High Five

I made something! An actual garment. And I am pretty crazy about it. But it is not for me. It is a gift. Oof. It's hard to let it go. And, of course, I don't have to do so. But I want to. Really, I do.

This super-cool, amazing fabric was a gift from a fellow University of Texas longhorn fan. Actually she's a much more loyal fan than I am. Though I have 3 degrees from the humongo university in Austin, I don't really follow them the way she does. Over the years, when she would visit her sister in Austin, she'd bring me a little momento.

The most recent gift was this very nice cotton piece of fabric. It is not your standard cotton-with-a-logo which is printed on very cheap almost-quilt-quality cotton. This is more of a fine pique. It was a dream to sew.

This lovely friend has developed tremors and cannot sew now. And her sister died. And, yet, she still thought of me when she was cleaning out her stash. I said thank you and gave her a hug.

Then I decided to make something for her, a little jacket for *game day.* I know in my heart of hearts that she will enjoy it more than I ever could. At least, that is my sincere hope. 

The pattern is the High Five, one of the Shapes patterns developed by Louise Cutting of Cutting Line Designs, and Linda Lee of the Sewing Workshop. They jointly developed a series of easy sewing, easy fitting garment in this line. The High Five jacket, is the best one.

And it is stinkin' cute, in this rather unique piece of fabric.

In her honor, I will watch the big game this Friday. I will visualize her cheering them on in this jacket.  We will share some joy or sadness with the results. I am lucky to have a friend like this, for sure.

Sewing friends are the best.

Shifting, Mixing and Splitting

The small piece that generated some interesting and informative larger pieces

The fun continues with Jane Dunnewold's online class, Dye Mastery: From White to Wow. I've learned and learned and learned. I am unaware of some of the lessons I've learned. And there is more.

Meanwhile, this sweet cactus is about to show off in my kitchen window.

The class end is near and I will miss it. So I will probably fix that longing by signing up for Jane's next class, whatever it is. This series has been time consuming, labor intensive, and deeply satisfying. I am so tickled when it's time to open the bundles and begin the arduous process of rinsing. And then when it dries, oh, my.

At the beginning - preparing undyed silk noil for dye bath 1

Here is my favorite at the moment:

Actually it's 3 pieces, all inspired by the smallish piece above. One is 1/2 yard; one is a full yard; one is 1.5 yard. Boy, did I learn something. In the future, I will limit the size of my pieces even when I hope to make a garment. That 1.5 yard piece just about did me in. And it is flawed, probably a reflection of the difficulty in handling a larger piece in this low-water immersion technique. However, there is enough to cut around the flaws, I think. 

In the picture above, you can see the flaws pretty clearly on the left hand side. Do you see the red speckles? It looks a bit like undisolved dye. I don't think that's what it really is. Rather I think it was a problem with my rinse out. 

Pieces being batched (bathed)

Lesson learned: the smaller the piece, the less likely I am to create flaws.

The 2 smaller pieces (1/2 yard, 1 yard) after Bath 1 - I used a cool yellow pure dye

DH says it does not look bad, just different. Hmmm...

The larger piece after Bath 1 - I used a warm yellow pure dye

Now I am day-dreaming about what I will make. Will it be a button up shirt, or a loose pull-over, or a jacket. Actually, I've eliminated the jacket idea.

The Hudson tunic from the Sewing Workshop is a real contender for these soft silk noil pieces.

First step in the rinse-out after Bath 2, all 3 pieces.

I have made and worn tops made from that very simple pattern many times. I do love the older Sewing Workshop patterns and reach for them time and time again.

I used the same combination of dyes for Bath 2, so they are beginning to look more similar.

Top piece is my inspiration

I definitely need to get all my samples organized into some kind of a notebook. I'm trying to determine the best way to store them. For now, I like having them out in the sewing room. 

After Bath 3, they seem to fit together though each is a bit different.

I am especially fond of the splitting that happens when pure dyes are mixed.

That is what I will be working on for a while, I think.

I am thinking maybe a loose-leaf binder with page-protectors to contain the dye recipes and small samples of my results.

The two smaller pieces. What can I make with a 1 yard piece and a 1/2 yard piece? Not much.

Perhaps these pieces need a 4th bath before becoming something...

TDF

Poor little blog. No October attention. And not a lot of sewing either. I'm in the middle of Jane Dunnewold's Dye Mastery which started in October. At the same time I was taking a live watercolor painting class and did some travel. So, not much sewing.

The Dye Mastery is terrific. It has challenged my organizational skills. I tend to approach my crafts as a seat-of-the-pants operation. With dyes, that means that nothing is predictable and some of my dyed fabrics and clothing have not been good. I do have the occasional win, but it's not predictable and I don't really learn from the experience.

Jane has inspired a new way of approaching dyes. And I have had a blast. Very, very few fails, and even those generated some knowledge I'll use in the future. It is physically hard work and I note that I'm fighting some lower back pain, as well as a tricky thumb joint.

It is SO worth it!

The approach is low water imersion, something I have limited experience trying and zero knowleedge, at least when I started.

We have some choices in materials. I chose to follow Jane's advice closely, rather than going rogue or even working with alternatives she offered. So I'm using silk noil for all samples, and PRO Chemical and Dye powdered dyes in the colors she lists. 

After a few mistakes - well, maybe more than a few - I've pretty much created a planning and recording regimen that is helping me to do two things. I am producing fairly predictable results and I am learning solid basics with this type of dyeing. In our most recent unit, we were given more lattitude in creating samples, so that we can learn from the previous lessons what happens and what we like.

I've taken several online classes with Jane. I always learn so much. She is an excellent teacher and truly understands her audience. We receive each lesson in 3 formats! And there are periodic Q and A sessions that are live. Lessons are released 1-2 weeks apart. 

First I created a 12 part color wheel. And then I knew I was hooked.

Next we overdyed - a concept I thought I understood, at least vaguely. I did not. So many interesting and surprising (to me) results.

At the end I'll have lots of samples and documentation to place in a notebook for deliberate dyeing. So far, the results are truly To-Dye-For.

Lower right corner is the Blue control; others are over-dyes of that blue.