Seasonal Changes

It is finally autumn here in the southeastern part of the US. And it feels a bit like we're heading into winter quickly. It always feels that way because I love the feel and look of fall and want it to stay a while.

Twice a year, I move my clothes from one closet to another. It is always a good time to assess the items I'm not wearing or items that need mending. And I find myself enjoying the making of small tweaks in a few items.

First up is this black cotton shirt with white sashiko, constructed 2 years ago. It is made in a medium weight cotton that feels a bit like washed linen. I traced the pattern while at Sew Kansas. It has never been published by the Sewing Workshop.

This neckline is not part of the pattern. I adapted it from the Egyptian shirt from Folkwear.

I like it a lot and have worn it often. Black pants; black top; done. No surprise that is began to look quite washed out after a number of washings. And I have all this black walnut juice around, so I thought, why not?

But I did not want to dye the white sashiko so I removed it. I let the top soak in a solution of black walnut juice and iron water for several days, simmering it on the stove from time to time. I think it did get a bit blacker. Afterwards I restitched the sashiko. Yes, I did. Who does that?!?

Next up was an unlined version of the the Sewing Workshop Tremont jacket. I have used this pattern more than once. It's a charming pattern, I think, with its asymmetrical fronts, set-in sleeves, and face-framing collar. This one was constructed using a hefty loosely-woven cotton ikat. I added some red accents that got in my way when I actually wanted to wear it. And it really should have been lined from the get-go.

I now see that the red accents are just about invisible. sigh.

So I removed the red accents and lined it. I used a soft light-weight cotton Ikat for lining the body and rayon Ambiance for the sleeves. I really like the weight of it now.

I also added a new closure using remnants from another cotton ikat project. I created frog knots per Sandra Betzina and simple loops on the other side.

And then I decided I didn't like that and removed the closures. Jeez.

Last weekend I signed up for an indigo dip at my local recreation center. I looked around and saw this nice white top I made with a French pattern, the Cezembre. I had already adjusted it once, as the cotton shirting was too tightly woven for the sleeves to fit smoothly into the armscye.

Cezembre before

I tried to create a gradiated indigo color with the darkest portion at the bottom. It was impossible (for me) to keep the upper portion white, so I dipped it all. I'm pretty happy with this color. I do love indigo blue.

Cezembre after

Ah, well. Two steps forward, three steps back. It's all about the joy of working with cloth in my hands.

Vogue 9081 - Dipped Again

Vogue 9081 is a dress pattern designed by Marcy Tilton, maybe two years old. I first made it in a bright orange linen. Yes, what was I thinking.

In its next iteration I eliminated the lower band, making it a tunic. Still too bright though, so I dipped it in black walnut juice. Over time it has seemed to continue to fade just a little to this:

So I dipped it again. I had kept a bucket of black walnut juice from fall 2017 in the garage. It had developed a white glaze over the year but after I removed that, it was still potent for dyeing and this is the result:

This color is the best so far, I think. I'm letting it cure a bit before washing it thoroughly and so I may lose a little color still. But it's almost time to collect black walnuts again so I'll have a fresh supply soon.

Meanwhile I'm experimenting with avocado skins and seeds based on Botanical Colour at Your Fingertips by Rebecca Desnos on rayon challis. It is certainly not dramatic but I do like the soft pink I got with the skins. You can see how subtle the results are below. And the process is multi-stepped over multiple days.

white rayon challis dyed with avocado skins, rinsed and dried (on left)

But I'm not easily diverted so right now I have another piece of rayon challis in the pot with juice from the seeds. It looks so pretty now but will no doubt be more subtle when it is finished and dried.