Nuno felt, sewing and knitting

Completed Malia top

It has been a rather busy couple of weeks. The Malia top eventually got finished as did a skirt which still has yet to be photographed. The skirt is still waiting to be ironed before it will be in a fit state to take photos. The top is an interesting one with a gather of fabric under the bust dart. I still haven't worn this since it was rather too cold when I finished it. The skirt will be warm enough to wear out until the weather gets too chill. It is the Dolores skirt from the summer edition of La Maison Victor. I have made it from a blue floral print fabric.

Completed Mercy cardigan

Detail of sleeve cap - Mercy cardigan

The Mercy cardigan has been finished and worn a few times. It is really cosy and just what I need for this time of year. The pattern is quite fitted, but leaves plenty of opportunities for wearing thin tops underneath.

 

Materials ready for dyeing

Dye bath filled with 6 metres of silk chiffon.

6 metres of silk chiffon drying on the line

I felt really brave some days ago when I dyed the silk chiffon required for the workshop with Vivienne Morpeth. It was a really simple process using the procian dyes and carefully following the instructions from Colourcraft. 

The workshop took place on Friday and Saturday 3rd and 4th November. It was really intensive. This is my nuno top under way. You can see the silk pieces laid out over the barrier fabric being used as a resist. My silk pieces are the plain coloured red. Vivenne very kindly provided the acid dyed silk with the variegated shading. The disks are made from prefelted pieces cut to shape. They are purely to add texture.

The text stating "Barrier" is printed on the resist material and does not come off during felting. I used scarlet, grey and ruby red superfine merino wool to make the felt itself. It is lovely to work with. I had not realised that there was more than one grade of merino available. I still have such a lot to learn. I learnt an enormous amount about felting during the workshop, not just from talking and listening to Vivienne, but also from the others taking part in the course all of whom were much more experienced felters. They were really supportive and helpful.

Front

These photos show my completed top. Yes, it does fit! I need to make a suitable blouse to go underneath it. This one is the toile I made for the cheesecloth blouse. I used around 3 metres of my dyed silk chiffon to make this top. The remaining fabric is destined to make the blouse. I fancy one with a frilly neckline based on this same blouse design. I just have to get around to making it. Or, rather more accurately, finding time to make it.

Back

 At the NWCQ meeting on Thursday we were challenged to used map elements to make a quilt ready for the CQ Annual Meeting being held in Manchester in March. Another project? Well yes......

The photo on the left shows an A4 sized sheet which was given to me as my inspiration at the meeting. We had had a couple of group exercises which produced a very large sheet incorporating sketches from everyone taking part. This sheet was then cut up into A4 pieces with everyone being handed a piece sight unseen. The completed quilt is to be in black and white and to have a small piece of a colour. I was wondering about yellow......The right hand photo sees some elements of work in progress on this. I was considering using this work as the basis of the "In Print" challenge quilt for Contemporary Quilt.

Further work will have to wait until I have finished a bag needed later this week as part of a group gift. The bag is nearing completion, but I really ought to make a second one so that the organiser has a choice.

Knitting and sewing

Mercy cardigan by Drops Design

There has been quite a lot of knitting since my last post here. I have been working on this cardigan. So far I have finished the body, worked from the neck down on circular needles with some waist shaping which is rather fascinating. The first sleeve is now under way and I have started the decreasing - this is also started from the top down. I do like unusual construction methods like this. With the different lace designs it really does make for an interesting knit.

It is just as well that I have been getting on with this project since I have been asked to knit a couple of jumpers. One is for my daughter and the other for my granddaughter. Funnily enough, both were found in the same magazine that contains the Mercy cardigan shown above. The Knitter Magazine, issue 115.

I had a lovely time going into my local knitting shop this afternoon to source the yarns needed. The owner is really helpful and found the best solutions very quickly for me. Just as well, since one of the colours I needed to find was yellow. Apparently there isn't much yellow yarn around at the moment.

Tiger by Martin Storey

The first is a delightful jumper by one of my favourite knit designers, Martin Storey. The main colour will be olive green with a daffodil yellow tiger. The back is plain with the tiger motif appearing on the front. The yarn is Stylecraft Life DK, a lovely soft acrylic/wool mix which I used many times before. A practical yarn for a young child.

Buttonside sweater by Jennifer Dassau

This is the jumper which my daughter wants me to knit for her. She wanted charcoal. You will have noticed that the same yarn has appeared yet again - the Stylecraft Life DK. It has such a very useful range of colours to choose from. The charcoal has a lovely marl in the yarn which will make for rather nice textural interest. Reading the pattern, this seems to have a rather interesting construction. It is lucky that I have a few good lamps to choose from since knitting at night with such a dark colour will not be easy with the winter months coming up rather quickly.

The other day, I treated myself to the next issue of The Knitter (116), but I have a feeling it will be some time before I get to knit any of the projects in that edition. There are three more projects I would really like to knit in issue 115 - a pair of socks, shawl and a rather nice short sleeved lace top. Ah well, I can always admire the photos and dream about the colours I would choose.

