Deborah Makarios – Page 112

September 29, 2017October 19, 2017

Dye, Dye, Dye!

Three packets of dye, that is.

Some of you may remember the hemming escapade I went on nearly a year ago. Amazingly, it’s taken me this long to realize that the colours of the dress didn’t really suit me. I looked ok, but just ok. I decided… to dye.

After quite some time (a whole evening, if I recall correctly), doing research on what was available where, what people thought of it, and what colour it came out, I ordered a four-pack of Dylon Burlesque Red. Which isn’t red, in case you were wondering. In fact, I’m pretty sure it is also known as Plum, which makes a lot more sense.

After a bit of hassle (ordered 4x50g, got 1x50g, returned the one, reordered the four, followed by a supply issue, followed by some clever person realizing that four ones is the same as one four), I received the dye and set to work.

Each packet dyes up to 250g of fabric (dry weight) to the full colour, or more to a paler shade. I didn’t want a paler shade, so for my 700g of fabric I used three packets. I wasn’t sure about whether the required 250g of salt or the 6L dye bath also needed to be tripled, and I couldn’t find any definite advice online, so I didn’t triple the salt, and I only tripled the 500mL for dissolving each packet of dye.

I quite like the colour it came out – a sort of ripe plum. Or at least, what I would call ripe, which is what everyone else would likely call not quite ripe yet. It’s not too bluey, and not too pink; and I really hope it doesn’t fade. As you can probably see, the triangles are still darker (“colour mixing rules apply,” as the packet notes).

The kerchief/Super-Bandanna came out a slightly different shade, being made of tea-dyed calico; but the triangle on the kerchief is the same fabric as the triangle on the dress, and thus came out the same colour as that. (Confused?) The lack of complete match doesn’t really bother me as I don’t often wear the Super-Bandanna: it’s too big for convenience, and doesn’t produce the line I was hoping for. Maybe one day I will alter it, but so far I haven’t got round to it.

The one downside in all this is the fact that the thread and zip didn’t take the dye. The thread is likely polyester (unlike the dress, which is linen/rayon blend) and the zip is metal. So the seams clearly stand out, outlining the neck, triangles etc.

zip

But overall, I’m happy with it. Plenty of dye came out during the rinsing process, and I’m just hoping that what’s left stays fast, because I like the deep tones and I don’t want to lose them!

September 25, 2017

Making Changes

Have you ever altered or customized your clothing? What did you do, and did you like the results?

September 23, 2017

Remembering the Crazy

It’s been 20 months since I finished the Giant Quilt of Craziness, and the memory is perhaps beginning to fade a little. I thought about it a lot this last week, though, as resuming work on the Rose Quilt (moderately giant & definitely crazy, albeit not a crazy quilt) convinced me that now was the time to make the Hussif of Perpetual Remembrance, crafted from the leftover materials of the GQC.

cover

This hussif is not only going to save me a world of trouble (in carting about a needlecase, scissors, thimble, pin container and reels of thread), it is also going to remind me of a Very Important Lesson.

Small is Beautiful.

Small is elegant, well-designed, pleasingly executed. Small is, in fact, Sanity.

Even the process of making the hussif has been a revelation. The careful planning and exquisite care of a small thing well done is infinitely more satisfying than the ambitious blaze of a Big Thing Begun followed by years of procrastination, dutiful slogging and regret.

Not that small things are guaranteed to go well, of course, and something going less than well in an enormous ‘just get it done’ project is probably less distressing than something going badly in a project which was, until then, Just Dandy. (Do not click for larger images unless you want to see some terrible stitchery.)

Mad ambitions aside, it appears I still have some lessons to learn.
Stretch + Non-Stretch = Frustration, for example. Physics is (are?) non-negotiable. Except you can finagle a little when you’re dealing with fabric – but only a little. Except for stretch fabric, which finagles itself whether you want it to or not. Ditto slippery fabrics such as satin.

Other lessons include: always check carefully that the line of stitches you are snipping and unpicking is the line of tacking, and not the line of intended permanence; and always assume that everything will take longer than you expect. (Try to enjoy this.) The lesson about proper needle-thimble interactions I will spare you; and don’t worry, it doesn’t look like I’m going to lose the nail.

I am considering this as a working toile: something which you do for practice and to see how it works, but which can also (hopefully!) be used as a thing in itself. Which takes the pressure off a bit: every time the reality fails to connect with the beautiful dream in my head, I remind myself that I can make another. (Without stretchy or slippery fabrics.)

Who knows? Perhaps when all this is finally done and dusted, I will make another one out of the leftovers from the Rose Quilt. That sounds a bit more cheery than this one of black and grey and purple: the colours of Victorian half-mourning. Rather than refer to it as the half-mourning hussif, or the Hussif of Perpetual Remembrance, I am using the less mellifluous but cheerier title of the Butterfly Hussif.

As you may have guessed by now, I did not make much progress (translation, any progress) on the main projects this week. But I did make (and finish!) a useful tool which I trust will make me more efficient in future.

Consider this a sort-of-progress report; your Gargoyle Chips for the week. Rose Quilt 0, Curtains 0, Hussif 1.