Steampunk skirt refashion with eco dyed fabric

Take an op shop skirt that you bought because it had a cool pattern (and was still cotton!):

Add a cotton vest that only took up some of the eco dye:

 And a curved pillow case that you don't have a pillow for but would look great as a ruffle layer:

Layer them over each other, making sure you can see both:

And it's a pretty good start for a steampunk skirt! Final product, almost ready for the stall (unfortunately slightly too small for me!) It didn't sell this time around, but maybe next time.

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Upcycled denim jacket with rust dyed fabric

This denim started out as any denim jacket does: plain and blue. But though I like blue, I'm not so keen on plain. 

So I started adding eco dyed lace.

And then some eco dyed patches, because these spring prints needed a garment home.

A sleeve unpicked from a rust dyed shirt.

Some grumbling from my machine about sewing through denim!

That scrap of eco dyed lace that I loved, that just needed the right thing to go on.

And there you have it: ready in time for my stall.

 

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How-To: Setting up a craft stall to sell my refashioned clothes!

It's finally time again: all the dyeing and crafting is paying off and I am going to have a craft stall at Christmas time. I haven't been a member of an art organisation for a number of years, so it's kind of exciting.

What I have:

• tables - folding ones, so light and easy to take around
• stock - below!
• table cloths - my husband gave me a great idea, and I added some dyed fabric to a green felt-like under-cloth that we got
• coat hangers, so many! I tried taking all my clothes off them, because I didn't want to buy any more.. but I had to buy more.

It's always better up here if the stall ends up being inside because of the weather, which it is.

What I'll sell:

• eco-dyed clothes
• refashioned clothes
• recycled jewellery
• beach glass jewllery

I am thinking about making sign on a piece of fabric that I've dyed: Penny cello - Refashioning & upcycling. I think a theme helps with these kind of things. It's good to diversify in the dyeing, printing, jewellery, but being able to say that I follow a recycling ethos kind of wraps the stall all up together. 

I sourced clothing racks at the local shop, going for the nicer-looking wooden ones rather than the cheaper metal ones: 

I hoped that 3 would be enough. Until I pulled everything out, I wasn't really sure how much I had! These racks were pretty annoying to put together...

But I got there! Three is definitely enough, I don't need any more. (Excuse the unfinished sewing pile in the corner - better do something about that this week!)

Practice setup at home:

The mirror needs to be hung, but that's on my final to-do list. Really happy with the spread of colour- I was hoping it wouldn't be too brown!

 My stall size is 3x3m, which is quite big. But between the racks and the pop-up change tent I need it.

Now indoor space has its own intricacies: mostly needing light!

Not sure how the small lights will go, I may need something bigger. Once I know what power will be available I can decide.

Let's talk about pricing 

I always find it hard to quantify what something has cost me to make, because even if it was low materials cost it often took some time to make. An artist friend recently posted that she valued her services between $55-75/hour, and when I think about materials and time that sounds about right.

Something I came across was a store where nothing was more than $50. I like the marketing concept, that it makes things seem more affordable. So none of my tops or jewellery will be over $50. Just the skirts, and some of the dresses: but they're pretty, one-off silk ones that I hope someone will fall in love with.

A trick with stalls is to have a range of prices: small things for stocking-fillers, that people will buy as gifts; mid-range that people might buy for gifts but would also buy for themselves; and some more expensive, bespoke things that will appeal to someone looking for something special. I hope I've covered all of those bases!

I've created some neat signs:

And I've settled on a logo, now that I'm being a bit more serious about all this:

Look out for the photos from the day! 

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I never thought I'd get into painting miniatures... but I did!

I never expected that I would enjoy painting miniatures, but it's been a good relaxation activity- I've really gotten into it!
This guy came in lots of very small pieces that took several sessions to glue together until he finally looked like this:

The roses were my own addition. All of these models come with only a single or limited variations. That doesn't sit well with me, so I often add to them- can't be boring! 
After that I used a spray to prime the model with a brown undercoat.

After that you start the bases. There are always multiple layers to make the colours and marking complex. The brown is the base for most of the bark armour. The orange and the green here are also bases.

The owl is about half the size of my little fingernail, if you're looking for scale. Overall he's no more than 15cm high.
It was startling bright and I was pretty worried at first, until I remembered how many layers I was going to add. Hardly any of this orange will remain.

The next layers dulled that down though. You do thin coats, so that the layer blends with the base and you get a mix of both colours. When I first started I didn't do thin coats... so my models changed colour a lot!

There's still another layer to go, otherwise that contrast between the green and orange is a bit much!

The angles are hard to work around sometimes, with the way they're built. I did snap a couple of small bits off by accident.... easy to disguise on a twiggy tree. 

This shows the second layer on the leaves, a lighter green: really happy with how they came out.

I wanted to make the staff really interesting so I added the bug on. I got a very fine detail brush to put the veins on the leaves.

I was really happy with how the leaves turned out in his beard. Again, very careful painting with a very tiny brush.

Not to mention (after a lot of swearing) how happy I was with the lime green in the runes on his armour. I pretty much through any of the default colour scheme out once I got past the two colours of bark.

The basing/decorating is one of my favourite parts though. You can't just leave them on a plain base! 

I have a stack of tiny little plants and grass that I use to build the woodland around him.

He goes in a matched set with these, so I used many of the same plants. The ones below were Summer, but I always saw him as partly between Summer and Autumn.

The rock below him is made from cork. I could have just glued him straight onto the base, but (again) I wanted it to be more interesting! 

There are always skulls in Warhammer...

And now some views of the finished model. Painting competition on Saturday!

It was fascinating to work out the colour combinations.

And I'm very proud of him!

Printing leaves and stencils onto eco dyed clothes again!

I did my last fabric printing day before my craft stall last week - and boy was it hot out in the carport! The weather is stinking up here, I can't wait for the rain to come.
As before, I had some plain clothes and some shirts that I had dyed that hadn't come out with strong patterns that could use something extra.
The metal circle printed well on this linen top, but everything else is a bit vague.

None of the stencils that I had suited, so I went and clipped a small palm frond from the garden instead.

I rolled paint over the top of it to create an outline and was very happy with it.

Looks like a different shirt now, huh? Very tropical!

What I did on another shirt was to then turn the leaf over and press it down to create a print.

I love the detail that came through.

I'm not responsible for the dye on this shirt, but I'm really happy with the overall look now.

And with this other one, too. Layers of leaves on this one.

The leaf got a lot of use!

 Other shirts got lino prints.

Simple but effective. I thought about layering colours of these prints, but decided it was too much.

And of course my favourite - the bush chook. Though I printed them in brown this time instead of black.

To get the two colours I tape over the legs, print the body, and then remove the tape to do the second colour.

The brown goes well with the eco dye.

Not to mention on other colours.

 My sundew stencil also got a workout.

 These pants are now officially funky - pity they're too small for me!

 A few little arrows on this one in the small blank bit. The bike chain links printed well on this shirt.

 These may need some more work, but they remind me of gardening around my place.

Hopefully someone will enjoy owning them as much as I have enjoyed making them.
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