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

Judging a Book By Its Cover

In my previous blog entry I showed you a rather dull image of a project in progress: a machine stitched jersey appliqué project, where I used tissue paper as a stitching guide. By now it´s all is finished, and made into a cover for a sketchbook, which will be filled with surface designed fabric samples.

The sewing was a bit tedious, but when it was done the real fun began! First I removed the paper.

Then cut away fabric.

When the cutting was done, the fabric looked like this:

And here's the finished book cover

The Christmas Mouse gave its approval.

Thanks for dropping by!

- Annika

Happy and Creative New Year 2014!

It's been all about slow stitching this Christmas, and mostly about Alabama Chanin. I've been working on the fabrics I stencilled earlier, and finished the cuffs fairly quickly.

I then moved on to another hat (in this country you can't have too many hats, cuffs, mitts and socks),

on which I'm also making good progress.

But it's not all about hand stitching. I also wanted to try machine stitching an Alabama Chanin project, and started with a sashiko-inspired pattern ('Seven treasures'). The image below isn't patricularly inspiring, but as you can see, I'm using tissue paper as a stitching guide in this case, instead of stencilling. The beige fabric is the backing fabric, which will be revealed when I cut through the top fabric, which is violet. More images later, when I've made more progress.

Thank you for visiting my blog! I  wish you a very Happy and Creative New Year 2014. May your life be filled with happiness, and your stash bursting with inspiring supplies!

- Annika

'Tis the Season to Be Jolly (And to Stay Warm)

As soon as the autumn term reached its end and I no longer needed to focus on teaching, I had a craving for wool. Within a week I had started three different wool projects: one knitted, one crocheted and one felted. Last night I finished the knitted one, and I call it my Christmas elf hat. It's long, tapering and fun, and from the book Sticka mera småvarmt by Johanna Wallin. The author suggests the hat would be excellent for a garden gnome. I can see her point.

I put it on for the first time today for our Christmas stroll with Fia the Terri(fi)er, and felt like a regular Christmas elf-gnome.

Merry Christmas!

God jul!

Hyvää joulua!

- Annika

'Tis the Season to Stencil, Part 2

My progress so far:

I used freezer paper and a well-used plastic stencil. The designs are 'Anna's Garden' from Alabama Studio Sewing + Design and 'Bloomers' from Alabama Stitch Book, both by Natalie Chanin. The project in the middle is my own design, but it's going to be a surprise for someone, so I can't reveal any details yet.

I felt that silver on black was a bit too much for what I had in mind, so I added black pigment to the silver paint and got a gorgeous hematite. The pink is a bit overwhelming, but part of it is going to be cut away, so I think it'll be ok.

Ready to stitch! The perfect Christmas project: easy, relaxing and meditative.

Thanks for visiting, and more news 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

Mango & Raspberry Sorbet

It's a very dark and gloomy time of the year in this part of the world. The days are short and the trees are bare. "The sun is spent" (John Donne), "The sedge has wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing" (John Keats), and so on... We haven't had any snow yet to brighten things up, so I'm doing my best to brighten up my world with fabric and dye.

I've made some wonderful discoveries about the Emo dye that I often use, which have helped me get results that are similar to those I've had with Procion MX dye earlier. What a thrill it is to open up a fabric bundle and discover the glorious colour you were hoping for! I could hardly contain myself the other day, when I discovered a way of using Emo with ice cubes.

Below are a few images to feast your eyes upon.

If you want fractured patterns, you need to heat up your Emo dye, and not just leave it batching, as you can do with Procion MX dye. Two months ago I didn't know how to achieve this degree of texture with Emo:

 

And if you recall the unsuccessful shibori shrimp from two years back (I thought it was old dye, but it was really cold dye that was causing the problem), you'll be pleased to see that the shrimp is a lot spicier now. This is done with mokume shibori, and I've sewn the stitches in a spiralling shape.

And the pièce de résistance, as far as I'm concerned, is this successful attempt at ice cube dyeing with Emo. Emo isn't overly fond of cold, but by putting the fabric bundle in a hot water bath instead of batching it on top of the fridge as I usually do with Procion MX dye, I got a wonderful result:

I love the combination of golden yellow and dark pink. Perhaps I should try to make it into a dessert: mango-raspberry sorbet? Yum!

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again soon!
- Annika