little miss know-it-all

 old jeans dipped in indigo to see what it can do to them

yesterday after a very pleasant catch up with ruth and her new baby i headed to the fabric stores downtown in search of jean fabric. nothing fancy, just plain jean fabric.
store nº1
me: i'd like to see jean fabric
saleslady: here
me: but this is not the regular jean fabric.
sl: yes it is. been like this forever.
me: no it isn't this is plain weave, one over one under and jean fabric is twill, 1 over 2 under.
sl: well i don't know about that.
me: well i happen to know about that.thank you and have a nice day.
store nº2
me: looking for jean fabric
salesman: here you have it
me: do you have anything without elastan?
sm: no we don't, but it has always contained some elastan
me: ok can you picture a rugged cowboy perched on a horse wearing jeans of such a girlie fabric? i of course was thinking in rudder terms.
luckily  the salesman had some sense of humor and he chuckled.

thank goodness for the internet. located a  spanish online store that has regular jean fabric in 3 different shades of blue and 3 different weights.
no wonder why fabric stores here are closing down!


neki desu

quality and a creative solution

   

amazed with the quality of this indigo.after so many years trying and going nowhere i've finally joined the results league. the image on the left is the 4th dip the one on the right the 6th. it has changed from a dark royal blue to a deep dark blue   ^_^  ♫♪
i had to find a creative , yet another one, solution for the dyeing hoops  that keep silk skeins from tangling. was not ready especially after spain's rescue to pay a ridiculous amount for the professional stainless steel  hoops .people at the hardware store hate me i'm telling you. i never use things for what they are intended and they don't like that. guess it challenges them in more than one way.

 here you have it: a bike lock with a clamp. it's flexible yet strong, covered in plastic and inexpensive. all i needed.

the silk skein is on its second dip.

neki desu

me too! me too!

the katazome fever is running high. after bryan-san's post i've read from others trying their hand at katazome, or stencil cutting. i wanted to print a motif, not sure if this ume or a sakura, as the last step on this scarf.the original idea was to burn a master with my beloved print gocco and print on. but on second thought i decided to jump in and be in good company (hi jean!) i'm not going to be as authentic, though. i'm crossing over techniques and coming up with my own solution.

scarf is being dyed one last time. cutting both stencils, refining and testing . today i have the yearly check up and testing is going to have to wait until the afternoon.then stamp along!

neki desu