kosode

 

using a woven silk fabric,yarns previously dyed, gave a nice collar  to this cotton kosode .

well, let's say kosode-ish. 

 

anyhow pleased with it as it is going to serve as an ideal summer wrap for these cool  summer evenings.

Y'all start learning html those who  are not familiar w/it. if you are not you're at loss w. the new blogger interface. are they pushing us away to make space for those who monetize their blogs? C'mon google, you can afford to have  free blogs.you're huge and hardly pay taxes anywhere. ಠ ಠ

neki desu

 

all the shades

and then some more. had this curing because it was a shallow immersion. however it turned out very well in terms of color and wash off.the gorgeous silk crepe is now waiting for the carrot tops dye.

the scarf turned out ok. there is not much contrast between the lines and the red has a brick shade.

perhaps i could modify the color, but it is also waiting for the carrot tops dye.or maybe i could over-dye in a weak murasaki bath.decisions.

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more shibori: the line up

this is also from the stingy dyepot.the color is grayer as you can see, but it's going to be folded and dyed  more times therefore i can live with that color.

i had this piece of crepe silk that i bought about 20 years ago in a closeout sale.my friend and i ransacked that store and bought many meters of their different silks all gorgeous. can't find that quality now. this crepe looks like japanese chirimien not the stuff that comes now from china which is probably weighted silk and will fall apart in a couple of years because of the iron salts.

already stitched and folded. this will be dyed with 3 natural dyes and then made into a skirt hopefully. more sewing ahead.













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tub shibori

yes we are dyeing!
have a good weekend and enjoy convergence!








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the magic of smallness

back to the friday vid. just one qualm, hate when they call it tie dye.
have a great weekend

as for me opera tonight!




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of happy accident and good vats

simple itajime, wanted lots of white.

but then this happened. a fortuitous pin created a line of rusted dots.

 pleased with the outcome of this. slow tying but well worth it.

next:

experiments with adapted kitano technique.

this vat is really amazing ; good color,good smell, it even takes a bit of accidental dripping without acting up.





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recycling whatnots

recycling woven samples.adding paint and other whatnots and whatifs. the thread webs are a sort of instant gratification, even more instant than machine knitting.

this other one is slow work and eventually

will hit the vat.this awesome vat stayed weeks without needing sharpening. it is now finally in need, but i'm waiting until the rope is all bound. 

hell in way of high temps were expected today,

but it is not so bad, i think the worst is already past.

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a new meaning

for sweatshop: okezome tub shibori dyeing.
have a great weekend!




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reprise

the scarf is being reprised -some creative language use!- three or four times.

pumping the red that was lost in the aizome vat, using my beloved botan brushes from japan.

they are expensive but do the job of painting backgrounds beautifully as they were  meant for that.

i love all the combined processes each one adding up to the previous. it's slow and fun.

the scarf will have to cure for a while. 

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processing

the scarf was unwound, didn't want to try my luck. and there's going to be bad weather for the rest of the week;that means no vat until it clears.

the cochineal has lost some punch during the aizome so it needs further processing. here  it has been primed with soy milk which will be left to cure for a couple of days at least. then the cochineal parts will be painted over with cochineal ink. stay tuned.

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not only this

but i am also going to have wonderful cotton thread for stitching! even the polyester-shudder, shudder- rag at the bottom has dyed well.

the vat is going so very well that i am tempted to keep dipping this.better not tempt fortune, judicious me says.

i am working on two cotton gauze items to be dyed soon. life is good.

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sakura

look where all that spring  sakura surfaced!

a whisper of a japanese cotton crinkle stole dyed with cochineal, subtle white lines suggesting 

mountain paths. indigo itajime overdyed.

visit here and scroll down to the end  for more information.

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the bleeding cochineal

tempted to open it, but i am adding dips. some of the cochineal has bled; let's see how much is still left on the scarf.don't mind the way it has affected the indigo in some parts. actually, i think it adds to the whole thing.

still bleeding hot although i need to heat the vat  :(

the photo is from the phone not the best quality. good for instagram, but not for a blog.

