Purses, new fabrics and mould.

Hi...l have been away from blogging for a while because of family commitments (see my parents 60th wedding ann on http://chocolatelifeandjazz.blogspot.com) and also l have had a shoulder op..which hurt but is getting better..slowly. At least l can use it more already, so l am not really moaningx!!

Anyway, back now with some more "Stuff"!

I have started to created "stuff" from my Eco-dyed fabrics. This first piece is a purse made from wool that l felted and then dyed in Ecu leaves. Then l created the purse and decorated it with eco-dyed threads and the button is a found one. the button is not as pink as this image makes it appear!

 The real colour of this purse is the first image. This is the embroidery which is covered by the front flap.

 This is the embroidery on the back.

This is the next purse l created. This wool, felted purse was dyed with coffee, decorated by eco-dyed threads and found buttons.

This is the back of the purse. The hole was there so l used it. Really enjoyed making these...onward and upward to bigger bags and other items! Watch this space!

This is another piece l have just finished, which will be added to thepiece of material l am creating to turn into a jacket. It is silk with 2 pieces of eco-dyed felted wool, one brown and one yellow in colour.

 The next few images are of my latest fabrics drying. Am quite excited about this lot! Some very interesting prints and colours, on many different fabrics.

I been looking for ages for some wool blankets, with no luck. Then last week l was down in Rustington, when l spotted in a skip.... a woollen blanket. The skip had a notice on it which said,  "Please help yourself".......so l did. I think that it had done many years as an "end of bed" blanket, at a Boarding School, as it had the child's name tag and number sewn on to it. There was also a trunk in the skip...another good clue where the blanket had come from!

I have been trying to put wax caps on my bottled dyes, with very untidy results but it is working. Sorry the image is blurred but the light was so bad. I have also been told to try using waxed paper tops, the kind you use in Jam making...easier and not so messy! I am going to give it a try next time.

 I had to go away for almost a week and tried something different about how l left mybundles to dry . Normally l put the wet fabrics in a plastic box and either leave it as it is or cover with cling film. There is always a large amount of mould on the fabrics within 2 or 3 days.....not good! So this week l decided to leave the bundles in their dye saucepans and put their lids on....it worked! Only a tiny bit of mould on one surface. Success!

Night folks.