a little sewing with liberty

I have been missing sewing clothes for awhile now so after installing a shorter zipper in a dress I made back in August for myself and putting a halt on my quilt projects I sewed a few simple little girl pieces : a dress and skirt. I have plans to sew some more dresses over the next few weeks that I am looking forward to.

I love the print on this dress and of course it is Liberty of London. The muted gray green, mustard and pops of pink with white are very nice together. I made this one in size 6 for future wear.

Hope to put up a modeling shot soon. It has been hard with after school activities and the fading light to get them.

Edited: Here you go!

Tomorrow: Halloween! Are you ready?

bengala dye

I mentioned I bought some bengala dye ( a soil, mineral dye from iron oxide) in my last post and I experimented with it for a few days. I chose the Kosyoku shade which is in the gray family and I achieved a silver shade of gray using whites. I am very happy with the results. I tried out a few different materials and used only water and the dye in one dye pot. The materials I used: plain ivory tissue tees and one with sequins, a small ball of alpaca and a bright white cashmere sweater that had a small coffee stain on it that I wasn't able to remove. All turned out beautifully and the coffee stain now is not noticeable and the tees look much nicer and will get more use.

Bengala dye color is achieved by kneading it into the fabric for several minutes- I used gloves and once bare hands (there was no staining).After I dyed them I left them out in the sun to dry. That was all.

Here is the Bengala Dye chart from Loop of the Loom. The colors are all beautiful.

the new york state sheep and wool festival

We made our yearly trip to the New York state sheep and wool festival in Rhinebeck, NY this past Sunday. I think you all know how much I love wool and yarn!

The festival is a knitter's paradise and each year I have a new experience. There are so many vendors and opportunities to learn about various animals and wool crafts such as rug hooking, weaving, felting, natural dyeing and spinning. Also lots of knitting accessories such as exquisite clay buttons, glass shawl closures and wood needles to name a few.

The fall foliage, animals, demonstrations and fair food make it a delight for everyone in the family.


Loop of the Loom was one of my favorites this year and here is the story from the founder. I picked up a few coasters and a pot of Bengala dye.

The Story of Loop of the Loom

Once, I met someone through weaving.
Then, I met another through her.
Both said, "My! It's much fun."
All could share the happiness and excitement I felt when I first wove.
The way you weave is the way you are.
Find yourself, surprise yourself,
and you'll see how beautiful you are.
Everyone is an artist who can move someone else.
Let's sit down and talk it over - the loom and colorful yarns.
Come and join our loop - our circle of SAORI weavers!

Yukako
Founder of Loop of the Loom

Cephalopod Yarns still holds a special place in my heart and I may have dropped a pretty penny here.To the woman standing next to me I said "That's it, I am not going to buy anymore yarn after this."With a knowing look and laugh she replied and well it takes another addicted person to recognize the symptoms in another.:)

I also always enjoy a visit to the Fiber Craft Studio booth.

"Today, more than ever, the crafts have the mission to reconnect the human being to the Earth and her substances, bring healing to the senses and soul,
and foster the creative capacities of the human being" - Renate Hiller

So much I could say here but I am dyeing to get my hands busy off the computer keys. There are more photos on my instagram. Ba Ba Sheep and Wool. See ewe next year.

broken dishes

Broken Dishes is the name of this quilt pattern and it has been my sewing project the past few weeks. The project idea hails from the Purl Bee and I have followed it except I omitted one step making my quilt top larger.

Here is a diagram of the step I skipped

This shows the 5 1/4 " square and instructs you to cut both ways diagonally. For my quilt I only cut one way yielding bigger squares. So, instead of 4" squares you would get 6" squares and instead of the quilt being 40" x40" it is 48" x 48". The amount of squares in the original is 100 and mine is 48.

I fell in love with this quilt on the Purl Bee because I adore the color scheme of the Kiyohara Linen Blend solids and have enjoyed working with this fabric previously. While cutting and piecing this top I imagined a whole children's line in this beautiful fabric. It has such a soft hand and would make gorgeous spring/summer clothing.

Well, now that the quilt top is finished I will soon begin the process of hand quilting it.

october knitting

Over the weekend I knit up another Jul Hat which I previously made in cashmere this past Spring. This one seen in the top three photos is made using Anzula, For Better or for Worsted in Candied Apple - a blend of merino, cashmere and nylon that was purchased with a gift card I received from a sweet friend. I also finished a set of navy wool baby booties and mitts for the Etsy shop.

I started on another few knits before finding my groove with this hat called Rustling Leaves Beret.

****I want to mention that weather permitting we will be having a garage sale this Sunday. If you are local please contact me and I will get you the information. I will be selling my handmade items as well as lots of household items, a twin bed frame, french door, stereo equipment vintage and new clothing, kids items etc.****

sweater upgrade

I love vintage sweaters and own a few that are really lovely but what makes me so excited about this project is that I took a basic cardigan that wasn't being used out of my closet and made it into something with a little bit of oomph.

This is such a simple project and so inexpensive. If you know how to thread a needle and sew a basic stitch you can tackle it as it's simple sewing on a pre purchased appliqué onto any old sweater in your closet. I got mine from here and they have a really great collection.

liberty circles mini quilt

I treated myself to a sewing project this past week. I have a few quilts in progress but, I wanted something I knew I would start and finish quickly and remembered this project from the Purl Bee. It took about a week start to finish. I had all of the materials on hand only needing to substitute a medium weight muslin for the top and backing and make it a wee bit smaller. You know how much I love to sew with the Liberty Tana lawn and using my scraps I had enough variety to make 20 different circles. After making the circles you appliqué them onto the white fabric and then hand quilt it to the backing with batting in between. There are 20 circles in all and it measures about 23" x 25."

Though I love to make quilts my favorite thing to sew is clothes especially for little kids. How about you? Do you prefer one or the other?