New listings on Etsy

Ok, there's only one new one at the moment, but I'll be updating the shop over the next couple of days so I thought I'd give a preview here.

A couple of weeks ago a picked up a set of fat quarters from the Portsmouth Fabric Company. Fat quarters are pieces of fabric measuring 18 inches by 22 inches, usually sold as a set of coordinating fabrics marketed towards quilters. I think they're called "fat quarters" because usually a quarter yard of fabric would measure 9 inches by 44 inches, which is less useful, ate least to a quilter. Anyone, I saw a set at the store that was all black, white and yellow fabrics (the set was named "Taxi"), a combination I've really been digging lately, so I bought it to use as book covers. Here are the ones I've finished so far.

From Box of Light

This is the one I just listed on Etsy. All the books I've made so far use recycled cardboard for the covers and are hand-bound with coptic stitch.

From Box of Light

A better look at the binding. I really want to experiment with this stitch (in terms of the placement of the holes in the cover) and I want to work with some other bindings - bookbinding is this whole other world I just don't feel like I have the time to explore. One thing at a time I guess.

From Box of Light

I'm still working at photographing these books, and products in general. I made a makeshift lightbox but it was pretty rickety, and the cat destroyed it. I also don't have a tripod or the patience to deal with all that stuff. Natural light is nice but not entirely convenient and also too strong/directional. Something else to work on.

From Box of Light

From Box of Light

This one if my favorite of this series so far, I really love this fabric and think the minimal use of yellow is really effective.

I haven't posted those last two on Etsy yet, but I will at some point today. I also have neckwarmer/cowl I need to photograph and of course, many more things to make. I have more ideas than ever, to the point where I'm feeling overwhelmed and a little paralyzed. I'm definitely a perfectionist, which sometimes makes it difficult to just do something, without overthinking. It's funny because my main medium used to be clay, which is probably the most challenging medium to a perfectionist - something can go wrong at every stage of the process, and no matter how well you think you know the clay, glazes, kiln, things are a little different every time. I used to be pretty good a letting things go when something unexpected happened, I need to get back into that wabi-sabi mindset.

Some wedding photos

Ok, I told Frank I would post on Monday and I didn't, and obviously didn't do it yesterday, so I feel I have no choice but to post today. Don't really have much to talk about at the moment - I've been trying to work on my brother's wedding photos so I can finally be done with that project (the wedding was in October). For some reason, I just have a hard time sitting down and editing all the photos at once, so I've been doing between 10 and 20 at a time, which is working out pretty well. I think I'm over halfway through.

I wasn't overly selective about choosing images, because my brother and his wife just want a disc with the images - I figure I can leave it up to them to decide which ones they want printed. Here's a few of the ones I've finished.

From Dave and Kerry's Wedding, Final Cut

From Dave and Kerry's Wedding, Final Cut

The chapel where the ceremony was held was really dark inside, so that was hard to shoot. The reception was a lot easier and a lot more fun - plenty of light and obviously a little less pressure than the ceremony. More my style too - I didn't feel like I was in anyone's way and felt a lot more comfortable moving around and shooting. The ceremony seemed so much more important, and I was really limited by the lack of space and light.

From Dave and Kerry's Wedding, Final Cut

The cake toppers...Video game characters I believe.

From Dave and Kerry's Wedding, Final Cut

In the parking lot, practicing the first dance.

From Dave and Kerry's Wedding, Final Cut

There's a lot more on my Picasa...Unfortunately, I think they got over-compressed and look too bright there, but maybe that's just my monitor.

Natural Dyes - A Few More Things

Frank make a good point in his comment to my previous post. He told me he had to look up the term "mordant," so I thought I'd quickly explain what a mordant is. Some dyes, called substantive dyes, can dye a fiber on their own, without addition of other chemicals. Many dyes, especially natural dyes require a mordant, a chemical that bonds to the fiber and to the dye to make it wash- and light-fast. The most common mordants are metal salts - I usually use alum, because it is the least toxic and simplest to use. All mordants can have an effect on the final color and wash and light-fastness (meaning how well it holds up to exposure to UV light and washing) of the piece. Clearly there is a lot of science here that I'm not familiar with - maybe someday it will be more interesting to me, but at the moment I'm more interested felting than dyeing.

My friend Heather also just asked me a question about good dyes for yellow and red on silk. She said she had heard turmeric makes a yellow dye, and it does, but it isn't very light-fast (and might not be very wash-fast, I'm not sure). Onions skins will make a variety of yellows, depending on the type of onion, and they don't require a mordant. Red's a little tougher - it's hard to find common household items that make good reds. I've heard dandelion roots work but that it can be hit or miss, and isn't exactly a household item. I would say the best bet would be to get some alum and some brazilwood extract or lac if you want to use natural dyes. If it isn't especially important to use natural dyes, you could always use an acid dye, which in this case might be simpler and quicker to use.

The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing by J.N. Liles is a great resource for natural dye recipes...Unfortunately I can't find my copy right now, but it includes a whole chapter on different mordants and chapters on dye recipes in all the colors of the rainbow for silk, wool, cotton, and linen. I highly recommend it if you have any interest in learning to use natural dyes or have an interest in the history of natural dyeing.