Indigo Dyeing

The fruits of our labor! this is my small attempt at indigo dyeing - our Dye study group met and we dyed everything we could get our hands on - one member dyed a skirt and top, another dyed an old jacket to give it new life and I took a variety of items to experiment with - wool and mohair yarn, silk caps, a portion of a silk oblong, a Chico's embroidered blouse, a very large prefelt, some cotton, a variety of silk, a nuno wrap, and some lace bits - whew! - a wide variety of blues some clamped before being dipped and rinsed in a vinegar bath.

I almost forgot to mention this piece - read about this technique on the internet and so I did the design with glue (regular old white glue) and it became the resist and left quite an interesting design.

Silk Workshop

I'm a member of the Potomac Fiber Arts Guild and last week we had a silk workshop and learned amazing details about silk and how to create silk luminaries from silk hankies; Renate Moskowitz - a very, very talented teacher and member of the group was our instructor; the next two days were spent degumming silk organza, clamping and dyeing it before using these artistic pieces to create wraps and pillows using very luxurious silk oblongs and caps.

The red piece is heavy silk satin and is an example of a travel pillow that is as soft as a cloud when touched - the blue wrap was made as a gift for a friend who was having surgery to act as a "hug" whenever she needs it. The pictures just can't begin to show just how luxurious and sot this is!

Doesn't this large round luminary look like a pumkin? Even more so when it's lit but I couldn't get a good picture of it.

Felting for Frederick Fashion Week

This scarf just makes me think "french" for some reason - so that's what I'm calling it! lovely shades of soft green and aqua in wool and hand-dyed silk.

My friend, Christine, http://www.bagzthat.com/ and I are taking part in some of the event of Frederick Maryland Fashion Week at the Cultural Arts Center, 15 N. Market Street in downtown Frederick. We'll be there on Friday evening at 7 and on Saturday, 9/18, where our models will be sporting our creative "art to wear" during the VIP cocktail hour from 7 - 8:00 p.m. We are very excited to be part of this show which is always sold out!

"Falling Leaves" This leafy wrap background is a gorgeous irridescent brown/copper depending on the way the light hits and it just called out to be an autumn wrap - what is more perfect at this time of year than falling leaves in Fall colors. I love it so much I want to keep it for myself! The "hanging" leaves were done on the Embellisher before being stitched and then wet felted.

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A neck fancy created on the Embellisher before being stitched and then wet felted; soft curls added at the bottom.

Jacobean Wrap: I've very much wanted to create one of these for a long time as I just love the interesting details found in Jacobean embroidery. I'm all about the details and could spend hours. The background is a lovely irridescent deep wine that changes to plum depending on the lighting; ach end has a lovely ruched effect from the wool shrinkage during wet felting. This is mainly wet felted with a few Embellisher touches (what would I do without my Embellisher?).

Felting in Circles

Circles, circles everywhere circles.

I splurged on a gorgeous piece of silk from EmmaOneSock and it looks like a gorgeous garden with a field of flowers sprinkled all over the top with shades of mossy green along the bottom. It got the creative juices flowing and so I felted it on to a mixed green silk/merino blend. I placed a band of the wool/silk roving along the bottom and added small circles of color to mimic the flowers in the silk; I had intended to make a couple of more pieces of felt in this colorway to use for a jacket which would mean I'd have to cut it up but the feedback from more than one person is to leave it the way it is for a wall hanging - we'll have to wait and see what the "muse" decides once I add some stitching around the flowers :-) It was a really fun and interesting piece of felt to make.

A variety of color coordinated silks and enhancements from my stash - more circles of course.

Some tiny circle flowers to match those in the fabric.

Here is the inspiration fabric although the indoor lighting just doesn't do it justice.

Why I Haven't Been Posting

Knitking Bulky 260


. . . . Knitting Machines! I acquired two knitting machines from my dear friend, Jean, who was looking for a good home for them and she knew I'd take good care of them - but I confess I was very intimidated and didn't even know what I had when my husband pulled all these components out of the (many) boxes. For those of you who don't know anything about knitting machines like me a month ago - these are the most sought after and sometimes good ones can be hard to find since Brother stopped making them some time ago. I've always wanted one but never really knew their capabilities until I began reading and searching on-line and now I'm so excited! One of them is a Knitking Bulky 260 with punch cards to enable patterns, the other was still brand new in the unopened, stapled box and is a Compuknit IV which is a completely computerized machine with over 500 patterns built in. Not only did I get the machines but all of the accessories that are available including the ribbers for each and the G carriage (which will knit the garter stitch without assistance) but lots of other goodies as well. I bought gorgeous wool yarn to make a bag on the Bulky and then "full" in the washing machine for my first project but I've been busy getting ready for an event this weekend at the Frederick Center for the Arts that I'm doing with my felting friend, Christine of Bagzthat.com.

Compknit IV (computerized 500+ patterns)

Ribber attachments for each machine.

Paypal Fixed!

If you'd like to purchase Snippets, scroll down - we are still trying to figure out how to get it on to the sidebar but Paypal now works! If you have color preferences, please feel free to write to me hermajestymargo@aol.com and I'll do my best to please you :-)

Sending YOU a Personal Invitation!

YOU

are cordially invited!

Hauser Wine Shop & Gallery

17 Lincoln Square

(in the heart of Gettysburg)

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Andi & I - paintings and fiber art show/sale

Reception: 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.