The theme this time was "Filling in the Blancs". You can see other quilts on this theme on the website.

No sewing yet, but a play day instead.

Sirdar book 398, "Roman Holiday"

In town yesterday, I found myself looking for a pattern for a cardigan. I have needed a cream cardigan for quite some time and haven't done any knitting for months. So I walked into Crafty Stitches and picked up this lovely book. It has a number of patterns in it which I know I shall be wanting to knit over the next few months.

Sirdar 9428, top version

This pattern was the one which took my eye. There is also a shortsleeved version which could so easily become longsleeved. Some lovely cream yarn came home with me too. Sadly, I really can't knit with cotton, so I opted for a polyacryl/wool mix  which feels beautifully soft and should wash really easily.

New print blocks

Home again I decided I owed myself a play day so got out the print blocks, fabric paints and stencils. The large print board was set up in the conservatory and I was off. My new print blocks from Colouricious were the first ones to be used.

Flower - first prints

Flower - overprinted

After quite an enjoyable time with the blocks, it was time to break out the stencils. I do so love playing around with the fabrics and trying out the different paints, mixing them too.

Using a stencil - work in progress

More stencilling.

I think my favourite is to use fabric which has already been painted or dyed and then print over the top with something completely different. You can see this clearly with the photograph above. The base fabric had been painted for a landscape theme and I really cannot throw away anything which might prove useful. I have used the offcuts above.

Blocks, foam pieces and bowls drying

My printing table at the end of the session.

I really need to get on with some stitching now before finishing off the printing now that the fabrics and the blocks have dried out. If you are wondering about the toothbrush - well, it is brilliant for getting the paint off the blocks and cleaning right into all the little nooks and crannies of any design. Yes, those are children's foam printing blocks in the centre. I do use those too. I printed using my new heart block too, but will share those photos another time. I am going to overprint that fabric, or perhaps add more colour in a different way. I just haven't decided yet.

Here's hoping for more sewing this week!

Ella, wearing her back pack.

Well, I haven't managed to get any sewing done over the past two weeks. Once the costumes were finished it was time for play week. A brief weekend away and I am itching to get on with some stitching of my own. I've managed to fit in a couple of mending tasks - a tear in a trouser leg, repairing the hem of another pair. Nothing very exciting and not really what I want to be doing.

Bluebells in the local woods.

If nothing else, I did manage to fit in a daily walk with Ella. Being a Husky/Akita cross, she really does need a couple of good walks a day. My morning walks tend to be at least 3 miles in length, with the route changing each morning. We are very lucky to have some wonderful walking tracks around here. All are walking distance from my front door as well!

The Bluebells have been magnificent this Spring. A delicate bluey-purple haze. Sadly, they have all but finished for this year. However, I did manage to get some photos.

Just in case you are wondering, Ella is carrying her own water bottles and a collapsible water bowl in her "back pack". She does get rather thirsty when the mornings are warm as they have been recently.
I did have a lovely visit with a friend yesterday afternoon - we talked textiles. A really enjoyable chat. It really got me excited about the idea of getting back to playing with textiles once more. The soldering iron and heat gun I had ordered recently arrived in the post today ready for some experimentation. I am going to be playing with the effect of heat on fabrics, as well as getting some printing done. I ordered some new woodblocks for blockprinting, as well as restocking my collection of fabric paints. These have now arrived.... lots of fun to be had!
Bye for now.

Costumes finished......... I hope!

stitched birds

Play Week starts next week. This evening will be the dress rehearsal, with setting up the hall this afternoon. This morning saw me stitching the last few birds onto the jacket I made for the last rehearsal on Thursday evening. You can see the birds I made above this text. They are made from three layers of different sheer fabrics backed with stitch'n'tear.

stitching the birds

I stitched on the back of each bird following lines drawn onto the stitch'n'tear. The needle had a backing thread while the bobbin held the embroidery thread - a rayon variegated thread called Mirage by Wonderfil. A lovely thread to work with. I shall definitely be using it again.

the bird jacket

This is the finished jacket, a tulle base with cream satin bias binding at the hems. A very simple box shape since the main impact on the jacket are the birds. The dress beneath belongs to the actress.

