The Material Girl

Bored

More problems with the Designer 1 this week. I made some valentines with embroidery and after I removed the arm, the feed dogs wouldn't come up. Considering I just had it into the shop in January for other feed dog problems, I figured it was something I couldn't fix myself. So Carl dropped it off at lunch one day this week and I got it back last night. So far, so good but I haven't done anymore embroidery.

In fact, I'm not feeling very inspired right now to start any new projects, which is unusual for me. So I got out the play-doh and got busy making some flowers.

I think I'll start on some hats.

I've been busy for the last week or so doing some snow dye-ing. Will load pics later (they didn't turn out dark enough), but I'm hooked. I think maybe solid white fabric just won't work for me anymore. I'm thinking about trying koolaid dyeing next. I draw the line at vegetables, tho. :)

So the process is:
wait for snow. You really need at least 4" on the ground, and I think maybe the wetter the better.
1. soak fabric in soda ash and water (be careful, this is a base. Wear rubber gloves)
2. let fabric line dry (I think...I did and it turned out ok but I might experiment with leaving it wet next time)
3. mix various dye colors, squirt onto snow, leave overnight
4. next day, scoop up colored snow into buckets
5. place fabric on baking cooling rack in laundry sink, cover with snow
6. wait for snow to melt
7. wash fabric in Synthrapol.

I used the baking racks because they have a nice open weave and it keeps the fabric up off the sink so it doesn't just sit in the dye as the snow melts.
I used Procion MX dye, which will stain a laundry sink (and your hands, wear rubber gloves!). The next time I do this I'm going to scoop the snow before I color it; the snow we had was really powdery and a lot of the dye soaked through to the ground. Also, I ended up with some leaves and stuff in the snow, which wasn't a big deal, but it would be nice to avoid that from the beginning.

Overall a really fun project and I can't wait for more snow. I've been thinking about going around to the mall parking lot to steal some of their snow that's still piled up. I don't think it's going to snow here again for awhile :(

Otherwise, everything is the same here. Still have the foster monster, he's up to over 16 pounds now and really likes vegetables. No teeth yet. Still doesn't sleep through the night consistently.

Hoping a Lolla headliner gets leaked soon, getting impatient! Get on it, DeRo! I'm hotel shopping :)