Bundle Dyed Silk

Steamed the bundle made at the Textile Arts Center's sewing seeds garden in Brooklyn. Used chamomile, hollyhock, mint and marigolds.

Natural Dye Mural

I created this cotton clothmural with toddlers and pre-k children using natural dyes from flowers and vegetable discards, including redcabbage, marigolds, leaves, pansies, beet greens, red spinach and ramps. Children pressed the colors from the plants using their wooden play doughhammers and rolling pins. The mural is collaboration with the Angelfish classwho also extracted dye by pounding leaves and flowers. I used alum to mordant the fabric. 

Finishing the Hat

I used purl soho super soft merino wool to make these cozy, warm yet lightweight hats. Found the grey hat pattern on the purl bee and made up a pattern for the white cap.

Dye date with Naomi Hudson-Knapp

Dream play date with a nursery school studio teacher. We used onion skins, hibiscus, turmeric, beet, red cabbage, mint, rust and more to create play dough and play scarves and clothes for little ones at riverside and Williamsburg Northside schools.

Atlantic ocean water mordant

Tried Atlantic ocean water, flowers, purple and yellow onion skins and blackberries for this bundle dyed shibori silk scarf. 

Knitted Balaclava

Extremely warm helmet/hood made with a combo of malibriga, baby alpaca, a thread of alpaca and wool blend and a thin thread of grey wool.
Protection from the elements!

Recent Work

Here is recent work I would like to share. I participated in a Creatively Green Family Festival presented through Young Audiences of New Jersey through a generous grant from NRG. What a nite, 300 folks in Hamilton, New Jersey created green crafts. My contribution was silk hankies dyed with natural materials: turmeric, hollyhock, red cabbage, hibiscus tea and yellow onion skins. Children and their families tie dyed the silk scarves with gorgeous results.

While planning the workshop I experimented with adding the natural dye to play dough. I used beet, paprika, turmeric and other dyes to make a palette of pastel play doughs-

Bengala dyed scarf. Learned about this Japanese natural dye technique at Loop of the Loom.

Pillow using sashiko embroidery, back of pillow is dyed using natural dyes of onion skin and yellow flowers. Joyce VOLLMER sewed it together making groovy seams!

Bundle dyed silk. Steamed the scarf using rust, avocado, purple and brown onion skins and marigolds.

Rust and marigold dyed cotton shirt

Went to the CSA garden at TAC in Brooklyn for an outdoor dye with rust workshop. Alchemy!!
The classes are terrific for all aspects of textile work. Check out their blog for inspiration. http://www.textileartscenter.com/

Shibori using natural dyes

http://www.katrinreifeiss.com/
Took a shibori class with Kat Reifeiss at the Textile Arts Center....Look at the results using Natural Dyes like Beech Leaves, rusted found objects and red and yellow onion skins!

Textile Arts Center Work

 Dyed this vintage gown with red cabbage, black walnut and hollyhock. Below is an adorable guy modeling a tee done with red cabbage and indigo-shibori style!

Children's Clothing

This past weekend I continued my textile exploration at TAC taking a one day class-Itajime with Shabd! 

Knitting at Oak Knit Studio

I have been taking classes at the Textile Arts Center, Loop of the Loom, Purl Soho and knitting at Oak Knit Studio on Thursday nights. HOOKED!!!

tangled

Weaving on a saori loom