Playing with dye

First of all, thank you for your kind words about my grandfather's passing. It was a rough week, particularly on Saturday when we had the funeral. My mom's side of the family in particular has stayed pretty close throughout the years, even now that all but one of my cousins is college-aged or older (I'm the oldest of 12 on that side, not counting the several spouses that have been added over the last 5ish years), and we still get together every few months for holidays and things. So it did help to have that time after the funeral to hang out with them and my aunts and uncles and laugh and reminisce. Thanksgiving is going to be strange this year, since we also lost my dad's father a few months ago, but I'm hopeful that there will still be some good times with my family to look forward to. 

I was off of my retail job most of last week, since it was the lull between pumpkin season and the Christmas tree rush, and working on my second Doctor Who Sewalong project was a welcome distraction. (Incidentally, I was also glad to have the 50th anniversary to look forward to on Saturday night! I originally had more elaborate plans to make themed food and all, but in the end, my husband and best friend and I just ordered Chinese food and sat around in our Whovian t-shirts to watch the later showing. LOVED it. Anyway.) But this post is about the one day I took off from that sewing project! I do enjoy fiddling around with fabric dye, even though my last experiment didn't go well at all. So when several sewcialists on Twitter decided that November should be "play with dye" month, I thought it would be fun to join in. I still have several projects in mind to do, though I think some of them will have to wait for warmer weather and/or other sewing projects. But here's what I decided to fiddle around with.

I started off with these--a thrifted, all-cotton cabled sweater, a cotton/viscose rib knit cardigan that I got for free at a girls' night swap, and this cotton gauze shirt that I made several years ago and barely wear because I don't like the way the color looks on me (or how see-through the light fabric is!) Not pictured here is the yardish of silk dupioni left over from the outside of my wedding dress, since I didn't find it until after I took the picture, but I threw that in, too. I know silk can sometimes shift colors when using the Procrion dyes, since I tried to dye some silk lining brown several years ago and it turned pink instead, but I figured that with the color I picked (Grecian Sea, from Dharma Trading Company), I figured the worst that would happen is it would be some shade mixture of blue, green or yellow. I could live with that. And the fabric on its own was just so....bridal, you know?

I read the directions more carefully than the last time, and spent most of my morning running up and down the stairs to make sure that the washing machine was still agitating but not draining the dye too soon. So not only did I get a great workout (for once), the results were much better!

I lost a lot of the silk to fraying--I probably should have taken the time to just stitch the edges, but I was in a hurry because by the time I found it, my clothes were nearly done pre-washing. So I think I may have just barely enough for a Sorbetto or some other kind of camisole top. The texture of the silk is also much different now, from all of the washing, but I'm ok with that. As for the clothes, I'm really happy with how they turned out! It's really interesting how the different fabrics react to the same color. It shows up best on the gauze top, since the crocheted lace is so much darker and the polyester ribbon didn't take it at all. I may end up just taking the ribbon out--what do you think?

It got stupid cold* yesterday, so I've already debuted my cable sweater. The blue matched perfectly with one of the stripes in this thrifted double-gauze plaid buttondown that I have. I'd normally not wear it this time of year, since it also has 3/4 sleeves. Maybe with a cardigan at most. But I figured it would be a good candidate for that sweater-layered-with-a-longer-buttondown look that I keep seeing on Pinterest and whatnot. The only picture I had time for was this Twitter selfie, so you can't really see the whole outfit, but it worked, I think. Nice to know I have another cold-weather option for at least one piece in my wardrobe.

Trying a new (to me) layered look with my freshly dyed sweater. (It's a little short.) #playwithdye pic.twitter.com/4d27yOyIXu
— Becky (@sew_and_so) November 24, 2013

So even though that sweater is too short to wear on its own, the color makes me happy, and I'm sure that I'll be reaching for it a lot more this winter.

While we're talking blue things, I'll leave you with a sneak preview of my sewalong project. Let's say inspired-by and not exact replica, ok? I'll explain more next time. The sleeves are basically sewed together, but I need to sew them on the shirt. And then there's the matter of buttonholes and hemming. But I'm getting pretty close. This is a new-to-me pattern from a Burda magazine, and I didn't bother with a muslin, so I may have to fiddle with the buttonhole placement to get it to fit.


(*Stupid cold: When it's cold enough that being outside for more than a minute makes your face hurt, and there's no snow on the horizon. See all of last winter in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.)

the tie saga

First of all: I don't believe that emerald green is really the color of the year. Either that, or no one listens to Pantone. Because if they did, people would actually be selling emerald green fabric, don't you think?

