Busy, busy, busy.

One of the nicest things in life for me is sharing ideas with others and being inspired by others, and this applies in my art/craft life as well.

This week, I have been lucky enough to do this a lot and I am feeling stoked.

An old friend came for help with her knitting, and wanting some help with learning to print onto fabric.  Well, she was doing really well with the knitting, so we dealt with her "problems" quickly and easily, and got to spend more time on the printing.  She had got another friend to help her make up this image on the computer.  I think I need a lesson too!

We adhered some cotton fabric onto the sticky side of an A4  Laser/Inkjet/Copier Label ( from Officeworks, but you could also buy them at a stationary shop) and trimmed it carefully to fit exactly.  This made the fabric stiff enough to put in my ink jet printer.  Then,  we printed the image on to the fabric side of the  label.   It came out very slowly but was perfect, so we peeled off the paper and the printed fabric was ready to use.  I warned her that it was not necessarily washable unless it was sealed.

I also showed her how to print on to tshirt transfer paper ( I used the quirkii brand, also bought from Officeworks).  This can be ironed on to fabric and is permanent and washable.  It also has a completely different surface texture.  She decided to take it home to iron onto a pillowcase.

Next, we went to my studio area and sorted through the fabric stash to find some jeans fabric.  We cut out the shape of a bag and some handles, and cut round the printed image.  Then, we adhered some fusible web onto the back of the image and ironed the image on to one side of the bag.  Next, she zigzagged round the image and sewed up the sides of the bag and finished off the top.  After, she made the handles.  This is the stage she got to before she went home.

At home, she attached the handles using coloured buttons.  I also gave her some plastic vegetable netting to take home.  She is going to try ironing it onto fabric, using baking paper to protect the iron.

Miss 3 came over another day with her mother and wanted to do some craft work.  I gave her some white paper bags, coloured pens and some plastic stickers, and told her she could make some special bags for putting things in.  Mummy got caught up with the activity and ended taking over a bag!  Like me, she loves participating in art with children.

  I also had fun with the Coburg Knitting group.  It is so enjoyable being in a group of people from many different walks of life, both young and old, who share a love of knitting and crochet.  We share food and drink, conversation, ideas.  Some of us knit or crochet our own projects.

Others knit and make blankets for the women of Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia.

We all help each other when we have problems.

As you know, I like sharing on Pinterest and Facebook too, but this month I have been encouraged to try sharing on the MonthInTheLife - A-Photo-A-Day Instagram Challenge for Creatives.  Now, that has stirred things up! It his made me reassess my work spaces and photography skills, AND encouraged me to create every day.  Very humiliating when you see some of the other entries!  I may be creative, but I am not a studio perfect, photography expert!  This was the state of my "studio" before the challenge, when I was in the middle of sorting out fabrics for a new art quilt:

 

What a slob I am!

And this is what it looks like since I tidied:

Still not exactly Home Beautiful!

As well as sharing, I have been working on my own, collecting flowers, leaves, lichen, turmeric powder, sumac powder, vegetables and fruit for dyeing on paper and cloth.  I tried one method that I had read about on the internet and steamed some of my collection over a pan of water.  What a disaster!  The foil channelled the flame on to the paper, which caught on fire and the result was only a faint imprint, except for where I used onion skins.  I ended up cooking up a vat of the rest of the collection with some alum and soda ash, then simmering the paper in it to get some sort of impression on it, but I didn't use enough weight on the paper, and it was still very faint.  Never mind, I'll cut it up and use it for something anyway.

My next effort - also courtesy of google research - was to try soaking cotton in washing soda and soy milk, then dry it, before wrapping a collection of goodies up, and simmering the lot in my now very strong mixture.  This time the colours were very strong, but unlike previous efforts, the purple cabbage and the beetroot slices acted as resists rather than dyes.  Plus, the beautiful colour faded when rinsed. 

At this point, I decided I needed professional help and ordered some natural dyeing books, plus researched local dyeing classes in Melbourne.  I think I will enrol in some run by the Plant Craft Cottage, unless I can find something sooner than their classes.

I am still going to use these fabrics in my newest piece of fabric art, so I am not that disheartened.  In addition, I have been sorting through my stack to amass some colour groups that blend well. And, I am painting on bland fabrics with fabric paint.

 

I am also printing photos which are stored in my comput and real leaves onto fabric for this piece.

 

Lastly, I am soldiering on with my jumper.  I have one sleeve and the front done and am half way through the back. getting there!