Tea Dye For: Redwork

Back in 1998 when I picked up crewel & embroidery after a 15 year hiatus from needlework, I started using water & air soluble transfer pens to draw or copy patterns on to cotton. I stopped for a few reasons. 1.) They are not free & I have lots of pencils lying around. & 2.) Why would I use a pen or marker on my fabric when I know they aren't pH balanced? Then I found this & I have never gone back to using them again.

That being said, I do have some orphaned redwork blocks lying around waiting to be included in a project. Some of these blocks are from the time before I used pencil. &, yes, they were discolored, possibly due to the blue transfer pen. Oh, what to do...

The answer: tea dye them!

I used loose tea, but tea bags are just as effective

Brew the tea with hot water, but steep longer than you would for your cuppa

Discolored redwork blocks I decided to tea dye

Pour the brewed tea on the blocks using a clean baking dish

I placed block upon block in the dish and added more tea as needed

Tea dyeing in progress

Squeezing out the hot tea. Cold tea can be used for a less intense color.

Rinsing the blocks with cold water

After rinsing, the blocks head to the dryer for 30 mins.

Fresh from the dryer

Tea dyed blocks made into small pillows.

Tea dyeing is a pretty simple process. You can use other teas for different colors or browns, pinks & yellows.

One Direction project for Fiona

While finishing up my Master's degree, I am also attempting my 1st quilt for my daughter. Fiona will be 12 soon & I would like to complete this project in time for her birthday. I have already shared some of the embroidery for this project... so I thought I would share some more.

Niall Horan is the only member of One Direction from Ireland. Fiona chose green as his color. Niall plays the guitar, so I chose an image of him playing.

Niall of One Direction playing guitar

 Again, I used the Sketch Guru app to help create my pattern. I am trying to get the best possible image for the creation of the pattern because I want the lads to look as real as possible. Light box & HB2 pencil were at my side to help transfer the pattern on to the fabric.

Let the embroidery begin.

 In case you are wondering, I am using DMC floss #904 for Niall. The fabric I am stitching on is a 200 thread count 50-50 Bamboo-Cotton blend. It is pleasant to work with and a little softer than Kona cotton.

Niall's guitar came out nice.

Borrowed mom's quilting tools to cut my fabric.

Stay tuned for more about this exciting project. I may actually put it all together myself.

National Embroidery Month

Since February is National Embroidery Month, I have decided that I must embroider every day for the next 28 days... Well, 27 since today is the 2nd. This is a sacrifice I will have to make for the sake of my craft! LOL

My current project is one for my daughter, Fiona. She is a HUGE One Direction fan, Zayn Malik being one of her favorites.

cartoon version of One Direction*

*Not my drawing. My daughter found it on the Internet while searching for 1D iPod cases. This project is for personal use only.

Zayn, Liam, Niall, Louis, Harry

This is the photo I decided on for the next piece of the project. Since I wanted them to look as realistic as possible, I decided to try a free app called SketchGuru for the pattern.

pattern created after SketchGuru

After I printed out the SketchGuru image, I used a Sharpie to outline each member of the band.

used light box and pencil to transfer pattern

Louis and Harry are finished

So far I have 2 of 5 guys finished. I am continuing with the colors my daughter chose. Apparently I am embroidering each member in their favorite color. What do you think?

Little Sistar present...

3 cousins circa 2005

This is based on a photograph I took of my nephews (brother's sons) & my daughter one Christmas at my brother's house. L-R Zachary (almost 6), Fiona (4.5), Schuyler (7). I usually just make a line drawing straight from the photograph, but in this case I had played with some software to create a coloring book type image. Don't ask me which one because I cannot remember, 7 years ago & all...

Below you can see I used my trusty light box & a #2 pencil to trace the image on 100% cotton- Kona. My little sistar has a rusty colored kitchen, so I used DMC Variations floss #69, my spring hoop & an I-have-no-idea-what-size needle. It was completed using only one stitch, outline.

Tracing image on Kona cotton

 

 

Embroidery in progress

The framing process

I put some Warm & Natural batting between the embroidered fabric and the mat board, then folded the fabric like an envelope using hot glue to secure the edges.

Below, I cut out a piece of acid free card stock (the kind used for scrap booking) & attached it to the outside of the frame using hot glue. I wrote a note on the back for my sistar using an acid free pen.

"TO: My amazingly talented little sistar! The best P.A.N.K.* my kid could ever have. Love Tisha (Ba-tricia) & Fiona 12/2012 aprilsongstress *Professional Aunt No Kids"

Backing with acid free paper

 The completed embroidery project ready for wrapping & shipping to Las Vegas, NV.

Project complete

P.S. She loved it!

Redwork grandkids for competition?

Another project I have been working on for awhile is to create redwork renditions of the grandkids for my mom. My grandiose idea involved me learning to sew and creating an entire queen-sized redwork quilt. Ha!

Well, I had 4 of the 5 blocks done, but never got around to the youngest grandson, until Mom got an email from some quilt guru saying she should submit a quilt or 2 for an upcoming competition.

Breaking out the photo I had chosen of my nephew Aidan's cute face I got to work.

outline on blown up scanned image

traced image on bleached muslin using light box & pencil

traced image on muslin compared to outline on paper

Once the image I wanted had been transferred onto fabric, I was ready to embroider. I used my favorite spring tension embroidery hoop, similar to the Darice hoop, & DMC floss #347.

back of project showing my stitches & spring tension hoop

project in progress using outline stitch

Stem stitch vs. outline stitch... check out this blog!



finished redwork square of my nephew Aidan



With all 5 redwork squares done, Mom can create her grandkids quilt. It won't be very big. She is making 8" or 9" Puss-in-the-Corner for the remainder of the blocks.

I'll keep you posted if it is chosen for competition!