So, my fiance requested very early in the planning process that I make him a tie. I say this in the most loving way possible--he's not exactly what I could call a "stylish" man. The Anthony Lilore quote that Cidell posted recently--that is a very accurate description of his style. So given this (and the fact that he's flat-out told me that I probably shouldn't ever attempt sewing clothes for him, because he probably won't wear them), I felt like I should honor his request.

My original plan was to make a sash for my dress and a tie for him out of the same fabric. The problem has been actually finding some fabric, because it is really hard to find nice fabric that is solid green and not either chartreuse or olive, neither of which would really work for a June wedding with sunflowers. (If this was a fall wedding, I might be all over the olive, but it's not.) I finally found a piece of lightweight silk at Gorgeous Fabrics that was lableled "happy green", and looked to be kind of a bluer shade of yellow-green. And this is where the dangers of fabric shopping on the internet comes into play, because I got it in and it was basically lime. I like lime green. I think it's a very happy color. But it was also most definitely brighter than I wanted for the wedding, mostly because of trying to match accessories for me and the bridesmaids to that. So I ordered some kelly green dye from Dharma Trading Co. and decided to see what I could do.

I figured that doing the washing machine route would be the best for an even color job. And Doug has a top-loader machine, which is what is usually recommended for this. So since we were having a low-key hangout at his place for his birthday on Saturday anyway, he was fine with me experimenting.

So I got the fabric wet, put the dye in, and let it run through the cycle.

The result....


Yeah, it basically looks exactly the same as it did before, doesn't it? With the annoying addition of a few red dots right in the middle of the fabric, and a loss of the nice silky feel that it had before. *facepalm*I did try washing it again on Monday--with fabric softener--but it doesn't seem to have helped yet. I'm going to run it through again soon, since I got some things at Goodwill that I need to wash anyway.

So after I freaked out a little and he got me calmed down, we headed over to Michaels' to see if we could get some other dye. The selection of greens was rather limited, but we got some dark green since it looked like it would turn out decent. At his suggestion, I just cut a narrow strip off of the bottom and did a test run first. It's a good thing, because it basically turned out to be army green. (I don't have a picture of this, and already threw the strip away, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.) At least now I know the washer dyes. So I gave up for the day and cleaned out the machine.

At this point, and after looking on Dharma again, I gave up and ordered a new piece of fabric from Mood on Sunday morning. It's polyester, and I feel bad because I'm indulging myself with a silk dress and wanted to make him something nice too. But the powers-that-be are not working with me on the colors, you know? This also means that I've already broken my stashbusting pledge to not buy new fabric, but I think I can chalk this one up to special circumstances. I only bought a yard because at this point, the sash seems like more trouble than it's worth. And at least with kelly green, I do have a better chance of finding jewelry to match. Assuming I can get it, because I also got a call last night saying that they don't have it and wanted to talk to me about what my options are! I tried calling them back and it hung up both times--the original call had been during one of my lessons and I couldn't pick up. So I guess I'll call them today and see what's up.

Seriously, people--why is it so hard to find solid green fabric?! The really annoying thing is that I need this fabric asap, so I can match the color to other things I need to get sorted really soon. Like centerpieces and cake.

This also means that I have about 3 yards of lime green silk with not much to do with it. Doug said multiple times that he likes the color. So I may try my hand at some lingerie. And maybe the Alma blouse, since I do have some skirts that a lime green top would look great with. If I can get this nice drape and hand back. Stupid dye.

Edit, 12:43 pm: I got back in touch with Mood, and was told that they wouldn't get it in for 4-6 weeks! Which is kind of pushing it for a lot of the other things I need to match the color to. But the woman on the phone was very helpful, and I was able to swap it out for another piece that was the same price. And--get this--emerald. So hopefully that will be the end of the drama!

T-4 months till W-Day....

I've gotten absolutely nothing accomplished on the dress this morning, because I'm too busy baking. My fiance's birthday is tomorrow, and I've got a little get-together with some girlfriends tonight. Ironically, this was postponed from two weeks ago due to bad winter weather, and now we have a nor'easter rolling through! But it looks like my area is going to get nothing but rain until 9 or later. As much as I hate winter rain because it is the most depressing weather EVER, I'm glad the snow is going to hold off long enough for me to hang out with my friends! And I doubt we'll be staying super-late, since the friend's house we're meeting at is my bridesmaid who had the baby 2 months ago today.

My hands have been busy, and so has my brain, trying to wrap it around all of the things I need to get done in the next 4 months. And several of them have a DIY component, so that justifies me doing a brain dump here, right?

