Still working with dyed cloth…this time small book – still in the works… Once a graphic designer – always a book somewhere…
Still slow cloth – hand stitching…
Small rust dyed fabric book to date. Still working on it!
Obsession
OK, it’s official- I’m obsessed with rust dyeing old fabrics, cutting them apart and hand stitching them into square designs.
Patterns with small left over bits applied.
Close up of stitching and design with escaping square.
Not sure what I’m doing or where this is going but with all the other work I have lined up for this summer I keep returning to these squares. The hand sewing is slow and meditative. There is something about taking something, especially the linens which had previous elegant lives gracing tables for special occasions, distressing them and repurposing them as visual statements that is very compelling! Even the small bits that are cut away as the squares are joined get into the final act as they tumble down the finished piece. “Just let me try this one other thing…”
Beach Stones
I love beach walking. Every time there is some thing new and my trip to NY was no different. The beach was long and at first looked uneventful, (except for the beautiful early morning light), but then I realized that things were white. White stones, white shells, white feathers. Here’s my haul from that day!
Beach stones and a feather
I bring these things home and set them out, move them about, and just enjoy looking at them and remembering that walk with its crashing waves and the only footprints were mine and the birds…mmmmmmmm….
This trip was the latest Hoax with my Garden Gal Friends from Moore (May 31-June3). Stayed at a wonderful house on the beach – my room looked over the ocean! Revisited Jack Lenor Larson’s Longhouse and gardens full of sculpture, and Robert Dash’s magical Madoo. We added a visit to Lee Krasner’s and Jackson Pollock’s studio and home in East Hampton and of course a visit to Mauders Nursery with balled trees and bushes as big as houses! Again, good friends, good food/drink, and lots of catching up.
Samples
Still working with rust and tea. The test with plants didn’t work but I tried with cotton and perhaps I needed a mordant? The image on the right contains a stitched piece I did after watching Jude Hill’s “Spirit Cloth”. Hand stitching is a form of meditation (unless I would have to do it as mending…)
Not quite sure where these are going and I keep adding new samples.
In the mean time, I’m fascinated with the unpredictable nature of this work.
Dye Corner
Set up a corner of the basement for my dyeing, bought a new hot plate as my old one had bit the dust, pulled out my old dye pots and started. Happy there is a window here, a sink around the corner and door to the garden near by.
This ugly bit below is a wrapped package of fabric with leaves and tea. Will check it the end of this week but it’s getting pretty funky… It’s what is inside the two white pots on my table.
I have been wrapping these small bundles with some hand spun yarn and love the range of colors I’m getting as a by-product.
Jar dyeing
Lots to do but trying to keep some of the dyeing going. Two small pieces of white fabric, one a stained napkin and the other an old, soft, man’s handkerchief with the inital “B” – probably Bob’s from back when people gave men such things… Never noticed that the word handkerchief is “hand kerchief” or kerchief for the hand…
Took the fabrics and bound them with some white handspun yarn (get to dye that as well) and one was wrapped and tied around a metal chain and some rusty nails.
Placed them in a jar with some hot tea and will let them stand for a week or so. That’s the hard part – waiting! Not a major project but they should find their way into a small design.
I started a fiber book this spring, placing bits on pages in a book my cousin had given me but realize I want the whole design to be fiber not arranged on paper… Here’s a page from the book. I love the dainty edges and detailing.
The dark spots are hollyhock seeds.
I have a lot of old bits and pieces from my grandmother etc and want to give them new meaning.
