This week as well as dyeing yarns I have put a few cotton tote bags through the dye pot too. I’m looking to combine these with embroidery floss to create an embroidery kit. That’s in the future and potentially not in the Yarn Badger Etsy shop, maybe just for fairs/shows. im very happy with this weeks yarn update this colour way in particular is probably my favourite, though the BFL and silk yarn base is so luxurious to touch. As well as the yarns I’ve included a couple of notions. T pins and stitch marker (Bulb style) are now available as little add on items. I wanted some myself so I thought I’d go ahead and add those for others people too. Recent vintage acquisitions include these beautifully boxed hooks & eyes and from France the Retors a Broder from Dollfus Mieg. I’m also excitedly expecting some fabulous scissors
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I wanted to add a few photos I took whilst visiting the famous Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford. It’s a treasure chest of hand crafted antiquities from around the world, some from ancient cultures no longer with us. I was particularly interested in the textiles, first I came across a large glass cabinet filled with strap style looms. The warps feature binding that suggests these yarns were being prepared for Ikat dyeing. (Something I would love to try but it is very time intensive). There were a few embroidery pieces this peacock cloth caught my eye. The colours and the flowers are just divine. Baskets and bags woven using grasses and leaves, it surprises me that a utility item would be given such ornate decoration unless for sale or identification. Though if they were to gather or store seed or herbs/spices they would have been housing some of the most precious (and most valuable) resources and therefore worthy of such decoration perhaps. some colours may have faded over time due to exposure to sunlight (natural dyes) but this bead work seemed to be as bold as the day they were sewn. But glass is not as susceptible to fading as textiles. I would have been very proud to have worn such beautiful gloves, I wonder if they were a gift (some cultures give decorative mittens as wedding gifts to new family members). Those cuffs I could wear all year round.
I looked for a book in the shop that related specifically to the textile collection (to help answer some of my ponderings) but there wasn’t one. so here’s a sneaky preview for my blog readers, this colourway is going to be in my latest update tomorrow. I wanted to create a line of deep & richly coloured yarns because they look sublime worn as a garment. These four Hanks are DK they were dyed individually which has created slight variations in this set but I’m going to change my method next time I do this so they will be more consistent in colour. This set however would be great used together to create a subtle gradient effect. Talking of gradients here’s the new seven colour gradient fade I’ve been working on this week. It’s also going to be listed tomorrow: ive had a couple of interested parties already and that’s always a relief when your hard work is met with approval.
Happy thought :) Im always thinking of new projects and at the back of my mind is creating kits. I’ve always loved the look of hand dyed cottons so I pulled out my dyes and had a day of dyeing stranded embroidery threads and with the dyes that were left I dyed the cotton fabric I have previously hand printed with my Lino cuts. These won’t be items that will be going together as kits but it’s helping me see where I might go with cotton and thread dyeing in the future. These were Halloween specific designs I’m very much looking forward to creating some animal and floral designs when I can this year.
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AuthorMiss Badger: The dyer, knitter and general snack eater Archives
July 2019
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