silk gauze – Felting and Fiber Studio

Shibori Shrug Jacket

September 8, 2018 shepherdessann Comments 22 comments

Heres another throw back post. I thought if I do not remember doing this maybe you won’t either. I hope you like it.

After seeing Ruth’s jacket it reminded me I had made a small one for one of my daughter’s dolls years ago. I thought I should give it another try but life size this time. I thought about doing it seamless but decided that it would make something that is a simple design into something complicated. Although I am not a great sewer I was sure sewing 2 straight seems on my machine should not be beyond me.

There are quite a few pictures so I have put them in a gallery for ease of viewing. If I could figure out how to post pictures side by side or in groups I would but that is beyond my skill level.

First I made a large piece of nuno felt. I used silk gauze and merino wool. After it was finished I put it in a red dye bath. It came out quite nice. It’s hard to tell from the picture because my camera did not like the red at all. The one you see was the best of a bad lot.

The next thing to do was the shibori. I finger pleated the middle of the piece starting at one short end. I very carefully held it flat and tight while I tied it. The first tie is the hardest one. After that you just pleat it up tying every couple of inches. You don’t want to be too neat about it. If the pleats are to perfect you get straight lines. You want your pleats to be tight so some of the material will resist the dye in the second bath. This type of shibori is supposed to make a bark like pattern. I put the tied up piece in a purple dye bath hopping for a nice red purple to appear on my cloth. It came out black. After it was dry the gauze side had more of a purple look but still very dark.

I sewed up my jacket. I made the material far too wide so the jacket ends up long. The short sides overlapped a lot when folded up. I had to have long “lapels” to make it work. It is not a mistake it’s a design feature, just ask me :O) It is still to long for me. I think it may look good one someone who is tall and thin. Two things I am not.

All in all not a bad try. I’ve made another piece of nuno felt to try again, I made it narrower this time. Now I have to find the time to sew it up.

half tied

More Natural Dyeing with Cochineal

October 10, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 26 comments

This is the last of my summer experiments with natural dyeing. Cochineal are those little scale insects that are picked off of cacti.

I’ve seen some really nice results using cochineal such as Nada’s experience she posted on the forum this summer.

As with my previous experiments, I used small amounts of silk habatoi, silk gauze, silk mulberry, wool yarn, and merino and corriedale rovings. They were pre-mordanted.

The cochineal had to be ground. I used a wooden mortar and pestle, then put them in a blender, then made it into a paste before adding boiling water.

The mixture was then left overnight before adding to the pot. (This was divided into three parts first to use with different modifiers.)

The first pot I used only cochineal.

The second I modified with cream of tartar.

The last I added iron.

After each batch was removed from the pot, I left it “cure” for two days. Since I didn’t have both the a lot of room to spread them out I left them bunched up hence the lines. They also dried much lighter as you’ll see.

This was cochineal with cream of tartar. You can see the little bits of bugs on them.Once they were cured, I rinsed them out and hung them to dry.

Cochineal only.

With cream of tartar modifier. A nice bright pink.

With the iron modifier.

While the results were not exactly what I expected, I believe because the bugs weren’t finely ground I got lighter colors. I may over dye the first batch when I find an electric grinder. If I had to order cochineal again, I’d look for powder.

Have you done any natural dyeing lately?

Natural Dyeing with Cutch, Rhubarb and Indigo

September 8, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 16 comments

This summer I’ve been playing with a lot of natural dyes with the help of Cathy (Luvswool). This is the third in my series of natural dyeing experiments.

As with the other dyeing sessions all the silk and wool rovings were mordanted with alum potassium sulfate. I used the same silk habotai, silk gauze, silk organza, merino and corriedale roving and wool yarn as I did in my previous experiments.

I started with cutch which was in powder form.

The colors for silk and wool were pretty much the same gold peach except for the the organza which seemed to soak up all the color.

I decided that I wouldn’t use a modifier with the Cutch because I had enough browns and goldens.

So, I moved on to rhubarb liquid extract.

The resulting colors were also in the peach/gold family.

A couple of years ago Cathy and I had an indigo dyeing day. I had a piece of dark crimped silk left over and decided to use this as a modifier for the second rhubarb batch.

I thought perhaps I’d get a muted green, but here’s what I did get:

There is a hint of green, but it’s not obvious in these pics. the silk gauze and habotai closest to a light turquoise. The organza is dusky turquoise blue. The wool is more of a baby blue.

Here is the indigo silk piece after being used as a modifier. Still a nice indigo color.

Have you done any natural dyeing this season?

Playing with Natural Dyes Part 2

July 30, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 23 comments

I’ve been trying out different natural dyes using similar materials. This time I tried alkanet roots and logwood with and without iron.

Here are the alkanet roots before preparation which took two days to get ready to use.

