365 Days of Creativity - Day 2 - Ice Dyeing

Last week, with the arrival of my tax refund, I placed an order for new fiber reactive dyes from Dharma and some raw bamboo/cotton & hemp/cotton yardage.  At our local thrift store, I found a number of blank, white men's t-shirts and baby onesies that I could add to my newest passion:  Ice Dyeing.  Since it's more cost effective to dye projects in large quantities, I rummaged through my overstock and discovered about a dozen of my Made in Oregon t-shirts that, for one reason or another, hadn't sold.  I added those brilliant white t-shirts to the steadily growing pile of stuff needing color.

With the equivalent of about 20 yards of fabric, I decided the best way to tackle the prep work was to throw it all in the washing machine, split over two loads.  First the fabrics were washed in Synthrapol to remove any sizing or fabric softener residue.  Then, the fabrics were soaked in a soda ash mixture for about half an hour before being wrung out and placed into the two dye tubs.

This time around, I decided to layer the fabric, ice and dyes.  Seven colors were used in the first tub and four in the second tub.  Each 64-quart tub held about four layers of ingredients:  fabric, ice, dye, repeat ... then covered with a lid and allowed to sit overnight so the ice could melt and do its job.

 

This morning heralded in the grand reveal:  opening the tubs, rinsing off the fabrics, and surveying the results.

I have to admit ... they look pretty damned cool!

365 Days of Creativity - Day 1 - Gypsy Skirt

I dug into my endless supply of Thrift Store Treasures to create today's spark of creativity.

A women's pair of size 18, mauve colored silk pants was the first item to be dismantled into usable pieces of fabric ... followed by over-sized t-shirts, a beautiful cotton velour top in a dark camel, and a remnant of lightweight, cotton madras plaid.  Offcuts of pink and white, patchwork stretch lace and a chunk of synthetic suede in a light mauve completed the color array.

All of these pieces of fabric were then lovingly cut up and stitched together to create one of our signature Gypsy Skirts ... in a women's size large.  I figure this will be perfect for the new store that's opening out in Lincoln City the first weekend in March.

Housecleaning

We just received news that the organic fabrics that we'll be using for our Eco Art Wear Collection to be showcased on the runway during 2013 Baltimore FashionWeek have shipped.

Yep ... they're on their way!

Beautifully amazing textiles from Harmony Art Organics.

It's all I can do not to recreate that old Mervyn's commercial ...

you know ... the one where the woman's face is pressed against the glass and she's saying "open.  open.  open."

except in my case, I'll be the one with my face pressed up against the living room window, scouring the streets with eyes like glazed donuts, quietly repeating over and over "U.P.S.  U.P.S.  U.P.S."

Patience is supposed to be a virtue ... I don't have any.

And I'm okay with that  =)

I order to be patient, I need to fill my time with other things ...

like making stuff ...

and spiffing up the website ...

and organizing ...

yep.  cleaning.

Gotta make room for those 110" wide cotton fabrics that will be here by the 1st.

and today seems a pretty good day to do it!

What do you do to pass the time while you're waiting for something else to happen or arrive?