Chinese Whispers

[Rita C.]

Thank you so much Anne. I will save these addresses... and use them.

[Lois B.]

Lotti, Your fabrics are gorgeous. Rosemary, I love the indigo scarf and am fascinated with how you managed to duplicate the design. Rita, your hand appliqued pillow will certainly bring warmth and cheer to cold, damp Irish days. How inspiring, all of you!

[Maureen A.]

Rita, I loved your show & tell and your cushion is gorgeous. You are very prolific. When the Whispers quilt come to you, you will have it done in no time :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Maureen A.]

How many of you are going to Houston :?: :?: :mrgreen: I hope you tell us all about it and we get lots of photos especially of the Thursday night meal.

[Maureen A.]

I have been stitching and clamping and pole wrapping fabric (Shibori) for Indigo dyeing for a while now. I have just made up an Indigo vat and will be starting to dye more on Friday. I have just finished untying; rinsing and washing a piece of Shibori and thought you might like to see it.

[E.M. T.]

Oh My Gosh !!! That is just terrific !!! Can you share details of how you accomplished that pattern?

[Rita C.]

Maureen, that is just beautiful. I would love to know how you accomplished it too please?

[Maureen A.]

I took a blank piece of graph paper and drew out the size of fabric I wanted. I had doodled for while with different shapes and the heart shape was the one I decided on and I knew I wanted a circle in the middle and 8 hearts surrounding it, so I took a protractor and drew where I wanted everything. At that point I was only going for the circle and one set of hearts so I made myself a template for the heart. I taped the white (delphina) fabric down on a table and drew the pattern out with a washable felt tip pen. After I had done that I felt it wasn’t enough so just continued drawing the inner hearts and circles.

When that was all done, I stitched all the patterns with heavy double thread, then pulled it all up really, really tightly and tied off the thread. After wetting it I dipped it in the Indigo vat for a certain time. It is like magic when you take it out of the vat, as it is a lovely greeny colour until the air hits it and turns it blue. I left it to dry and then dipped it again for a shorter time. This particular one I dipped six times to get the really dark colour. In between dippings I left it to dry. After the last dipping I left it for about two days then rinsed it in cold water and then warm soapy water, rinsed again and left to dry. Then I took the stitching out. I have photos of that somewhere with me getting bluer and bluer by the minute. When all the stitching is out it is rinsed again and then I put it in the washing machine under a delicate cycle, leave to dry, iron and marvel over the result.

I know it sounds a lot of work but it is actually a very enjoyable experience. Of course you can do it faster and easier but I am making things for an exhibition next year so want to take my time. I have made some beautiful silk scarves and other fabric, which I will be making into items for next year.

[Maureen A.]

I should have said that the stitching is the resist so you pull the stitches really tightly and the dye does not penetrate where the stitching is. You can sew any kind of shape or pattern. Hand stitched pieces come out much nicer than machine stitched.

[E.M. T.]

Thanks ! It is just stunning ! and I think all good things take a little time and effort ! I'm
getting the bug !! I haven't done any dyeing for 4-5 years ! :roll: :roll: :roll: :mrgreen:

[Renata L.]

Thank you for showing the beautiful piece of shibori fabric you made, Maureen, and how you went about making it.

[Nancy R.]

Maureen - That is just beautiful!! I had no idea how you could have made that design, so that you for giving the details. It turned out wonderful -- well worth the effort!! I think it is simply amazing!!

I am going to Houston and plan to take many pictures to share with my friends who can only make it in spirit!!

Nancy

[wendy w.]

Looking forward to that Nancy

Wow Maureen I am almost speechless, that is so beautiful.
I spent today googling soda ash and found out its washing soda so that's easy to find. Now couldn't find white vinegar is that in the grocery or washing powder sections, I found all sorts of vinegars in Morrisons but the clear one was malt which didn't seem right.

Anne *waves* nice to see you around again and thanks for the links.

[Rita C.]

Maureen thanks for sharing the process. And what a wonderful result. It is now on my to-do list.

[Rita C.]

Maureen, that's a beautiful piece!!! Thanks you for sharing the how to. One new project on the "I want to try" list :wink:




Wendy, according to this : "Distilled vinegar - Any type of vinegar may be distilled to produce a colorless solution of about 5% to 8% acetic acid in water, with a pH of about 2.4. This is variously known as distilled spirit or "virgin" vinegar,[7] or white vinegar, and is used for medicinal, laboratory, and cleaning purposes, as well as in cooking, baking, meat preservation, and pickling.[8] The most common starting material in some regions, because of its low cost, is malt vinegar. In the United States, corn (maize) is the usual starting ingredient for most distilled vinegars, such as Heinz.[9]" So, malt vinegar from the grocery section should be just fine.