2014 December
By Popular Demand...
12/27/2014
This is for those of you that want to play with Ice Dying! I am no expert..I am telling you that up front ... but would love to share what I have learned. I just started playing one day and called a friend of mine, Darci, for step-by-step tutorial long distance. She made it sound so easy, and it really is!! ~
The first thing you need to know is that it's best that you use a natural fiber. The Procion dyes work great on the old linen and cotton napkins and fabrics.
I soaked my napkins in a mixture of 1 cup of soda ash to
1 gallon of water and for about an hour.... well... that's how long YOU can soak them. I believe I got sidetracked with something else!! I then removed them from the soda ash and LIGHTLY squeezed out most of the water.
I found the middle of my napkin and pinched it together, ran my hand down and around so that it was a pretty bunch and then laid it in the basket. I used the black plastic baskets shown here because they have holes big enough that the water can drain out but small enough that the ice doesn't fall through.
I placed 6 of these napkins in each of 2 baskets.
Next, I needed to find a place for the ice and dye to drain. You can use a plastic tub underneath or drain it in a utility sink by putting something under the basket to raise it, allowing room for drainage. What's nice about this process is that you can 'make do' with whatever your particular circumstances are. - I thne completely covered the napkins with ice.
The next step was to sprinkle dye on the ice. This was a practice thing because it ahs been trial and error for me to figure out how much dye to use and what colors will be created after the ice has melted. I mainly used 3 primary colors of Turquoise, Fuchsia, and Lemon yellow and then put on another layer of ice. then I waited... and waited... and peeked... and waited some more!
SURPRISE!!!
After the ice melts I rinse the napkins/fabric with water and a little dawn dish detergent until the water runs clear. Depending what I am going to do with the dyed fabric, I usually take it home and throw it in the washer by itself and get any remaining dye out of the fabric.
You never know what you will get!! I hope this helps and you have lots of fun with Ice Dyeing!! If you have any questions please let me know. I would love to see pictures of the dying that you do!
I hope blessings and peace for each of you this Holiday season!
2 Comments
Libby - I have several sets of linen napkins from family members I can't throw away, but I haven't know what to do with them! Well, look out ICE and DYE! How clever. But it would be more fun to do together. Maybe we can play some Thursday night when you're open late! Sounds like a plan!
Sk - Thanks. I knew I was saving these old napkins for a reason!
It's My Party and I'll Design if I Want to!!
12/19/2014
Ice dying is one of my favorite things to do... I think because I can do that at the same time I'm doing three other things. And... the results are fabulous... most of the time! Would you like for me to tell you how I made these?? Let me know and I will post it for you!
I found a great set of antique linen napkins and a beautiful matching table cloth at one of my haunts in Asheville NC. The cloth was in great shape and the napkins just had a few light stains and the price was right, so I decided that I would ice dye them and use them for the Christmas Party. They turned out really pretty and I tied them with the same fabric that I used on the snowmen.
The snowmen and Christmas trees were started back in August while I was in St. Petersburg. Let me just tell you that it takes awhile to wrap that many trees and snowmen. The fabrics on the snowmen are all the same and all the trees are different fabrics. Each snowman has a unique knit hat and scarf which was made on the way home from Florida last week. The little white stick-trees mixed in came out of Brent's palm trees in Florida. A little white spray paint did wonders!!
One of the MEM traditions for our Christmas season is that I give the ladies the task of choosing their favorite fabric for a Christmas gift that I plan to make for them. The yardage is always based on what I think I might want to make that year and varies from year to year. There have been pillows, ottomans and journals, and one year they got their fabric back because I didn't have any idea what to do with it!
This year's project is the new Hobo Jane expandable shoulder bag shown below. It was designed after listening to the girl's likes and dislikes throughout the year. They like inside pockets and one with a zipper, cell phone pockets, mixed fabrics and a practical but fun design. Based on their personal choices of fabrics, each bag is uniquely cute and fun, and now I am wanting to make one for myself!
The Hobo Jane bags will be for sale and going with me to the Delray Affair Show and the PDF pattern and instructions will be available soon on our Funky Fibers website!
