Velvet for Dress

Our youngest son is getting married September 6. and for this I need a dress. I'm not at all a pastel kind of person and when I'm also a bit long from the waist and up, it's difficult to find something in the shops. And I want something special for the party. So I decided I would dye and sew it myself. The fabric is a rayon/silk velvet bought from Fabricdesigns.com (Marjorie McWilliams), a wonderful velvet that takes the dye perfect. I discovered the color and the pattern in her Shibori class.

This is the final result. A deep rust color with pattern in deep blue purple. The technique is called arashi shibori - you wrap and scrunch the fabric around a pole to get the pattern. It didn't go just as I wanted, but the result is fine. I'm only sorry you can't see the wonderful golden shine in the velvet when the light hit it!

Here is the velvet curing in a dye bath to get the rusty color. I had to use a tub to get all the fabric in. It's 5 yard of velvet.

The pole I have is about one yard and I didn't think it was long enough to get all the fabric on, so I scrunched it on my table. I also spun it to get out the water, I think that was a mistake. I applyed the dye for the pattern carefully, but the result got more blotchy than I liked.

Here the dye is applyed and I already saw that this wasn't going to be striped!

When the first attemped had cured and the fabric was rinsed, I gave the pole a try. And it was long enough. The velvet it scrunched very tight on the pole and new dye is applyed.

Here is a close up of the velvet. Since there was enough bloches on the velvet, I was a little bit too careful when I applyed the dye. I might have redone it once more, but I don't want to "kill" the rust color, so I'' say I'm pleased with it as it is. Now on to the sewing!

My new Studio

My studio is finally finished and I want to take you on "tour". It's not anything fancy, but it have a lot more space than my old studio.

Endelig er det nye arbeidsrommet mitt ferdig og jeg tenkte jeg skulle ta dere med på en "rundtur". Det er ikke noe spesielt, men det er mye mer plass her enn i det gamle arbeidsrommet.

This is what you see when you enter the studio. It lies in the basement and I have an entrance both from upstairs and from outside.

Dette er hva du ser når du kommer inn i rommet. Det ligger i kjelleren og har inngang både fra første etasje og fra utsiden.

Here is my Zone where I can read and relax. An old armchair got a new, loose cover.

Her er min Zone hvor jeg kan lese og slappe av. En gammel lenestol har fått nytt, løst trekk.

Here is my sewing table. The desk has follow me for many years and I didn't want to get rid of it. The only new is I have recessed (?) my sewing machine in the desk. It makes the quilting so much easier when the level is even.

The jacket on the wall is one I made to my youngest son 24 years ago. I got a week free to go to a batik class. I loved this jacket and I think it was the one piece of clothing that he wore the most. I also see that it is the first thing I quilted! There is some closeups of the jacket at the botttom here.

Her er sybordet mitt. Skrivebordet har fulgt meg i mange år og jeg hadde ikke lyst til å kvitte meg med det. Det eneste nye er at jeg har felt symaskinen ned i bordet. Det gjør at quiltingen går mye lettere når flaten er jevn.

Jakka på veggen er en jeg laget til den yngste sønnen vår for 24 år siden. i fikk en uke fri for å gå på et batikk kurs. Jeg elsket den jakka og det var det plagget jeg brukte mest på ham. Jeg ser også at det er den første tingen jeg quiltet! Det er noen nærbilder av den på slutten av dette innlegget.

This is my new design wall. Twice as big as the old one!

Dette er den nye designveggen min. Dobbelt så stor som den gamle!

This is my cutting board which I can move around if I need to. On the to is a ironing board. I have made this small one and one there is as large as the table. Both are made from Sharon Schamber's video. You find it here: http://sharonschambernetwork.com/free_area/free.html I like that they are quite hard and you can move them to where you need them.

Dette er klippebordet mitt som jeg kan flytte rund om jeg trenger det. Oppå ligger det en strykeplate. Jeg har laget denne lille og en som er like stor som bordet. Begge er laget fra Sharon Schamber's video. Du finner den på linken over. Jeg liker dem fordi de er ganske harde og kan flyttes til hvor du trenger dem.

This is from the room where I dye my fabric. Someone in a QU class came up with the idea of a whiteboard over the dyeing table. It's very useful because it is not easy to write with a pencil on paper with large gloves full of dye!

Dette er fra rommet hvor jeg farger stoffene mine. En dame i en QU klasse kom med ideen om å henge en Whiteboard tavle over fargebordet. Veldig nyttig, fordi det ikke er lett å skrive med blyant på papir med store hanske fulle av farge!

This is my storage room. It's so nice to have a place for everything. And all my fabrics are folded. We will see how long it lasts!

Dette er lagerrommet mitt. Det er så deilig å ha plass til alt. Alle stoffene mine er brettet. Vi får se hvor lenge det varer!

The other side of the storage room with my books, binders from QU, paints and other stuff.

Dette er den andre siden av lagerrommet med bøkene mine, permer fra QU, maling og masse annet.

Kjetil's jacket. Batiked and quilted in 1984!

Kjetil's jakke. Batikk og quiltet i 1984!

The back of Kjetil's jacket.

Baksiden av Kjetil's jakke.