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.

 

#lovelypennypatterns

Weaving with Aly de Groot

I took a week off between ANZAC Day and May Day this year, which made a nice little holiday. I spent the first three days over on the Sunshine Coast at Woodford doing a weaving workshop with artist Aly de Groot.

There was heavy mist when we drove up there - not a very auspicious start!

It was a weaving and basketry workshop. Our teacher designed the three day workshop around an idea/story about sea life and rubbish.

Day 1 - Jellyfish

Plastic bags are often mistaken for jellyfish by the larger sea creatures that eat them.

We started out by making string out of fabric and plastic bags.

Making the string.

My collection.

The strings then became the spokes of the basket/tentacles of the jellyfish. We used fishing line to weave it.

Part-way through making the bell of the jellyfish.

The tentacles hanging down.

I deliberately curved my bell in so that it had more shape.

The finished jellyfish! I plan to hang it above my desk at home.

I had a go at making the jellyfish from fishing line only, which resulted in the one on the left here. 

Some people added ribbons and beads, which was a great effect.

The day finished with a lovely sunset over the campground!

Day 2 - Turtles

Turtles are one of the main sea creatures that eat plastic bags, thinking they are jellyfish, and usually die as a result. We made turtles out of ghost nets that had washed up on the beaches in the Northern Territory.

The technique for the day was coiling, where we shredded the nets into strips and sewed them into a basket shape.

This basket became the shell of our turtles, and we made a mini one for the head.

This was my turtle, complete with ghost net fins. He was missing something...

My mum's turtle, in progress.

Our completed turtles. Mum coiled her basket far tighter than I did, so it turned out neater. We had a couple of Hawaiian lays, so I gave my turtle a makeover and some button eyes.

I finished my turtle in the morning that day, so I tried the coiling technique with strips from a t-shirt. It made an odd little bag that I have no idea what I will do with.

Our finished turtles, swimming in the tent.

Day 3 - Birds

It was a bit chilly on the third day and my hair was crazy. Great excuse to wear my Do Rag!

But the story continued anyway with birds: there are lots of varieties of birds around the ocean and they make themselves sick eating plastic bags and rubbish, and getting caught up in things and not being able to fly.

The third technique we learned was random weaving: like I do with wire, we made a "body" shape out of fishing line. Unlike wire, the fishing line was slippery and frustrating and wouldn't hold the loops! But we got there.

We then used the weaving technique from the first day to make our beak and head. It made my hands cramp, having to hold it so tightly! Here is the beak:

And here is the head. It turned out to be a bit seagull-like, so that's what I called it.

Mum went with a Magpie Goose- look at the shape of the head!

I had started making some flat versions of the jellyfish from the first day, trying to copy earrings that Aly de Groot had made. It was even harder when it was flat! Very slippery.

I continued these with some fluoro green fishing line and made some wings. I also made a third one for the tail.

My finished Mardi Gras Seagull!

Another lovely sunset on the third day.

The inside of the woven tree-house, all lit up.

The people who did the giant puppet-making workshop did a great job!

I can see more jellyfish on the horizon...

Eco Dyeing at Home

After a successful eco dyeing workshop, my mum and I decided to try it at home.

We both trawled the op-shops and came up with a selection of clothes in cotton and silk, and in white, cream and grey. One was even pink, very pale pink. Lighter coloured fabrics have the best results.

We used the same method as the workshop I attended here.

Something to note is that not all leaves and plants will dye or print. In general for this method, things with stronger scents are better, and firm leaves (like gum leaves). A lot of Australian native plants fall into this category.

First try

We did use some rubber bands and rope instead of string.

Pot boiling gum leaves.

Scattering tea leaves and wrapping gum leaves in. 

Whole thing wrapped around an old chair spring.

Simmering away on the stove. The dye bath is a nice brown colour.

You can see the different colours coming through, about halfway into the boiling process (takes 45 minutes).

One pot was darker than the other.

Rinsing in a cool bath after 45 minutes.

And the unwrapping! The silk just takes up the colours in an amazing way. Look at all the copper brown that came from the tea leaves!

This is the same silk top when it had been washed and dried.

Mum's pale pink top was the best of the bunch by far!

This was my best one. I wrapped it around a horse shoe and the shape came through perfectly!
It was a light cotton top in white, now it's grey, black and brown. You can see a bit on the left as well where the stitching of the pattern took up a darker colour. This often happens with different materials on the same garment.

All in all a good day's dyeing. But we still had clothes leftover that hadn't fit into the two pots. So we did another day!

Second try

We put our mordant pot aside and covered it, leaving all of the extra printing leaves in it to soak as well as a rusty chair springs.

Repeated the wrapping and tea-scattering process.

Our rusty things were a lot stronger this time, after being soaked in the mordant for 2 more days.
The dye pots were black as a result.

And what results we got from it. Those leaves that soaked for an extra two days? Amazing prints!!!

Another lightning storm, on a cotton shirt that is going to a good home 😃

Things to try next for different colours and patterns:

• red onion skins can give a pink colour
• cycad leaves for their fabulous shape
• not wrapping around rusty things so that more of the brown colour comes through
• apparently a dye pot of basil can give a purple colour!