Shaggy Threads: Fabric

Showing posts with label Fabric. Show all posts

Halloween Dress... 4 Months Later

I havent been doing much sewing lately... But right around halloween I felt that I needed a really cool dress to wear to work. And so I made this!

I love the way that it came out! LOVE LOVE LOVE! I had so many compliments on the way that it came out I wish that I could just wear it a couple times a week. That would be AWESOME!

The wig was purchased and so was the hat - but the hat was really plain so I added a few feathers!

Western Dress Pattern ReImagined

I guess I forgot to say something about this when I made them, but here are a couple dresses that I made. Both are from the same pattern. They were supposed to be Halloween costumes, pioneer women dresses or whatever. For the first one that I made I used old fabric I had laying around. Trying out the pattern and all that. Why spend money on something I might not even like? Haha.

So for Halloween I thought it wold be cool to use some of the fabric I had just LAYING AROUND AGAIN (funny how this happens) and made a version of the dress that was on the scary side. I have a thing for hats and bought an awesome pirate hat once upon a time and WA LA I was a pirate wench for the day! The spiderweb pattern is actually black lace sewed over a solid red fabric. I then had to sew a kind of trim over the top of that to make sure it wouldn't distort the images while I was wearing the darn thing. I made it all of the way through a day at work and I didn't even bust a seam.
I was afraid that I would, so I brought a whole separate costume (zombie has always been my fallback) I could change into if there was a "wardrobe malfunction." I think that I like the second version of the dress a whole lot better but that might just have something to do with the colors. Hahaha. The other fabric was quite dated.
I recently found a pattern for a wedding dress and I plan to make it out of anything BUT white. Maybe a purple or something like that. Im not sure. Haha. Thought it would be a funny joke for my boyfriend and leave it laying around the house for him to see... but I don't want him getting any CRAZY ideas, like I would WANT to sew my own wedding dress. hahahaha.
Once the weather turns back to the cold time of year Im sure Ill be sewing more. But until then I will just keep painting and playing around with tie dye.

Jacquard Fun!

Some of the best tie dye that I've made was done using Procion MX dye. I have decided to try using the Sodium Alginate SH and the Synthaprol.

Sodium Alginate is a thickener made somehow from kelp or sea weed. This is not what you would want to put in food but it seems to me as if there is some kind of thickener used in ice cream that it like this stuff. I dissolved it in warm water much like someone would with gravy mix or jello. I just kept stiring until it started to thicken up and I put it in the fridge to cool down. I left it in there for about an hour or so. Then, I dumped Procion dyes into the mixture. One I made Jet Black and the other was Fuschia.

I tie dyed a few shirts tonight. And folded them differently from eachother because I wanted to see what this "stained glass" effect was that I had read about somewhere. So, with the stained glass you dye it how you normally would but when you are done with the colors, you take this thickened mixture and paint it onto the outside of your shirt.

I did that with a few of the shirts tonight. Actually, 5 of the four! haha. Hopefully it looks super cool and not just completely black. I added more thickener than needed but I think that next time I will have to add more. I want it to be thicker than it was.
The shirts are in the washer right now. I plan to wear one a day to work this week, starting with my favorite one! Once the laundry is out of the washer I can report on how I feel the Synthaprol preformed.

Inktense On Fabric!

I tried a few different ways of using Inktense on fabric. After reading on the internet that this was possible I had to see for myself. It has taken me awhile and there is no excuse for that but my laziness after I get home from work.

I found a scrap of white cotton fabric and hemmed the edges. Lucky for me I sew and paint so I had scraps in my bin! I drew onto the fabric (dry) with the pencils and used a paint brush to wet the fabric. One of the samples I painted fabric medium over the color while it was still wet. I then let these set for a day and a half. That was the hardest part! WAITING!

I used my clothes iron to heat set two of the three samples. Next step was the wash. Threw them in with some other dark clothes that needed to be washed. I wasnt entirely sure how this would come out! I can be such a dummy sometimes, and I forgot to take a "before" picture... BUT I do have the other!!!!

Inktense are the BEST pencil EVER!

Mushroom Goddess before water

After water

I love Inktense pencils. I started with the primary colors and then bought a few more. And a few more, until I nearly have them all. So I have decided to post a blog boasting about the wonderful properties of these pencils.

First, the bright INTENSE color that awakens with just a touch of water is amazing. I have a Koi waterbrush that I use for blending. You could use a paintbrush or spritzer to wake up the paint but I prefer the waterbrush simply because I don't have to sit next to a glass of water and dipping the bristles in continually. A little water can go a long way. I like my color to stay on super thick so I use less water than I could.

Watercolor or mixed media paper has been my favorite application for this pencil. Using Micron pens to outline the drawing (I know what my next blog can be about now lol) because they are permanent when dry.

I still have yet to test this rumor I hear that Inktense can be used on fabric. I have seen videos from Derwent but I am lazy and need to watch them. I plan to run an experiment and see into the overall longevity of the stain etc soon here in the future. Until then I will just have to talk about the best pencils ever!!!

Seriously, even when coloring with these the ink feels nice over the paper. Kinda slick and nice. Not like scratching charcoal over paper or anything but smooth like warm butter on toast. This makes me happy. The smoother ones just glide on so that means that the layering is pretty easy; which makes blending a breeze.

I keep my shavings and sprinkle them into a wet background and WALA you have an instant cool looking patterns. Derwent has a shaver/cup system made to grate their Inktense blocks into a cup. You can create a wash with the shavings or sprinkle for a faux texture look. Freaking AMAZING line of products I say.

I heart Inktense!

Oddity Circle Lap Quilt

I made this piece for my boyfriends sister for Christmas. She loves zebra stripe and teal and thank goodness I just had BOTH laying around the house. The idea was to make a piece of art that she could throw over the back of a chair or onto the WALL if she wished. Or it could be a nice piece to cuddle under for a movie on the couch.

Either way I just love how this turned out! This is, I think, my second quilt EVER!

Front.

Back

Detail

Fun with Applique! A Scarf with Pockets!

I have been experimenting with applique a bit lately and it is a lot of fun.

I have learned after some research that the corners need to be turned under before sewing them together but you live and learn, right!?

A friend of mine on facebook saw me making this scarf...

So she asked me to make her one. When I inquired as to what colors she would like to have she answered, blue, green and purple. I did not have A SPECK of purple, but I did have these colors...

And THIS IS WHAT I CAME UP WITH!

Inside detail

Outside detail.

Detail outside detail.

Detailed outside detail with POCKET!

I love love love the idea of a scarf with pockets and will be doing this over and over. There are a few reasons that I like this project so well; one is that it doesn't take much time to complete. Two, you can use little scraps of totally cute fabric. And three, it keeps people warm and thinking of you!

NFL Men's Cooking Fashion

These were the second things I made with the machine. I just fudged it from an apron I had here at the house.

Modeling his Christmas gift, is my boyfriend.

First Machine Quilt

My wonderful boyfriend gave me my Christmas present early this year. It was a sewing machine! I found fabric I had up in the closet that I had bought when I was hand stitching quilts. Needless to say it wasn't even cut!! Lucky for me I had everything I needed to start and finish so I started right in !!