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Remember these from my last post? 

I also had some ice-dyed silk noil that I could use as  the cover.

However I decided not to make a conventional book but to make a scroll book.  I tore up all of the above pieces into smaller strips.  I took a piece of dyed cotton that I was never going to use for the backing.  I forgot to take a photo so this was taken after I had started stitching.

I put Bondaweb on the backing fabric, laid the strips of silk noil on top and ironed them to bond them all together.

I have started randomly stitching on this piece, particularly where the bonding didn't work too well.

 Here's a close up of the extended fly stitch.  There's also running stitch.  I'm using variegated thread from Paintbox Threads.

Thanks for stopping by
Bernice

Folded book

Another finished book! I'm really on a roll here.

This is another of the silk noil books.  The silk noil had been dyed using an ice dye which at the time felt unsuccessful, but actually the marks that were made looked like rust and decay and really fit my canal theme.  I added some of the words of my canal poem through a thermofax screen.

I printed out some contact sheets of my photos onto silk and organza.  The photo shows the fabric on the left and the backing paper on the right.  The backing paper might turn up in collages at some point.

I also printed out a sheet onto Bondaweb.

I bonded some of the printed fabrics onto the pages.

I also tore up the printed Bondaweb and bonded it to the page.

I bonded two 'pages' back to back and folded them. This book is now 11.5x12 cms.

You may have noticed that I have not put any stitches on the pages.  I felt the pictures I had put on were so straight edged that stitches would look odd.

I put two of the pages together to make signatures.  I had made 7 pages so I left out the one I liked least.  I stitched the signatures.

Then I wove through the stitches to bind the 3 signatures together.  This is not one of my best weavings as the original thread through the signatures was not sufficient to cope with the weaving.

I may at some point cut the weaving off and redo the whole binding but for now it will do.  I have several other books to finish first.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Choices! Choices!

Having completed the first silk noil book I'm on to the next one or three!

I love to make books in fabric or paper but as I am demonstrating fabric books at the Festival of Quilts in August I am concentrating on fabric ones for a while.  I'm also trying to use up various bits of my stash rather than buying or making new fabrics.

While I was looking for bits and pieces for the now finished book, I found lots of cream and white bits.  I also had a piece of undyed silk noil left which I bonded to a piece of calico.  I cut it  up to make a concertina book.

 

 Here are some of the bits I found.

And also some neutrals.  I was just going to use cream on cream but I think I shall put some of the neutrals on as well for contrast.

One of my problems is that I start books - for example tearing up the fabric - but don't write down what my plans are.  Consequently I often have fabrics ready to work on but without the thinking to go with it.

This fabric was dyed in 2019.  I was ice dyeing and the silk noil didn't turn out the way I had hoped.  It's only taken nearly 4 years to get round to using it!  The book will be canal themed but I'm still contemplating how to 'decorate' the pages.

Thirdly I have this silk noil which I dyed with robin's egg blue and coral sand.  The initial dyeing was a disaster (darling) and the photos back in 2020 don't really show the colours very well.

Recently I used thermofax screens to add the grey in the hopes of knocking back the coral sand.  I tore the fabric into 6 inch squares as a change from all the rectangles I've been working with.  I wish now I had made them 5 inches but there you are. 

I have enough squares to make two books or maybe a hanging and a book.  Who knows?  I can't remember what I was thinking when I tore the fabric into squares.

And now the choice has to be made!  Which of the three books shall I continue with first?

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Indigo & Ice

I spent another lovely day at Littleheath Barn Studio on an Ice-dyeing and Indigo dyeing workshop.

We started with the ice-dyeing.  This is lovely and simple.  The only equipment you need is some plant pots, a cat litter tray and a cooling rack.  Then fabric, some ice, a teaspoon-ish of soda ash, and your choice of procion dyes still in powder form.  The fabrics are under the ice. I used charcoal, rust brown and bottle green.

Whilst the ice was melting and taking the dye through to the fabrics we started preparing fabrics for the indigo bath.  This was the only undyed fabric I used, which I pegged in the way that Laura Kemshall had demonstrated on DesignmattersTV.

 The fabric with all the pegs turned out like this.

This piece of cloth had already been been printed using the breakdown printing method in pinks and purples.  This was the fabric scrunched up around the rope.

And the reverse.

I used a selection of fabrics that had been dyed previously as a colour family.  They weren't colours I felt I would use so over-dyed all of them in the indigo which has made them a more cohesive set.

 

 

Here are some more of the fabrics

 This is the one which had the Duplo bricks.

The results of the ice dyeing wasn't as successful as when I've done it before.  These cotton fabrics were scrunched  up in the pots and are ok.

For a change I thought I would use silk noile and folded it in the ways I used later for the indigo vat.  However the colour only took on the edges.  I have four squares like this.

And one large piece that shows the colour better and was scrunched up in the pot.

I was disappointed at the time, but now the silk is washed out and ironed, I rather like it and think I might use it as it is.  Ideas are fermenting as to how I might use it.   Watch this space!

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

Ice Ice Baby!

On Monday I went to a workshop at Littleheath Barn with Liske and Claire.

In the morning we set up our ice dyeing and in the afternoon we did a colour run.  I am going to take each activity that I did and show it through to the finished fabric which took 24 hours rather than show the set up altogether and then the all the finished fabric.

I did three different lots of ice dyeing.

In the lower pot I put two lots of twisted cloth.

As I hadn't soda-washed the fabric I sprinkled some soda on and put a lyaer of ice.  I sprinkled turquoise, charcoal and rust procion dyes over the top and left them to 'cure'.

One of the fabrics I had carefully ironed into the concertina pleast before twisting and the other one I just folded and twisted.

In the second pot I fold two pieces of fabric - one into triangles which was held together with elastic bands and one folded into squares.

I did the same sequences as before - soda, ice, dyes - using indigo, charcoal and lime.  As there was a lot of room left in the pot I scrunched up another piece of fabric and put charcoal, rust and dark brown dye powder.

The crumpled fabric.

Folded into triangles.

Folded into squares.

The last ice dyeing was done in a tray with three different fabrics crumpled up.  I used the turquoise, rust and charcoal again.

Here the ice has started to melt.

And this is what I ended up with.

The afternoon's colour run featured the turquoise and the rust.  Each colour was made up with water and then the fabrics were dyed in plastic bags.

The dye was added neat at each end and the ones in the middle had different amounts of each colour.

20 hours later I took them out of the bags to rinse.  They should have been in a bit longer but I was going away to another workshop - more about that next week.

And here's the finished dye run.  When I had finished making up the bags with one piece of fabric in each I put a second piece of fabric and as there was so much dye left the second piece is a lighter colour.

There was some dye left over from this exercise so I tried some 'furrow' dyeing.  The fabric was folded and put into the pot and dye dripped onto the fabric.

So now I have a range of dyed fabrics that go together.  I have no idea what I shall make with them but it was fun doing it.

Thanks for stopping by
Bernice