now and then

the style council

they were fab and they still make sense.
have a great easter weekend!!


neki desu

exhausting the dye pot

never before such a successful dye extraction! rich and deep color with a big yield  of dyeing pigment.

there was still  a lot of dye that could not be  thrown away so i started looking for things to dye to use the remaining color.  the above is a piece of cotton from a recouped dress. it has some  leaves which were previously wrapped and dyed and a resulting ghost shibori. the outcome was mildly interesting, but needed color in a bad way to balance the dirty dish water browns. it doesn't look bad now. there will be some stitching also and i want to do something to highlight the snap on the top left .

there are still  more pieces in the pot . some felts from friend fabienne, yes the same one who yet has to set up her blog :) 

if you're at facebook check some  photos of her awesome work. she has influenced me with her dyeing.


neki desu

glow

have been working on this baby all winter long, layering paper and paints. it is centered around a piece of machine knit linen which served as a gauge sample. i also did some machine stitching which became too prominent and had to add layers to soften it.the hand stitching is a heavy silk floss that was dyed, woven,  dyed  again  and un woven giving me a variegated yarn. lots of gold and brass glow was added  highlighting some of the creases and the knit. 

the trick was how  to photograph all that glow. i have been experimenting  adding  gradients and like the results that i get. you add a gradient layer and select the merge mode which really depends on your image and the effect you want. usually soft light and linear dodge work well, but you could use difference or pin light adjusting the opacity to taste.

experiment until you get what you want or like. 

from all the gradient resources on line i have found these that work well with photos. the person has downloadable packs that include nature's beauty pack and tuscany skies, the one i find useful for showing all the glow. have fun!

neki desu