Knot bag

A couple of weeks ago I posted images of a bag project, where I used spray paint with freezer paper resists. When I last wrote about this project I hadn't decided whether to embroider the resisted shapes or not. Of course I couldn't resist (if you pardon the pun) stitching them, as I found the perfect embroidery thread in my stash. A skein of hand dyed embroidery floss from Oliver Twists Fibres that I got in Birmingham last August. I mean, feast your eyes on this:

(The fabrics in the background are from Liberty, and I am saving them for something special.)

So, here I am stitching away. In fact it was fairly quick, as I did just a running stitch. I love running stitch. Simple, yet effective.

This little bag is perfect for holding my yarn when I knit or crochet:

One handle is shorter, and forms a simple knot when it's slipped over the longer handle:

And If you're curious about the crocheted thing dangling from the bag, it ended up in this project (which is still in progress):

Have a great day, and thanks for dropping by!

- Annika

Personalized Sponge Cloths

Just before Christmas I was inspired to work with stencils, and that inspiration has continued after the holidays, partly because I'm teaching stencil techniques at the moment. Today I want to show you a couple of small projects that perhaps could make your household chores a little more fun: personalized sponge cloths. You can buy sponge cloths without print in craft shops.

You've had a sneak peek of the first one already, but as it was a gift for my mum, I didn't want to reveal it completely and spoil the surprise for her. For this first one I've used freezer paper, which I cut into a sort of 'snowflake'. The artist Melanie Testa was the first person to open my mind about the possibilities with freezer paper 'snowflakes' (See e.g. Quilting Arts Magazine issue 21, spring 2006). Paper 'snowflakes' don't have to look like the snowflakes we all cut when we were kids. So I cut a Westie snowflake for my mum. (Regular readers know that I keep referring to Fia the Terri(fi)er. She has an impressive bark, but she really is a very gentle and sweet dog.)

Here you can see the design process: sketch, folds, cut-out, stencil:

And here is the result. As the sponge cloth was quite porous, the paint went under the edges a little bit and made them slightly fuzzy, so I used a Pentel Gel Roller for Fabric to tidy up the edges. I love that pen!

And then I decorated a sponge cloth for myself too, but for this one I didn't use a stencil, only a fabric marker: a Tsukineko Fabrico Dual Marker. A lovely and juicy pen that comes with a bullet tip and a brush tip. A lot has happened with fabric markers since I tried my first one many years ago.

That should add a bit of pizzazz to my kitchen.

Thanks for visiting and see you again soon!

- Annika

Spray It, Don't Just Say It!

I'm teaching a class on spray painting on Thursday, and that inspired me to set up a spray painting studio in my kitchen today. Yes, you really do need to be generous with newspaper and whatever you use to protect your surroundings. I guarantee that the paint  will end up everywhere.

As for the fabric, this piece is a work in progress. I used a couple of new toys on it: a felt table topper and a stencil and mask I cut with a soldering iron.

In the Fall 2013 issue of Stitch magazine there are instructions for a really cute 'otomi-inspired knot bag', which I've been meaning to make for a while. After having suffered from severe lethargy most of the day, I finally got started on it.

I cut the pattern pieces, ironed freezer paper masks in place, and applied spray paint. Here the paint is drying. Pretty cool, but wait for the big reveal!

The drop cloth is starting to look interesting too!

And here it is, with freezer paper masks removed (sorry, but the light is really bad for photography this time of year):

In close-up:

And I'm definitely not going to throw away the freezer paper masks!

Now I only have to decide whether to embroider it like the one in Stitch magazine, or whether to just assemble it straight away. Whichever I decide, it's going to be a really fun little bag.

Thanks for dropping by, and see you again soon!

- Annika

'Tis the Season to Be Stencilling

I'm back in the saddle again. Lots of creative stuff brewing around the house. Today I'm stencilling. I've been working on a freezer paper stencil for another Alabama Chanin-inspired project all morning. A lot of work, but it's going to be fantabulous when finished. At least if things go according to plan. A few more cuts and I'm ready to apply paint. I'm thinking silver on black.

The pattern is Anna´s Garden from the book Alabama Studio Sewing + Design.

More images soon. I'm pretty excited!

- Annika

Artist's Block

I'm on vacation. I have big plans. I'm burning with eagerness to try everything I ever wanted to try. I should have all the time in the world. So what's happening? - Nothing! I've been suffering from the most awful artist's block. Since my last blog entry a week ago I've managed to finish a sock, cut out the muslin pieces for a wrap-around top (no sewing, though), dye two gradations (one which is still batching), try out a fun technique with paintstiks (which I will come back to when I've found a paintstik which isn't past its 'best before' date), and created a sad little square of surface designed fabric. Yes, I know I sound a bit despondent. I feel a bit despondent. I guess I was more in need of a vacation than I realised, and my body just put the foot down and refused to turn on the creative juices. So I just have to take baby steps. It's frustrating, but not the end of the world.

This is the first gradation I've dyed so far. A warmer colour scheme than the last one, with golden yellow, bright scarlet and medium blue (Jacquard Procion MX dye). Click the tags Gradations, Dyecation, Procion MX and Frieda Anderson for more information about gradations. A lighter gradation (gradation 2, i.e.) is ready to be rinsed out, so I'll show you that one in my next blog post. What I like about working with these gradations is that it makes me mix colours that I know I would never have mixed if I had just been doing it on my own. And to my surprise I've realised that those colours that I thought I considered "ugly" are really very useful and not ugly at all. Bright or muddy, light or dark, they all have and deserve a place in the fabric stash!

First gradation, medium value (they look a bit lighter in this photo)

I mentioned a 'sad little square of surface designed fabric'. Well, to be fair, it's really not that sad, but I was a bit disappointed with it, as it didn't turn out the way I expected. I'll walk you through the process. And if you want more details and inspiration check out Melanie Testa's great article Cut from your imagination. Resist-printing fabric with paper 'snowflakes' in issue 21 of Quilting Arts Magazine.

First I printed a hand dyed piece of fabric with bubble wrap and discharge paste:

Then I applied a Magic paper (freezer paper) 'snowflake' resist:

Here's the result after applying fabric paint (dark green, metallic green and gold):

You can see the problem, right? What I should have realised when I was applying the paint is that I was working with the background. I think I would have got away with it if I'd stopped after the metallic green paint, but I felt like adding a bit of glitz, and that was too much. The gold paint jumps forward and since it's similar in value to the the resisted leaves, it obscures the resisted pattern.

I spent some time mulling over the problem and going through different ways to solve it and save the fabric, and this is what I ended up doing: I grabbed a green Multimark pen and drew in the contours of the resisted motifs.

I'm not wild about it, but it's better, it works, and it taught me a valuable lesson about contrast. Something I'm wild about, however, is the snowflake:

If I don't use it as resist in another piece, I'll glue this one into my sketchbook. I love the metallic sheen on the paper.

Thanks for following my adventures in surface design. There's more to come soon. Flour-resist. That's all I'm saying. ;-)

Have a great week! - Annika