I Dyed It!

Last week I finally decided to dye my first felted skirt.  I dyed the whole skirt in a light silver grey, then used shibori techniques of folding, rolling and wrapping to create the diagonal lines of blue.  I really like how it came out, but for some reason it still felt unfinished, like it needed another dip or another color, or just...something.

 At the risk of going too far I decided to hold off on doing anything else to it.

Today I thought it would be a good idea to wear it and see how I felt about it.

 

I think I am going to have to wear it a few more times in order to know whether it is finished or not.  And the great thing is I can always go back and dye it again:)

I have been thinking a lot lately about what a classifies a garment as being "finished" is it perfectly rolled hems, straight un-frayed edges, adding color or being dyed?  This skirt will be a good test for that very question.

Lately I am in love with the organically shaped edges that felting creates and the beautiful slightly frayed edges of the silk.  

What do you think classifies a garment as being finished?

All Dyed Up!

Felted blouse in the dye pot.

I was really excited to dye my blouse, I was actually beginning not to like it much and was sceptical it was because it was lacking in color.  It just felt blah.  So into the dye pot it went and now I love it again:)  I really am a sucker for color.
I think it turned out magnificent!

Shoulder/Sleeve Detail, Love!

I was also really excited that I was able to mix a color and match it to the color palette I was looking at, recognize this beautiful periwinkle color from a certain photo below?

And since I can never just dye one thing, I did a little more mixing of colors and threw a few more things in dye pots:)
This first one is a piece of scrap cotton gauze with a few pieces of scrap silk felted into it.  That's one piece of fabric with 3 different fibers in it, which means when I throw it in the dye pot, you get 3 different colors, I love that!

felted cotton and silk yardage fabric

And this was the result.  The cotton stayed white since I was using acid dyes, so only the silk and wool reacted and took the dye, a very cool result.

full piece of fabric right out of the dye pot

the white sections are the cotton gauze, the maroon cranberry color is the wool, and the brown is the silk

Love the contrast in colors and textures!

If I had used natural dyes all of the fibers would have taken up the dye and the resulting colors would have all been different.  Amazing!


I also tried a little Shibori.  I did the Arashi pole wrapping method (which has become one of my favorite Shibori techniques) with a large piece of silk chiffon, ooooohhhh la la.

There is something so magical about using Shibori techniques with dyeing.  You have a general idea of what will come out, but you just never know till you unwrap it.  Needless to say it is always a beautiful result.

Here is the finished result draped on the dress form.  Looks like this piece will be turning into a lovely skirt.
Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

Blouse Continued + Shibori and Color Inspiration

She has a waist!
Now that I have the side seams and front mostly felted on my first blouse, its coming together quite nicely!
So far the fit seems good at the waist and front, so now I have to figure out the back and how to make that come together for a nice fit all the way around the waist.

Below is an upside down shot of the back now.  I love the way it looks as is, but am not really sure how it will look once its felted.  I kind of like how the silk looks all bunched and gathered but dont think I can keep that aesthetic with the felting.  Guess we'll see!

Shibori and Color Inspiration:
Yep it's time to start thinking COLOR, my favorite part!  I was doing an image search for Shibori the other day looking for some inspiration and found these beauties.

Shibori Borealis- by Margo

I found this lovely piece on the blog Her Majesty Margo who does some really amazing surface design with felt and fabric!
I love how the colors all blend and flow into each other, very reminiscent of water colors.  I am also really attracted to those shades of green lately, so beautiful!

Folded Currents - by Holly Brackmann

This piece really caught my eye, I wasn't even certain it was fabric.  I found this amazing piece from Holly Brackmann's website, make sure to check out the detail shot, incredible!

Although both pieces seem quite different, they both use similar colors to the color palettes I have been looking at lately for my practicum project.  I found these babies off of pintrest and just cant stop starring at them!

Love these for bursts of bright accents!

And I love these for neutrals!

It's almost time for me to throw the blouse in the dye pot...wonder which of these colors it will come out looking like...?
Guess you'll just have to stay tuned to find out:)