I'm working on a module at college currently which involves trying out LOADS of different textile print and construction techniques. I had all my samples so far laid out before me for a group crit today so took the opportunity to take a few pics. I'm really enjoying my colour palette, it only took a week to choose and finalise it!! I'm getting a strong Scandinavian feel from it, which I love, so I'm going with the flow and sticking with the natural fabrics and muted tones.

This weekend I've been trying my hand at shibori:

I've used Dylon hand dye in Jeans blue to get that indigo effect. Interesting to note the difference in shade depending on the fabric. The darker shades are a pure cotton while the lighter ones are a polyester/cotton.



















While I had a dye bath on the go I decided to try something I've not done in years and make a hooky mat sample. In the past I've used strips of waste fabric or pre-cut wool strands but decided to try something different. I bought an old white t-shirt from a charity shop and cut it into 2cm x 12.5cm strips and added them to the dye bath. Then I tumble dried them and they came out like this:

 

And after a couple of hours hooking:

 

I love the way the fabric has curled into tubes and the colour is a beautiful soft indigo.

Another project over the last week has been a pair of soft leather shoes for my beautiful new niece Sofia.

I designed and made the patten to fit her foot size then hole punched and hand stitched the leather and embellished with lilac and a perfect contrasting turquoise bead.