The logwood also had to be prepared ahead of time.

Again, I used mordanted corriedale and merino roving, mulberry silk, wool yarn, silk habotai and silk gauze as I did in my previous post https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2016/06/28/playing-with-natural-dyes-part-1/

According to some of the charts I saw on the colors to expect from the alkanet roots, it could be anything from gray to deep purple. I had also read it was possible for blues or even red. As you can see from the pot, there was a light purple tinge to the water. The dye liquor was definitely dark purple but then it was diluted with the water.

The result was a silver gray. For all the experiments I leave the pot to cool overnight to get the most color. This was a lot less than i expected, but its a pretty color.

The next step was to add iron to the pot with another set of materials.

The top picture is wet, the bottom is dry. So, I now have silver and gold colors.

Next was the logwood. From all the pictures I’d seen and roving Cathy had dyed in Arkansas I thought I would get some type of purple. It looked pale in the pot.

So, I was surprised when it dried and it was more of a taupe color. But surprises are half the fun! Then I added iron and did another batch.

The darker ones on the bottom are with the iron and its more of a charcoal color.

Again, these are all experiments and results can vary depending on water, temperature, etc. While I had a little different expectations, I’m not unhappy with the results. I can always overdye.

What have your experiences with natural dyeing been?

Playing with Natural Dyes Part 1

June 28, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 16 comments

With summer finally here in the US, it’s wonderful to see color in the yard and all around. I recently had lunch with Cathy (Luvswool) and she showed me some of the prints and natural dyeing she’s been doing with lately. She’s been devoting most of her time natural dyeing and got me interested in trying it. You can find her dye blog here https://naturedye.wordpress.com/

So, with her guidance I took the plunge and began experimenting. I ordered some dyes online from the Woolery and Dharma Trading. My first try was with Osage Orange. What I didn’t realize was that the item I ordered was Osage Sawdust so I had an extra couple of steps to get the dye liquor prepared for the bath.

For each dye experiment I used a small amount of silk gauze, silk habotai, silk mulberry, wool yarn, merino and corriedale roving.

I could have used a copper penny to make a brighter color, but I was happy with the results. The top pic is while wet, the bottom two are after drying. Its actually more light yellow than coffee color. You’ll see two small pieces of felt I threw into the pot without mordanting at the bottom. They did take the color.

The next dye I tried was madder root. I had recently used up some of the madder roving Cathy had given me from her Arkansas residency last year in my coral piece. So I was anxious to see if I could get the same color.

https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2016/06/04/under-water-again/

Again, I didn’t order powder, but actual roots, so there were extra steps involved to get to the bath.

While wet:

After using the madder alone, I divided the fibers in half and used iron in a separate bath.

Here they are dry:

Its interesting the mulberry silk on the right with the iron did not get dark.

With each other, without iron on top, with iron on the bottom.

Subtle differences, but not the same color that Cathy got in Arkansas. But then there are differences in water, temperature, etc. But I’m pleased with the results.

Thanks Cathy for helping me through the process.

Dyeing with Avocado Skins Part 2

February 13, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 36 comments

My next step was to use the avocado skins for dyeing. Again, the instructions varied. Some said to tear the skins, others use whole. I went with using the whole skins.

I used approximately the same amount of wool, thick and thin yarn, silk habatoi, silk gauze and cotton voile. What I did differently this time was to put everything in before it was heated. I felt this would save some time waiting to put in the wool after cooling. I’m not sure this changed the outcome.

I let the pot come to a boil, left it to simmer for almost an hour. Then let it sit overnight to cool.

The results were interesting and different from the pits. The color was like a latte for the wool and silk. The cotton was a very pale pink.

But I couldn’t stop there. I had saved the dye pot from the pits and used half and half with the skins and pits. I also presoaked the wool, silk and cotton in an alum mordant for several hours.

Again, I added the fabrics and wool before heating, heated to boiling then simmered for almost an hour and left it all sit overnight. I wondered if the colors would be brighter and more intense with the addition of the alum.

Here are the results:

The result a little more coppery except for the cotton.

Now here they are next to each other. From left to right – pits, skins, pits and skins with alum.

I thought it was interesting that the silk gauze was the deepest color in the mixed batch.

They are all lovely colors. Now to figure what to do with them. And yes, I’ll continue to save my avocados.

Dyeing with Avocado Pits Part 1

February 5, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 28 comments

I don’t know where I ran across the blog on dyeing with avocado, but I eat a good amount of it and always feel guilty throwing it out. My Son Brad and his wife Mari compost, but we don’t maintain a big enough garden to justify a compost heap. So, when I read the blog and did some further research, I started freezing the pits and skins.

When I had about ten or eleven of them, I started my dyeing project. There were several posts on how to dye with the pits. One said to use the whole pit, another said to cut them. I had started cutting them so I went with that.