Yes, I did get started with some sewing this week, but this had to be abandoned when visitors arrived, coming to stay for a few days. So, a few craft free days were enjoyed. It is so nice to be with family, especially when they live some distance away.

I have some plans to get some dyeing done this week as soon as my dye stuff and the fabric arrive. I need to prepare these for a nuno felt workshop which is coming up in ten days time. It is the "Seamless Nuno Felt sleeveless top" workshop with Vivienne Morpeth. A two day workshop. I keep checking the equipment list to make sure that I have got everything ready. I am rather excited and not a little nervous....

Keep calm and ....... sew.......knit. I have a feeling this week will be full of both, as well as some gardening projects which really ought to be started. However, the weather will decide which projects get done. The dyeing too. But that will have to wait until the postman appears with the parcels.

Learning Goldwork and quilting.

Colour challenge fabrics

A couple of weeks ago I got the next stage of the NWCQ Colour Challenge under way. Everyone taking part brought in a metre of fabric which was then split between all nineteen of us. To make this work, each metre was split up into twenty pieces, with the owner of each metre getting two twentieths of their fabric back along with one twentieth of everyone else's. This is my collection. A really exciting collection since at the last meeting we were all asked to choose one of the selected three colours and to bring one metre of that colour to the latest meeting. Well, we had a lot of fun writing the names of colours onto bits of paper, putting these into a box and then drawing out three at random. The colours chosen? Jade, grass green and elephant grey. The idea for this challenge came from a description of a similar challenge organised by Edwina MacKinnon at a Regional Day for The Quilters' Guild. 

I am so looking forward to what everyone makes with their fabric. The choice has been left completely open. It should be really interesting. The deadline for finished items is the January meeting. I shall keep my own plans to myself until then.......

felt workshop piece

The 25th September saw me heading off for a Felt workshop with Viv Netherwood. She was showing us how to make landscapes using felt. A really interesting workshop. My finished felt is above- not very interesting at the moment. I still have the stitching to do.

stitching sketch for felt

This is the sketch I made at the workshop as a plan for my piece. It is based on a photograph I took some years ago when I went on a hot air balloon ride. The photo has been manipulated to turn it into a black and white image. I wanted to have a go at a monochromatic picture for a change.

original photo

I've chosen a small section of the photo and moved things around slightly. I'll have to wait to stitch it until the African quilt is complete. I need to get that done before the talk I am giving next week. Did I tell you how good I was at prevaricating?

learning goldwork

Last Monday saw me learning Goldwork. It is something I have never tried before. This was my version of a star at the end of that day. The workshop was given by the very talented Sarah, who runs a company called "Golden Hinde" with her mother.

Africa quilt - top

The African quilt is nearly finished now. Just the rest of the stitching around the outer borders. I really enjoyed stitching the face images. You can see that I need to get a lot of tidying up done before that talk. A long session getting rid of all the fibres on the black fabric is required too. I didn't realise just how attractive to bits this black fabric is......... hmmm. Must remember that in future.

Africa quilt - the back

Oh yes, I actually finished the Goldwork star this afternoon. My next problem will be to decide which way up to mount it. The piece is sewn onto a blue silk dupion.

finished goldwork piece

Sewing and dyeing

Drying the newly washed dye samples 

As promised last time, here are the photos of the dried samples. These first two photos show everything drying on my washing line.

Persian berries sample

Alder Buckthorn

Rhubarb root sample

Logwood

Apparently, adding a small amount of washing soda carefully to the dye bath can turn the colour from brown to purple. A fascinating process. We were told that the colour could change to navy if too much washing soda is added.

Madder

Cochineal

Dyers Greenweed 

The beautiful darker green was achieved by the addition of washing soda to a smaller sample of the dye bath, Such a difference to what was originally a rather insipid yellow.

Such an exciting process. The last photo shows my favourite - Japanese Indigo. This is a piece of silk and I love it because of the various colours. Some red has leached onto it, but I think it makes it such a really interesting piece of fabric.

Japanese Indigo

I really don't know what I shall with these samples. They are quite small, but I expect most will end up being used one day.

The experimental dress

This is where I have got up to with my dress. The skirt is quite full, and now has pockets which were not part of the original design. I now need to get going with the printing.Not sure where this project is heading at the moment, and totally unsure whether it is worth the effort, but we shall see. I was feeling rather unsure whether to continue at all until I read the Blog posted today by Cherie Haas, the online Editor of Cloth Paper Scissors. Her title was "You might not like this". In her piece, Cherie wrote ",,,,if a project is scary, if it's so big that it seems impossible, then it's worth doing". "I invite you ro dig in, dig deep, and be authentic. You have nothing to lose."

(I should note here that, at the time of writing this, the Blog post mentioned above has not been added to the Cloth Paper Scissors website. Hopefully it will be added later. I found it well worth reading.)

Cherie Haas might have been talking just to me, the dithering, prevaricating me. I really felt encouraged by her words. I just need to clear a space to get the printing done. Sadly it will have to wait until the next project has been completed.

Work in progress

This is not a big project, just a pair of pot holders. The last set I made is currently living with my elder daughter and I miss having them in my kitchen. These will be a bit bigger. I must also get my piano stool upholstered, but that is a story for another day.