The other thing that I asked of my employees was to give me their favorite quote. Not sure when I first asked what it was going to be but I finally settled on journal covers for medium sized composition books. They are able to replace the books when they are used up and still have their fun cover. Can you guess which saying belongs to which one of the ladies??
Our party was great fun with Jeff doing the cooking for all of us... thank you Jeffery!!~ We so look forward to his Cajun Shrimp and Beef Tenderloin and his sense of humor with all those crazy employees milling around!! Gotta love the party time!!~
I hope all of you have a blessed Holiday. Enjoy your time with family and friends and we will see you January 2nd. We so thank you for your business and look forward to 2015!
5 Comments
Linda - Yes. Please tell us how to 'ice dye!'
Mary - Yes! Ice dying instructions! The napkins are gorgeous and so are the gifts for your girls. Such a great way to personalize for each one. As always, your creative talent amazes me!
Dana Kirkwood - As I sit reading this my feet are propped on the ottoman you made for me about 16 years ago! I miss the times at MEM. Love seeing all of your beautiful creations!
Joyce Woods - I agree Les! The ice dying napkins are beautiful and I would like to know how to make these too. I have to agree with Dana, I love my visits to MEM, I call them my fun days. Stressful days call for a trip to MEM.
Jo Price - Looks like everyone had a wonderful time. I love all the decorations, especially the snowmen. Would love to learn more about how you do your ice dyeing. Leslie, hope you and all your family at home and at MEM have a blessed and save Christmas Season!!!
Renovation Made Right...
12/12/2014
What a fun and "relaxing" week in Florida! The weather was perfect and it gave us the time we needed to finish up some of our projects, outdoors along with indoors.
So...as soon as I arrived, Brent and I spent the first few minutes making a list of what we wanted to accomplish during the week. That was the first time we called "squirrel"... which we do a lot when the two of us get together!!
The headboard that we had planned on making went to the bottom of the list and this beautiful hanging porch swing went to the top!
Brent did the design work and building of the bench. It is the size of a twin bed and will go on the screened in porch. We have decided to show the swing on a smaller scale for sale in our booth at the Delray Affair show in April.
I had sewn the cushion last time I was there. We have our pillows selected and will pick out the fabrics for them when he comes home for Christmas.
I was able to squeeze a little time before we left to make a shower curtain to finish up the bathroom. Brent wanted a curtain that was easy to pull open and closed without grommets or fabric tabs.
I took the old time clips that we had when I was young... or younger and sewed them on the back so that they were not seen at all... nothing showing from the front. It worked really slick. It pulled easy and left the soft folds between the hooks that looked really nice. I love the way this fabric made up and really complimented the bathroom.
The dining table that you see (below) is one that Brent built himself for his banquette. The top is beautiful wood that we picked out on our last trip to North Carolina. It is now just waiting on the legs instead of the sawhorses. He's still working on the design for the legs.
We hung drapes, hung TV and microwave, laid flooring in the laundry room, painted the laundry room, built an arbor for the back fence, made a day bed, put up ceiling tiles, made bench cushions and still had a little time to take our boat out for a test drive.
Jeff has wanted a deep sea fishing boat for years and just never seemed to feel he had the extra money to spend on something for himself. He is an avid 'ebayer' and found an old 1980 boat that was for sale. The gentleman had kept it in fantastic condition and Jeff was thrilled with his "bargain"!
I love to see the same excitement in him about his boat that I have had with my business for years! He has always sacrificed so that I could have what I felt that I needed for the store and my "projects". Now it is his turn to have some fun....
Off to work on making mittens for our school age children that could use a good warm pair!!
0 Comments
Demo and Other Delights...
12/2/2014
Decorating and creating fun rooms has been a joy of mine as Jeff and I purchased homes, fixed them up and decorated them as we lived in them, and then moved on to something new. We are on our 5th house that we have had the pleasure of creating and flipping. Now we are able to help our boys with their homes.
Today I was able to spend the morning with my sweet daughter-in-law, Lydia, helping her to pick out fun fabrics for their house. I love her choices and am so looking forward to doing some sewing and designing what she wants in their home. I can't wait to see what we are going to make!