• The dress, obviously. I am 4 catch-stitched seam allowances away from being ready to sew the skirt onto the bodice, woohoo! Which I'm hoping I can get done today, because between Doug's birthday, church activities and flute choir, it looks like this weekend is going to be a total bust for sewing.
• Doug's tie and a green sash for my dress. I got the fabric in last week, which I ordered from Gorgeous Fabrics. The color is gorgeous, of course--it was labeled "happy green" and appeared to be a cheery spring green--but unfortunately it's way too close to neon for my comfort in this particular context. So I also got some kelly green dye from Dharma Trading Company to see what I can do. In other words, dyeing experiments are in my near future! (Side note: for emerald being the Pantone color of the year, it is ridiculously hard to find solid silk fabric in a good weight for a tie that's anywhere close to a green that isn't chartreuse or olive!)
• Jewelry for the bridesmaids, which I may or may not have to end up making myself. It's dependent on whatever color this fabric ends up being (ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseworkout) and whatever dresses my girls end up getting. I don't particularly care if they wear the same dress, we're just doing knee-length black something or other so I can up the chances that this dress can actually be worn again, but I do need to have an idea about necklines so I can see if necklaces are in or out, you know?
• Centerpieces for the reception. We were originally planning to incorporate my mom's teapot collection, but we didn't have nearly enough that would work and it was way too expensive to get enough. So we're painting some flowerpots instead and filling them with the artificial flowers. This is also going to depend on what color green this fabric ends up being. On the plus side, I may be able to reuse some of these pots afterwards to grow some herbs or something. But it's still another DIY. 
• I also need to finish figuring out flowers for the ceremony, but my church got renovated and no one seems to know what the deal is for weddings now that the sanctuary looks very different and so I'm kind of stuck.
• I need to get back in touch with the baker to confirm coloring for some details on the cake. Again, waiting on that green fabric.
• Invitations, thankfully, are done and printed. Hopefully having invitations that don't completely fill the envelope won't look tacky, because we had to get larger envelopes to accommodate RSVP cards due to the sizing. I just need to get stamps, stuff 'em and send 'em, but that can wait till next month.
• I'm making these paper sunflowers to go on the table numbers, which is in progress, but still quite a bit to do.
• I need to get a garment bag for the dress. 

And that is just all I'm able to think of off the top of my head that is related to things I'm making, and doesn't even factor in things like moving. Do I sound stressed? I'm sorry to say that I'm beginning to feel stressed!

Odyssey tank progress, and a fail tale

First of all, thanks for all of the lovely, encouraging comments on the pants! After reading some of your thoughts, and since I have a little extra time this afternoon, I think I'm going to run over to Joann's before my evening work and see if they have any alternate things in a closer color that I could use to replace those lacings. I only looked in the trims, but maybe I can find something in the jewelry section.

Since knitting was my main craft of last week, figured I should show where things stand now.

This is the front so far-- not entirely finished, since I'll have to add the neckline edging and weave in the ends, but it's very close.

As of yesterday, this is how much I've gotten done on the back. I think I'm something like 30 rows in.

After much deliberation, I went ahead and ordered another ball of yarn from the same place. Since I only got something like 14 rows out of the third ball before I ran out, and after measuring how much I got per ball in the front several times, I decided that it's highly unlikely that I have enough yarn to finish. I just hope the dyelot thing works out-- I asked them for the same one if possible in the special instructions box.

(Of course, since I couldn't justify paying shipping for 1 ball of yarn, I ended up ordering enough for another project. I guess I have a yarn stash now. Darn it!)

And in the interest of full disclosure, I do tend to write about my failures as well as my successes on here. And I've been meaning to share this story for awhile, it just kept getting put off because the pants were way more exciting. So here goes...

Some of you may remember that two summers ago, I attempted to make a mini-wardrobe, with varying degrees of success from project to project. One of the projects ended up being that my mom crocheted me a wrap out of this bamboo-acrylic yarn. Which was really sweet of her, but it ended up not really working out. Which was my fault-- not only did I make the mistake of picking the yarn out before I got the main inspiration fabric in the mail, meaning it was the wrong color, I didn't purchase enough of it to get a wrap with a functional length.

So after I started knitting, I unraveled it. After all, I'd never actually been able to use it, and I don't like wasting things. Only problem is, this yarn was ugly. A color I never would have picked, if I hadn't been trying to match this badly-conceived wardrobe. The picture doesn't really show the color that great. On the website, they call it "Misty Taupe". I call it "dirty concrete sidewalk" or "the color of boredom". I think it also looks more tan on the website than it actually was--it's like this tannish grey.