the back of the bird jacket

It has been a rather hectic few weeks since my last visit to this blog. I have been mostly busy with the costumes for "Glorious". This is a play which will be performed by Moulton Drama Group for whom I am currently doing the costumes. Despite my pessimism in the last post here, I did manage to get most things done. I still haven't done anything for the Sky's the limit challenges, or either of the textile books I am committed to finishing. They will just have to wait. Since the end of March the following things have happened:
Prague - 4 - 6th April -  I took quilts to the 8th Prague Patchwork Meeting. There were 98 quilts in total. The main collection was the Horizons collection from the Contemporary Quilt Group, with 30 quilts from the Traditional Group (these were their Suffragette quilts) and 21 miniature quilts from the Miniature Group. A further collection of five quilts was bought along by Nava, my colleague who, with her husband and my own husband helped carry all the quilts and hang them. All the groups are members of The Quilters' Guild of the British Isles, and we were their representatives at the Meeting. A really interesting, and exhausting experience.
Portsmouth - 11 - 13th April -This was The Quilters Guild annual Conference and AGM. A very busy weekend, but so enjoyable to meet quilting friends again.
After this I got home and was able to finally concentrate on the costumes, stitching furiously. The palazzo pants and their waistband all got completed, but I forgot to take any photos. I also made two cravats which I also forgot to take photos of. These will probably be returned to me a some stage and I shall take photos then. I also altered an apron I made several years ago based on a 1940's nurses apron which had belonged to my aunt.

apron altered

I removed the original waistband since it no longer fitted me and did not fit the actress who would be wearing it. This has been replaced by a white waistband and some ties with the straps now attached to the ties at the back.

back of the altered apron

The spanish dress also got finished. There are 15metres of fabric in each of the lower flounces. Two sewing machines decided they had had enough during the making. One of these is now up and running again, but the second will have to go in for repairs!

The almost finished spanish dress shown in the last blog post. The pins have now gone and the dress is hanging waiting for use in the play.

The biggest project for this production was the white dress. This is for the final scene and is worn with a pair of wings made from cardboard, gold paint and gold tinsel. I forgot to take any photos of the finished dress, but this is the muslin. I made up half the dress to check the fit before starting on the whole dress. This has now been completed and is currently in the collection of costumes awaiting the dress rehearsal later today. Yes, it does now fit. The actress asked for the long princess style sleeves.

muslin of the white dress

I did manage to get my two journal quilts completed for the Contemporary Quilt JQ challenge. It was important to get these finished since otherwise I would not be able to continue with the challenge this year. I am not convinced these are completely finished, but will continue to work on them and also get started on the next JQs in the sequence. The theme I am using this year is "Journeys". My first two showed a walking boot and a map. This time I have continued with the map. The March quilt is intended to be seen alongside the February quilt so that this map is a continuation of the earlier one.The April quilt shows my car, another in my sequence of modes of transport used this year in my journeys.

March Journal quilt

April Journal Quilt

Apart from everything else, I have been spending some time in the garden during some really lovely weather we have had here. As you can see, Ella got into the spirit of everything, digging rather a large hole.

Ella digging

Lastly, some photos of the garden showing some of the flowers and the blossom on our fruit trees.

Narcissi

blossom in the garden

apple blossom

More sewing, stitching and such.

I have been busy with costumes again for the local drama group.  This dress was waiting for a transformation into a spanish dress when seen here. The transformation is now almost complete and I have a number of other items to make and alter before the costumes are required at the end of April.

Apart from this, I have been busily mending a couple of coats which had been torn and a couple of pairs of trousers. These last had had the hems badly scuffed since they had been just a fraction too long for the wearer. Not me, I hasten to add.

There has been little in the way of quilting, although my third journal quilt is nearly ready to stitch.

I can't get over just how messy my workroom looks in the photo above. It is time for another tidying session before getting stuck into something new. The list of projects certainly doesn't get any shorter. At present it looks like this: Complete Spanish dress; make shoulder pads for a ready-made blouse; alter an apron; make a jacket out of fine net and decorate it with flying birds (don't ask.......); complete a black pair of palazzo pants, along with a separate waistband to give the illusion of a high waist; journal quilts for March and April; quilt for the Sky's the Limit group challenge; start textile book for the beading group; start textile book for the Machine Embroidery Group; finish the one stitch challenge piece. Those are just the sewn items.......

No matter, it will all get done, though I think it is only the costume items which will be completed on time. I must get some photos taken ready for my next post here.