In January of last year, our youngest son purchased a house in Florida that has turned out to be a really nice starter home for him in Delray Beach, Florida.
We loved the fact that he wanted some help and guidance as he started to fix the house and we spent a lot of time in Florida last year ripping out walls, cabinets, and flooring.
The joke became that everything was 'Florida Square' - NOT!
The yucky, dirty, behind the scene stuff is done, and I am flying down to visit my son this week to hang the drapes that I made during my last visit. We will also make a few bench cushions for a built in seating section we designed and built. Doesn't hurt my soul that it is going to get really cold here at home and I will be in a little warmer weather in Florida for the week!
One of the projects that we are going to work on is to design a new headboard... the kind with wings that we will teach next year in the STUDIO. I'll be sure to post pictures as we create and design this new project. In the meantime, I am trying to figure out what to pack and what fabric and sewing supplies to take. I hate to buy sewing supplies when I know how much I all ready have at the store! My husband and I will be driving back home, so I also have to plan what to work on during the long drive... you know I won't sit still for that long, especially with the Christmas party just 6 days from my first day home!!
Don't forget to come by the store on Thursday the 11th from 10 - 6 and help us with Mitten Mania!! We need all the volunteers we can find! We will be recycling old wool sweaters and turning them into fully lined mittens for those in our local school system who might not have any. Come play with us and learn a new project....how to make mittens for your own family and friends!!
0 Comments
12/27/2014
This is for those of you that want to play with Ice Dying! I am no expert..I am telling you that up front ... but would love to share what I have learned. I just started playing one day and called a friend of mine, Darci, for step-by-step tutorial long distance. She made it sound so easy, and it really is!! ~
I soaked my napkins in a mixture of 1 cup of soda ash to
1 gallon of water and for about an hour.... well... that's how long YOU can soak them. I believe I got sidetracked with something else!! I then removed them from the soda ash and LIGHTLY squeezed out most of the water.
I found the middle of my napkin and pinched it together, ran my hand down and around so that it was a pretty bunch and then laid it in the basket. I used the black plastic baskets shown here because they have holes big enough that the water can drain out but small enough that the ice doesn't fall through.
Next, I needed to find a place for the ice and dye to drain. You can use a plastic tub underneath or drain it in a utility sink by putting something under the basket to raise it, allowing room for drainage. What's nice about this process is that you can 'make do' with whatever your particular circumstances are. - I thne completely covered the napkins with ice.
The next step was to sprinkle dye on the ice. This was a practice thing because it ahs been trial and error for me to figure out how much dye to use and what colors will be created after the ice has melted. I mainly used 3 primary colors of Turquoise, Fuchsia, and Lemon yellow and then put on another layer of ice. then I waited... and waited... and peeked... and waited some more!
SURPRISE!!!
You never know what you will get!! I hope this helps and you have lots of fun with Ice Dyeing!! If you have any questions please let me know. I would love to see pictures of the dying that you do!
I hope blessings and peace for each of you this Holiday season!
2 Comments
Libby - I have several sets of linen napkins from family members I can't throw away, but I haven't know what to do with them! Well, look out ICE and DYE! How clever. But it would be more fun to do together. Maybe we can play some Thursday night when you're open late! Sounds like a plan!
Sk - Thanks. I knew I was saving these old napkins for a reason!
It's My Party and I'll Design if I Want to!!
12/19/2014
I found a great set of antique linen napkins and a beautiful matching table cloth at one of my haunts in Asheville NC. The cloth was in great shape and the napkins just had a few light stains and the price was right, so I decided that I would ice dye them and use them for the Christmas Party. They turned out really pretty and I tied them with the same fabric that I used on the snowmen.
The snowmen and Christmas trees were started back in August while I was in St. Petersburg. Let me just tell you that it takes awhile to wrap that many trees and snowmen. The fabrics on the snowmen are all the same and all the trees are different fabrics. Each snowman has a unique knit hat and scarf which was made on the way home from Florida last week. The little white stick-trees mixed in came out of Brent's palm trees in Florida. A little white spray paint did wonders!!