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nothing that an aquarium warmer can't solve

it's all about temperature. weather's hot, ai vat is being heated with my god sent aquarium heater and  the vat is rolling. very nice cotton yarn after three 1 min dips.

this one even looks better. thrilled with the blue
after 3 dips. more to come today.

 and also this one is being processed.

feels good to be so productive albeit the heat.

life is good.

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all that pink

i saw this spring had to come out one way or another.
cochineal on cotton gauze. first step for shibori scarf. more later.









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good to have adequate tools

the weather is overcast and muggy, awful  for being outside brushing dye to a pre mordanted scarf.

i know i am going to regret my wishes for sunshine, but at least it is dryer. i have been working inside after creating some space out of  my ever chaotic studio full of lots of everything .

anyhow  paraphrasing my beloved sennet and the craftsman it is good to have the required  tools  to complete a task.

note the harite on the foreground stretching taut the scarf. underneath some shinshi completing the task. 

i was mildly upset because all the tool nomenclature at tanaka nao has been changed and i was left in the dark.that said no one fabricates craft  tools like the japanese. they have elevated tool making to a craft itself.

the brushes;  works of art in themselves. the fat one is a small ground dyeing brush. if you regulate the amount of dye / paint you can get nice gradations. the other brush is for painting edges sharp. i think painting  fabric is my excuse for using these and getting extra pleasure from the job.

the scarf will be cured for a couple of days, then folded shibori like and dyed in ai perhaps? stay tuned.

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goodies and baddies

the frugal dyer again. had some leftover madder liquor that i couldn't bring myself to throw it away.

also had this light blah, i mean, blue silk scarf  and thought it wouldn't hurt to give it some character.

delving deep into geekery i took my phone and  my beloved origami shibori book and got a page translated. not on one shot, mind you, but in parts.

before my trip  husband-san coached me into   taking a photo and then using google translate. the app would scan , convert the image to text and proceed with the translation. if it worked with road signs why not book pages? et voila! it comes out in more of an obscure dialect, not real english, but a lot better than nothing. especially if you know the subject so that you can cut and paste in your head.

during my visit to tanaka nao i found the plastic rings used  with rubber bands for tying cloth. i am aware that other options could do , but i was there and so were the rings. in short they came home with me.

the scarf still needs more character, however the weather is not conductive to aizome. not complaining, saving weeks of hot inferno because it's nice and cool.

and now the baddies. 

yesterday i woke up to the blog's dashboard  reading list spammed with hd movie download offers. many. was going crazy because on the list are blogs that i follow and for sure i'm not following this jerk.contacted blogger, but it's easier getting a response from the pope. today the light bulb went on; i  right clicked on the page went to inspect element,that nice chrome feature and there they were an assortment of scripts. lovely! anyone can add a script to your page.

don't have to elaborate on what i did. perhaps the recent comments glitch was due to that. who knows. 

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quietly stitching

first of all thanks to all who have stopped by the exhibit and those who have left comments.

in my quest to reduce the number of ufos i have been quietly stitching and assembling the different surfaces i have around the studio.
these ones for example: shibori on silk, walnut dyed  plus machine stitch net on solvy embellished with puff paint during my puff paint period. 

i found out that by layering paints, especially metallics,

it took away that plasticky crafty look and gave it a molten metal quality. some very interesting surfaces can be created so it's worth more experimenting .

i like way the shibori resist lines complement the net.
the black  running stitches frame the net and bring the whole piece together, don't you think?

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this is the way it ends

  

 not with a bag. look at all those little lines. i think i should have stitched less. i'm not 100% pleased, but, given that it was an upcycle project it came out o.k. and i rendered the shawl usable(??)think the soda ash reacted w. the glue and the gold foil turned weird . it will eventually fall off.

full view. and i thought i was skimpy stitching! the negative lines could have been thicker, but i like the way they integrate the stamping and give unity to a somewhat scattered silk shawl.and the ai came out nice and dark, lighter at the back but, i just can't stop fiddling with some new downloaded actions.

now, that's entertainment :)


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