Silk scarves - setting paint in the sun

At last I did some of my sunpainting on silk scarves.  I had a friend around and we each made one and then I used up the excess paint to do a final one and that turned out to be my favorite.  This was the first one I made.  Black and green, with cardboard butterflies and ferns from the garden.  The other one was similar, but with pink and green..

 with the leftover paint I think I laid it on thicker and put it out into the sun while it was wetter.

 that one in fact worked the best!

 the shapes came out much clearer and I think the color is brighter.

 this is the first one finished - the ferns left an imprint but the cardboard butterflies did nothing - interesting.

 Look at the amazing detail from the plumbago flowers even though they were so light and delicate.

 I used setacolor transparent paints, and a couple of things I learned were:
put the item out in the sun asap - this makes the color brighter.
Use natural items out of the garden - not cardboard designs.
Have you done anything like this before?

I got my supplies from http://www.dharmatrading.com  - they have not given me any discounts or rewards for recommending them.  It is a great site - they have  a lot of tutorials and advice and I found there prices and delivery very satisfactory.

Silk painting lesson 1

I attended my first silk painting class today, and boy am I hooked!   This particular type of paint does not require the painting of gouche to stop color running and comes in the most amazing array of colors.  

First of all we started with a piece of dry silk and a strong color strength. I did the center pink in the strong color and then the blue in the corner, but decided to have it weakened after that. This was an experiment to see what the paint does on dry silk and how it flows/ does not flow. It is free form with bits of cotton wool dipped into the paint and swept over the fabric.



 next we tried a bit of color on dry silk (the green)  and then wet the fabric and added more colors.

 This is the detail of how the color that was applied to dry silk flows into the wet color.

 I was of course (as usual) the student always trying to "design" something and was told to try to loosen up and just apply the colours in stripes with no design in mind just to experiment. 

 then three different colors were applied to wet silk that had been lifted up to allow air bubbles to form underneath.  This creates distinct lines around the eges which I liked the effect of.

 Next the instuctor chose four random colors and said to just lay them on the wet fabric and see what appeared.  Honestly I couldnt beleive it (nor could she) when  a dolphin appeared!  All I had to add was  the eye :)

end of lesson part 1 - I cant wait for the next lesson!

Placemats and napkins and talk of a giveaway at stonegable

Whenever I am in the fabric store I will look out for  remnants of upholstery material.  This thick fabric is great for making placemats, and often the smaller pieces in the remnant basket are the perfect size to make a set of four or six placemats.  Add some napkins, tie it all up with a ribbon and you have the perfect gift.
I made some for my daughter with a silver /black design, and then the plain back on the back - so she can use either side. The plain black looks good with her red painted dining table.  She has collected different chairs and painted them all black with a red hibiscus design.

I would love her to have a really nice set of dinnerware and so have entered on her behalf into Stonegable's giveaway of a Mikasa dinner set. see here  I do hope she/I wins! I entered her as I am sure that Yvonne would not send the whole set to Australia.  Do go and look at Yvonne's lovely tables-capes, and check out her lovely menus. I only live like that in my dreams..

I am finding too with being a grandma that place mats are better with young children.  So much easier to scrub a small place mat than a corner of a tablecloth!  My little four year old grandson loves to set the table and discuss all the merits of the African animals on this set. 

Often you can find fabric that has the design already perfectly printed in the right sized rectangles like these.  Which do you prefer tablecloths or placemats? 

 

Duvet finished

I managed to finish off the duvet cover and am really happy with how it turned out.  Of course right now it is way too hot to put a duvet inside. 

Here is a detail of the lovely embroidery.

bedskirt done

Had some time over the weekend so I made the bed skirt
I used an old single bed sheet which was just the perfect size.   I only had to cut the top section off and hem it, and then I measured the three sides and cut the fabric one and a half times that length.  I hemmed the bottom and sides and then did a row of gathering stitch around the top.  Then I evenly gathered it and pinned it onto the sheet, zigzagged the edge and it was done.  I purposely made it so that the top piece is a little smaller than the exact size  - this makes the fabric fall nicely and you don't see the join.   

I am quite happy with it and it looks good too with the plain white quilt I often use.  Next project is the duvet cover!

Duvet cover

While in NYC visiting my younger daughter I couldnt resist buying this wonderful embroidered taffeta. We shopped on Jamaica avenue in Queens - what a selection, and the prices were wonderful.

 I think it matches the curtains so well, and the green will brighten it up a bit.  I intend to make a bedskirt with the green - lightly gathered rather than pleats.  The duvet cover will hang down about halfway down the side.

Here is a mtore detailed look at the fabrics....

Now the question - do I have a seam up the middle and make
1. the entire duvet out of the burgundy, maybe
2. with a green outline, or have a
3. stripe of the green going down the middle? 
I would really appreciate your comments and suggestions.

as you can see from the first photo - we can see out to the garden, and I have those lovely sheers with a foresty feel - I want the room to look as though you are already in the garden, so think this fabric suits that idea perfectly. What do you think?