Or was this tannish grey, to be more precise. Knowing I would never, ever wear anything made out of this blah, uninspiring color, I decided that the obvious thing to do was to dye it. So I picked up a couple of packets of iDye at the store--both similar shades of green, one in the iDye Poly and one in the regular natural fiber, thinking that the combination would make it hit both the bamboo and the acrylic.

I had envisioned this nice, mossy green color. This is what I got instead.

Pretty much the exact shade of the weather-beaten wood on the family's old playhouse deck. That's right, people, I went from taupe to a slightly darker taupe. (And this is what it looked like when wet-- after it dried, it was definitely more grey-looking than this.)

Which left me with the debate--what to do with six skeins of still-icky-colored yarn? After awhile, I figured I should probably at least wind it into balls and put it somewhere, because I'd had it drying on a flipped-over music stand and I needed to use that again. So I grabbed the skeins, the swift and the yarn ball winder, and proceeded to wind the first two with relatively little pain. A few annoyances, to be sure, because despite having tied it in quite a few places around the skein, they kind of fell apart in the dye bath a little. But relatively little pain.

The third skein was an entirely different story. About halfway through winding it up, it got so ridiculously tangled that I had to take the remaining yarn off of the swift, spend the next two hours untangling it from the opposite end (mainly because I'm stubborn and I didn't want to let the yarn win), and wind it back onto the swift.

Then I started winding it again, and it fell off of the yarn ball winder. And of course the middle immediately got all sucked together so I couldn't put it back on. I should have taken a picture, but it was around midnight at this point and I was annoyed.

So then I wound the entire skein back onto the swift, and tried to wind it a third time. At which point one of the pegs fell out of the swift, leaving it in a tangled mess once more. I finally ended up cutting a big chunk off and called it a night.

So the next day, and after bouncing it off of my mom, my crocheter sis-in-law and one of my knitting friends, I did the only thing I could do that would leave my sanity intact:

I still feel a little bad about throwing it out, but ugly and unmanageable was just too killer of a combo. So I guess the moral of the story is either a) use an all-natural fiber yarn to dye with, b) tie it up a heck of a lot more than I did, or c) leave yarn-dyeing to the professionals in yarn shops and on Etsy.

(Incidentally, this seems to be a summer of bad dye jobs, given the pants-- I originally tried to dye some off it with RIT dye that was pretty much the exact same color as my pants on the box, but came out a chocolate brown on the cording, and then the tea dye came out way too light. I have one other dye experiment I wanted to attempt at some point before it gets cold again, again with the iDye poly.... I'm kind of scared to try it now!)

Sadie (finally!) and my hippie craftstravaganza

It only took me what, 8 days to get the pics? But here is my lovely bamboo Sadie. I still love how soft this is. I need some more bamboo jersey.
And a closeup of the drape in the front...

...and also underneath the drape. I didn't quite follow the directions, which called for sewing the two pieces right sides together and then binding it. I wanted less bulk and a clean finish, so I sewed the wrong side of the drape to the right side of the shirt, hiding the seam underneath the drape.

And this is what I spent today doing...

It looked like a rug when I was getting started...

I had to improvise with the dye bottle...

...and this was the fun part! No pics of the final fabric yet, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. Just some cotton muslin that I'm going to be using for an upcoming project.

I also spent some time on this:

This is a very comfortable skirt from the Dharma Trading Company. One of my favorite skirts is a black version of this that I embroidered the bottom of. This one was a dye job and fabric stamping. But I never wore it, because the skirt turned out much pinker than I liked, and after the stamping, I wasn't such a huge fan of the way it turned out. So I decided to overdye it and see what happened.

I used a deep purple. After rinsing it out, the color is kind of a darkish plum, which is much more to my liking. I also discovered that the paint could be mostly scraped off in spots. Unfortunately, in my attempt to speed this up with a popsicle stick, I ended up ripping a hole in the bottom of the skirt! (That's what I get for working on a concrete step...dummy me!) So this afternoon also included an impromptu trip to Joann's. I found some sheer in shades of purple that mostly covers up the gold, so I'm going to mend the hole and then layer that on top. Once I get that done, I'm going to add some ribbon to cover the seam. I also got some fabric to test out the BurdaStyle jacket I want to make-- didn't want muslin because I wanted something more jacket-weight, both for accuracy in fitting and just in case it works right away because then I can have two jackets. ;-) So there was this teal wide-wale corduroy on sale for about the same price per yard as muslin, so I went for that.