Pinafore Jumper - Dyed again

A year ago I made this Pinafore Jumper and dyed it with Teal.

I think I have worn it once because despite it having a good lining I just felt it was too light colored.

So this week, I decided to dye it again.  This time I chose a navy color in Tintex which I could dye in hot water but not having to put it on the stove.  I don't have a metal pan large enough.

I am very happy with the result.

There are places it is stitch with polyester thread which is white so that makes in interesting.

I would have been good to have it during the heat wave but that is how it goes.

I boiled 2 cups of water and dissolved the packet of dye in that.

I then put the hottest water I could get from the tap and put it in a 5 gallon pail.   I wet the jumper in clear water and wrung it out so it was not dripping.

I placed the jumper in the pail and added a kettle full of boiling water.

I stirred with a stick for 30 minutes.  I did add my painting shirt in then for a while.  I rinsed the jumper until the water ran clear.  Repeated the process for the Tshirt. Once both garments were wrung out as much as I could I put them in the dryer.

Excellent!

Art Show - AAC - Redux Show 2024 - Slow Stitch Scroll

The Form Redux Show at the Spruce Grove Gallery opens today.  I have submitted 2 pieces to this show.  I started my pieces after discussions with a couple of people at the December reception for the Christmas Store. At the time it was being referred to as the 3D show.  When the official call came out in mid March it had morphed a little and offered a wider range of options. 

It is meant to reuse materials from one state into a new one.  

The fabric used for the scroll is a white tie dyed cotton sheet which I dyed again with green acrylic ink. All the elements are created with bits of leftover scraps of fabric, felt, thrifted embroidery thread and lace, even the flower on the tie is recycled from old earrings. The beads come from my stash.  The spool was originally purchased with decorative ribbon and saved for 10 years until its time came to shine. 

Title: Summer

Size: 4.00 T x 58.00 W inches

Medium: Slow Stitch Fabric Scroll with embellishments

Support: Wooden Spool

It is a slow stitch fabric scroll titled "Summer".  I chose to stitch the new green leaves of May in early summer to the rain and tulips blooming moving along to the insects coming to life represented by the ladybug, the robin represents the birds and their song then we move to the ponds being full of life represented by the dragonfly in the cattails, then we move to the flowers which start to bloom in the beautiful days of middle summer, there are mushrooms and snails and butterflies, the chickadee has been here and will stay all year as summer winds down and finally we have the beautiful sunflowers of late September. 

The elements are all original designs I made up as I went along.  The stitching alone took all of January 2024 then I had to back the piece, prepared the wood spool with several coats of Tung Oil. I braided the string used for the tie and the hanger on the spool.  I chose a large shell button for the closure and a silver flower for the end of the tie.  There is a clear bead at the bottom of the spool which keeps the hanger in place. 

It is on display at the gallery and is for sale.  The reception is Saturday April 27th at 1-3pm.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I've been following the eruption in Iceland for a while.  

Homes were lost. Some were new and the one the the family had not moved in.  Two years of hard work up in smoke.

I am so glad the barriers did a great job of keeping the northern eruption from invading into the town of Grindavik.  The quakes are creating cracks everywhere so it is very unsafe for people to return.  

It's been cold for only a few days with a few still to come but it feels like a long time.

Some mornings have been -39C.

The crane has been erected for the construction of a high rise building.  It took place between Christmas and New Years. 

The excavation of the basement was done in the fall with the ground pounding.

The sun is shining so I am grateful for that.

I am working on a slow stitching project and I dyed some flowers this week.

Pink, red, blue, turquoise, yellow and orange.  I was not sure how much color they would absorb but it worked out really great.

I really like these small bouncy balls.  I have acquired several because I am so attracted to them.

I have started using them with my walking exercise in the morning and when I am waiting for my tea warm up in the microwave.

I can do 100 bounces alternating hands in a minute.  I have added raising my knees and hands to more cardio through out the day.

I found a few softer apples in the crisper of the fridge this week when I bought a new bag of apples.

I decided to bake them.  Looking for a recipe I found this Cinnamon Baked Apples.  

The 2 ingredients that elevate this dessert is grated ginger and lemon juice.

Very easy to prepare, makes use of maple syrup instead of sugar, and tastes delicious.

Sewing Project - Pinafore Jumper

I had a desire to make a summer jumper.  This is very unusual for me but I said to myself - okay.

The pattern was based on Cross Back Apron I made a few years ago.  

It hangs on your body from the shoulders and is easy to sew and easy to wear.  It just slips over your head and it adjusts to size very nicely.

I still had this apron so I chose that as the basis of my new project.

I had some purple fabric that I was going to use for the outer layer.

After some thought and discussion I decided to use microfiber for the lining.  It would be slippery, dark and make the garment not see through.

It was a deep purple color so fortunately it would be okay with the fabric I had chosen.

I decided to make the lining  my pattern since I had lots of that fabric and could cut another if I needed to.

Since the apron did not meet in the back I knew I would have to add some including a seam allowance for the back seam.

Top Left - I added a wedge in the front by leaving the top on the fold and added a good amount in the front and some to the length too.

Back - I added several inches - this would fall about mid back for me.

Back - I then kept the angle down to the bottom hem area and added length.

Front Bib - Added just a bit for a seam allowance.

I sewed the back seam and then "tried it on" to see if it was going to be big enough and not too tight.  It seemed pretty good.  I did cut a piece of brown paper as a pattern.

I had to change my mind about the outer fabric because the width of the first fabric was not wide enough.  I chose a tie dyed white cotton from a duvet cover I bought for the fabric.  That was plenty wide enough to cut the piece.  I tried to keep the colors to the purple and turquoises in this fabric.  You can see some pink/coral on the straps and some at the very back.  It would be okay with the purple lining fabric, too.

I then sewed the back seam.  I then placed the 2 layers right sides together and sewed the top seam around the bib and across the back and back up the side of the bib.  I then turned the garment right side out and ironed it and top stitched. 

The straps were cut 3 inches wide, sewn and then ironed with the seam down the middle of the back side of the strap.  I top stitched both side of those.  I then sewed one end of each strap to the corners of the bib. 

Then I started figuring out where the straps should cross and where the other ends of the straps should be sewn to the back to hang properly.  Once pinned I sewed those in place with a square with back stitching.  I then folded it in half front wise and evened out the bottom edge and then folded it the other way and did a bit more adjustment. The bottom hem is .5 fold over then 1" hem sewn by machine.

It turned out nice but I felt it was a bit on the light color for me so I had a discussion with my sister about dying it.  I had purchased Rit Dye in Teal which is a hot water process.  I did not have what I needed to do hot water so I took the Dylon fabric dye she had in Sea Green.

With the cold water process the dye gets dissolved in hot tap water and the same with the salt. These are then added to the water in the plastic pail which is enough to cover the garment. 

The garment is wet before putting it into the dye bath and then it has to be stirred constantly for 30 minutes and then regularly for the next hour. I did it every 15 minutes.  Then the garment is rinsed until the water runs clear.  I did this in the white bathtub and that took 5 times.  I did dye some of my white flannel for unPaperTowels with the left over dye.  Once that was rinsed as well I just ran a small  regular load of laundry.

Here's the final pics.  It did even out the background so that is a good thing.  I was expecting to get more color than I got with this process.  I expect that a cold process may produce lighter results, maybe the color was supposed to this light but the water still had color in it.

Pockets - I am glad to have added the narrow strip on the slant of the pockets.  I did have to move them up about 3 inches and I forced myself to do right away otherwise it would have been frustrating to use them.

It was a great project.

It will go faster the next time as this was a learning process for making the pattern and the dyeing process.