A week or so ago the Fibre Optics Group experimented with some novel ways for dyeing silk scarves. I love the results! Dyeing with Bleeding Tissue Have you discovered how to use bleeding tissue paper to colour some scarves? I did and love the results. I used the ‘cool’ colour package that has a variety of blues and greens with purple blue as the really dark colour. Experimenting with different ways to use the tissue and to fold the...

I’m trying to pull all the bits together as we coast towards the end of 2016. We are in the middle of a deep freeze here in Calgary and I am being a wimp! If I don’t have to go out, I don’t! The ground is white, the weather forecasts are full of warnings and the accident count is high. One of the joys of being in ‘retirement’ mode is not ‘having to do’ a lot of things! Go Away Flu! I still have the...

  This coat has provided me with many cozy hours during our RV travel years!  It started it’s life as an ankle-length boiled-wool coat that I purchase to brave Ottawa winters while traveling to and from work.  It was purchased at a time when my weight had skyrocketed and by the next winter, after some time with Weight Watchers, it no longer fit and was relegated to the back of a closet. One of my fibre art...

  This coat of metallic fabric found in the dollar bin prior to hallowe’en, was perfect for an ‘armour challenge’ – the ArtWear group’s project for 2007.  It has holograph circles that really make it shimmer! I designed the pattern from scratch based on photos in a Time Life book I had on my bookshelf.  I’ve worn it several times and it is responsible for me meeting Hanne,  my first Alberta based Fibre...

This vest, wearable art, was made in 2008 while spending the winter months in Phoenix AZ.  This was our ‘test’ winter,  the year prior to starting our extended RV travels.  Our son moved to Phoenix in 2001 and we had traveled to the SW each year prior to this.  In 2008 we alternated car travel throughout the state with time exploring the city of Phoenix.  It was the year we truly fell in love with the Southwest. This vest was my...

This jacket is a favorite and I love wearing it!  The initial ‘fabric’ was created in a ‘stack and whack’ workshop at Quilt Canada in Ottawa previously and incorporates four batiks.  I created a jacket pattern (my design) and determined that I would use black fabric as a foil for the patterned fabrics.  Once the surface was pieced it was layered with a light batting and the jacket is lined with another batik.  Each...

I’m still limited in my mobility while trying to avoid the coughing that results with physical exertion so, with sweatshirt #1 completed, I moved on to sweatshirt #2.  This time I was inspired by a posting on Pinterest.  The first posting I found was by Rachel Hatch and appears to have been woven with cotton broadcloth strips.  However, when I followed her links to my inspiration it led, via Danielle Schulz, to the original posting at The...

Thanks to a particularly nasty encounter with a flu  bug I’ve been under the weather and very limited in creative energy.  In fact, for a number of days, I existed on fluids and slept.  Now hubby is dealing with it. However, a bit of hand work did manage to get completed and here is the first of my up-cycled sweatshirts finished.  Complete with pockets, it is sure to become a favorite! As the instructions I worked from didn’t have...

As I’m feeling a little under the weather with a flu bug, I’m not feeling particularly creative today so I thought I would chat a bit about a project I’m just starting.  I’m always on the lookout for quick and easy projects that I can share with friends who are not as comfortable with a needle and thread as I am. While RVing, the wardrobe basics are jeans t-shirts and sweatshirts.  I’ve resisted wearing plain...

In September I walked into the Fabric Addict in Lethbridge (the day after our arrival) and there sat a new shipment of smocking pleaters waiting to be unpacked.  Now I have been thinking about exploring this media for a while.  It’s one of the few things I have never tackled, mainly because my Mother smocked dresses for two generations of girls in the family and I didn’t want to tread on her space.  She passed away last spring and...