I prepared some merino (76 gm, thick and thin yarn 4-8 gm, silk habatoi -1/4 yard, silk gauze 1/4 yd and cotton voile 1/8 yd) by washing with synthropol and rinsing then soaking.

I put the pits in about 2 gallons of water and brought it to a boil, added the fabrics, then simmered for an hour. I let it cool down then added the wool and let it sit overnight.

Here is what the liquid looked like.

After rinsing and letting it dry, here were the results:

Close ups:

The silks were a pinkish coppery color and the wools a lighter version. The cotton voile was a brighter pink.

Have you ever tried this?

Next up is the avocado skins. Stay tuned until next week…

Nuno Wall Hanging

October 8, 2015 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 32 comments

Since I started felting, my daughter in law Lia has been fascinated with the nuno textures. So, a while back we shopped for some fabrics we thought may go with her decor and she picked colors. Unfortunately, after making samples, the gold polyester fabric we chose even with open weave did not felt well.

She loved one scarf I had made in particular that I had hand dyed. So, I went to plan B and dyed more silk gauze and merino. She picked out the wool colors for accents.

Originally it was planned to be a very big wall hanging and I calculated a 50% shrinkage rate that I had achieved with the scarf. I had to recruit another table and used boards on top to give it more length and width to do the layout and felting. I couldn’t even get the whole table in the pic and I was standing on a high chair.

What was really fun was flipping it over to layout on the other side. Not.

When the first side was layed out, I wet it down and began my rubbing until I felt the fibers were catching enough to flip it. I did the same on the second side before I began the rolling.

The process went quicker than I expected and the shrinkage more than I wanted. But the ruching was what I wanted. I had to square it up and then figure out how to hang it. So, I pinned it to a towel and let it dry.

But when dry I noticed there were big spots that were bubbled up. It didn’t help the shape for hanging so I added some wisps of fiber and felted them in and had to re-block it and wait for it to dry again. Fortunately, I put enough fiber around it to get the edges to roll in for a nice finish. But I still had to figure out how to keep it’s shape for hanging.

After adding extra fiber to fill in big bubbles.

Lia didn’t want to put it under glass, but wanted to keep it floating against the wall. I wasn’t sure what a framer would suggest so I came up with an interim solution. I had some thin wire that I sewed around the edges trying to keep it concealed. It gave the nuno felt more stability and shape. I didn’t want to invest too much time in the event she didn’t like it or wanted to take it to the framer. There were a couple of spots I wrapped in scraps of silk that showed thru the front. I tried hanging it on the wall to see how it would look. It’s hard to see the detail.

I felt if she liked it I could wrap the wire later and sew the wrapped wire back on.

The nice thing about the wire it can be bent to help shape it. It is not totally a rectangle and has a couple of tails, but it’s an original.

I haven’t been back to Florida, but I sent it for their anniversary and it’s now hanging on the wall and I’m told she loves it.

It doesn’t show here in these photos, bu the wall color is a very light yellow.

Smartly hung high enough so the boys can’t pull it down.

What do you think of adding two narrow panels one on each side to help fill up the wall?

This and That

July 28, 2015 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 22 comments

While I haven’t been very active on the forum, I have been busy with small felt projects and traveling.

Everyone had been interested in what I would do with my “denim paper.” Well, I tore some of it up in pieces and placed them on a piece of black prefelt. I put wisps of fiber over the larger pieces, just in case. It felted beautifully. I doubt I needed the fibers. I added sides from some black felt and stitched it together to make a glass case. I added a snap as a closure.

Rummaging thru my UFOs I found a couple of spikes I had made in Fiona Duthie’s class last year. I decided to make a ring holder with one attaching the fluffy end of the spike to a felt circle, covering with additional fiber, felting then forming a star shape while wet and adding beads when dry.

I also made another clutch for my Florida daughter in law. Yes, the Nelson women love all things teal. This has three layers using batts of merino Corriedale blend and decorated with yarn, silk hankies, silk roving and silk gauze. The last pic is the inside lined with silk habatoi.

What little projects have you completed lately?

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Shibori Shrug Jacket

September 8, 2018 shepherdessann Comments 22 comments

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More Natural Dyeing with Cochineal

October 10, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 26 comments

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Natural Dyeing with Cutch, Rhubarb and Indigo

September 8, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 16 comments

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Playing with Natural Dyes Part 2

July 30, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 23 comments

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Playing with Natural Dyes Part 1

June 28, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 16 comments

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Dyeing with Avocado Skins Part 2

February 13, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 36 comments

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Dyeing with Avocado Pits Part 1

February 5, 2016 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 28 comments

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Nuno Wall Hanging

October 8, 2015 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 32 comments

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This and That

July 28, 2015 Marilyn aka Pandagirl Comments 22 comments

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