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.

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Two More Picasso Tops

I now have the Picasso Pants and Top pattern from the Sewing Workshop (TSW) out of my system. I've made the top 3 times and the pants once. I don't see any more tops in my immediate future, but who knows? These surprised me. I do definitely see more pants in my future, but possibly not until spring.

In summary, my first version of the top was made from a tablecloth - cotton damask.

And my second one looked like a tablecloth, though made from cotton prints. I have already taken it apart to use in other projects.

My third and favorite one is made with rayon jersey knit, plus some striped accents. This is a bit ironic because I was reluctant to make a knit version even though the pattern envelope requires it. The woven versions are of necessity size Mediums and the knit one is size Small, and I think the size XS might also fit in knits. It is designed as a big boxy top, and I like that a lot!

Above I'm wearing the knit version of the Picasso top with my favorite knit pants (the Helix pattern from TSW). I have made those a number of times just because I like the look. Making them is fast and easy.  Below I'm wearing the Picasso top (in knits) and pants (in rayon crepe), which is a pretty close approximation of the intentions for this pattern.

Now I do think the whole Picasso look is cute. And I will happily wear this ensemble and feel good. And I know the slimmer Helix pants create a more flattering silhouette. Just a little note to self.

I made the same changes to the neckline as in my previous Picasso tops, this time using a bias strip of striped knit. It's not matched at the shoulder seams but the up side is that the shoulder seams are nice and flat. And it was a sweet opportunity for a little sashiko.

Meanwhile there is still a dye pot simmering on the stove, this time with pokeberries. I've printed with pokeberries before but this is my first foray into dyeing with them. I simmered and strained the juice from it. Now a piece of silk noil and another piece of cotton sateen are brewing. I'm realizing I need to be more careful in my handling of this stuff that seems to grow everywhere here in the southern states of the US.

Recent foraging: black walnuts, magnolia pods, pokeberries, queen ann's lace

It is intriguing that pokeweed is both poisonous and edible. The leaves are edible in early spring before the stalk becomes purple. The berries that are growing now can be used to make jelly, once the seeds are removed. That being said, I must be more careful in my handling of the stuff (another note to self). But the color is so seductive. Maybe the dye will be rewarding too.

I'm also ready to do some more avocado dyeing. Here is a shot of them with my new toy - a macro lens for my phone camera.

Some days it feels like there is almost too much fun stuff to do. Does that happen to you?

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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.

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Remember the Japonesque?

I do. One memory I have is when I got on a hotel elevator wearing my version. The woman on the elevator said "Japonesque?" I affirmed this and asked if she'd made it. She said  "yes, several times, once as instructed, once with two right fronts and once with two left fronts!"

It is one of the old - maybe early 2000's - Sewing Workshop patterns designed in the spirit of Issey Miyake. Maybe more of an Issey Miyake one-off. It has dropped shoulders, deep armscyes, and runs large. It has a floating pocket on the back right hip.

The chocolate piece is all shades of brown, my favorite color!

I've been holding onto 3 special one-yard pieces of fabric from Christina Daily. They are Essex linen-cotton dyed by Christina in what I'd call free-form shibori. I am unfamiliar with her process. One yard was chocolate and the other two pieces were indigo blue. It's fairly beefy and so a good weight for a jacket.

Christina and I became acquainted on Instagram. I love her hand-dyed fabrics as well as the lovely ways she uses it. Check it out here. A few months ago, out of the blue, she offered to send me some of her fabrics to see what I'd make. I was amazed and delighted. This version of the Japonesque aims to showcase her fabric.

Initially I thought I'd place the pocket on one of the fronts but it really seems to belong on the back. It was a fun pocket to construct given that it floats, attached only at the top of the pocket.

It's a detail I like and will use again. A similar pocket is on another Sewing Workshop top - the Icon (it's on sale right now). That's another oldie I'd like to revisit.

I experimented with the tab closure that is part of the pattern. It is intended to be inserted in the left side and buttoned to the right side at hip level. This is not a part of my body to emphasize and so I omitted it.

I also experimented with closures and decided on a single button shown below. It can also hang open for a slightly different look.

Even though I made this pattern 15+ years ago, construction felt novel to me. I love puzzling through a new pattern and this was quite satisfying. Several construction details required reading and re-reading instructions. To me, that's fun.

That brown next to the indigo blue looks almost like suede, doesn't it?

As I recall, my first version of the Japonesque was intended to be a shirt, made in a rayon batik. I did not wear it much and I do not recall why. This time I shortened it about 2 inches in the back. I'll enjoy it as a fall jacket.

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Silk and Serendipity

Sunflowers on a farm in NH

The more I play with plant dyes, the more I want to play. There are endless variations and the results are unpredictable. I enjoy the surprise and make no attempt to create repeatable processes. Sometimes I chastise myself for not keeping better notes, but not often.

Black walnuts rescued from my local hiking trail

Years ago I spotted a bolt of PFD china silk at an estate sale. I have only just now come to appreciate the magic that is silk. I'm guessing that most silks contain dye magic. Of course I love to sew with cotton and linen but dyeing is not nearly as exciting with those celulose fibers.

My most recent adventures have been primarily with black walnuts but also with leaves and sunflowers. Here is the (first) one with sunflowers. You can see that bolt of PFD china silk in the upper left hand corner.

I started by dipping the silk in an iron bath: The iron bath is water and white vinegar in a glass container with some rusty objects. After about a week of steeping, it was a light orange color. So I dipped about a yard of the silk in it and squeezed it out. Wearing gloves, of course!

Steamer with the silk piece and some Hanji paper pieces

Next I pulled the flowers apart and laid out rows of the various parts of the flowers on half of the damp silk. There were green leaf-like structures (sepals) under the yellow petals, the yellow petals and then the black center torn into small pieces, each placed in rows.  I folded the remaining silk half over the plant parts, rolled it tightly, securing with twine. Then I curled it so that it would fit on top of my steamer.

I am totally in love with the resulting patterns and colors. I believe that the dark navy/purple parts were stained with the dark center seeds and that the other parts produced the orange stains. Now I am itching to stitch and wear this. I've done some research and I'm fairly comfortable that these are safe to use for clothing. For more on this subject, check out this very helpful post from India Flint, as well as this one from Alpenglow Yarn.

Meanwhile I've returned to my black-walnut-dyed silk pieces with plans to make something. The variety of results is endlessly interesting to me. This one was folded and steeped in leftovers from last year. I am amazed to see the pink colors and have no idea what caused it. I was not expecting much from year-old black walnut juice. But silk is magical.

Folded, clamped and dyed with year-old black walnut juice

The fresh walnuts from this year also yielded a wide variety of results. All pieces came from that off-white china silk. The following piece was simply stuffed in the dye pot and left to steep for a week or so, stirring occasionally. It looks more solid in reality. Some combination of sunlight and the camera created a rusty color. Because of the sheen, the color varies quite a lot.

This next piece was folded and clamped between two pieces of glass. It was steeped in a plastic container also for about a week. Perhaps the plastic inhibited the color transfer, or maybe the clamping was especially effective as a resist.

So now I must make something.

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