One of the MEM traditions for our Christmas season is that I give the ladies the task of choosing their favorite fabric for a Christmas gift that I plan to make for them. The yardage is always based on what I think I might want to make that year and varies from year to year. There have been pillows, ottomans and journals, and one year they got their fabric back because I didn't have any idea what to do with it!
This year's project is the new Hobo Jane expandable shoulder bag shown below. It was designed after listening to the girl's likes and dislikes throughout the year. They like inside pockets and one with a zipper, cell phone pockets, mixed fabrics and a practical but fun design. Based on their personal choices of fabrics, each bag is uniquely cute and fun, and now I am wanting to make one for myself!
 |
| My MEM Ladies: Judy, Rhonda, Peggy, Kasey, Sheron, Delphia and Maritess (not shown) |
The other thing that I asked of my employees was to give me their favorite quote. Not sure when I first asked what it was going to be but I finally settled on journal covers for medium sized composition books. They are able to replace the books when they are used up and still have their fun cover. Can you guess which saying belongs to which one of the ladies??
Our party was great fun with Jeff doing the cooking for all of us... thank you Jeffery!!~ We so look forward to his Cajun Shrimp and Beef Tenderloin and his sense of humor with all those crazy employees milling around!! Gotta love the party time!!~
I hope all of you have a blessed Holiday. Enjoy your time with family and friends and we will see you January 2nd. We so thank you for your business and look forward to 2015!
Linda - Yes. Please tell us how to 'ice dye!'
Mary - Yes! Ice dying instructions! The napkins are gorgeous and so are the gifts for your girls. Such a great way to personalize for each one. As always, your creative talent amazes me!
Dana Kirkwood - As I sit reading this my feet are propped on the ottoman you made for me about 16 years ago! I miss the times at MEM. Love seeing all of your beautiful creations!
Joyce Woods - I agree Les! The ice dying napkins are beautiful and I would like to know how to make these too. I have to agree with Dana, I love my visits to MEM, I call them my fun days. Stressful days call for a trip to MEM.
Jo Price - Looks like everyone had a wonderful time. I love all the decorations, especially the snowmen. Would love to learn more about how you do your ice dyeing. Leslie, hope you and all your family at home and at MEM have a blessed and save Christmas Season!!!
Renovation Made Right...
12/12/2014
So...as soon as I arrived, Brent and I spent the first few minutes making a list of what we wanted to accomplish during the week. That was the first time we called "squirrel"... which we do a lot when the two of us get together!!
The headboard that we had planned on making went to the bottom of the list and this beautiful hanging porch swing went to the top!
Brent did the design work and building of the bench. It is the size of a twin bed and will go on the screened in porch. We have decided to show the swing on a smaller scale for sale in our booth at the Delray Affair show in April.
I had sewn the cushion last time I was there. We have our pillows selected and will pick out the fabrics for them when he comes home for Christmas.
I took the old time clips that we had when I was young... or younger and sewed them on the back so that they were not seen at all... nothing showing from the front. It worked really slick. It pulled easy and left the soft folds between the hooks that looked really nice. I love the way this fabric made up and really complimented the bathroom.
The dining table that you see (below) is one that Brent built himself for his banquette. The top is beautiful wood that we picked out on our last trip to North Carolina. It is now just waiting on the legs instead of the sawhorses. He's still working on the design for the legs.
We hung drapes, hung TV and microwave, laid flooring in the laundry room, painted the laundry room, built an arbor for the back fence, made a day bed, put up ceiling tiles, made bench cushions and still had a little time to take our boat out for a test drive.
Jeff has wanted a deep sea fishing boat for years and just never seemed to feel he had the extra money to spend on something for himself. He is an avid 'ebayer' and found an old 1980 boat that was for sale. The gentleman had kept it in fantastic condition and Jeff was thrilled with his "bargain"!
I love to see the same excitement in him about his boat that I have had with my business for years! He has always sacrificed so that I could have what I felt that I needed for the store and my "projects". Now it is his turn to have some fun....
Off to work on making mittens for our school age children that could use a good warm pair!!
0 Comments
Demo and Other Delights...
12/2/2014
 |
| me and a jackhammer! I think I'll stick to sewing!! |
Today I was able to spend the morning with my sweet daughter-in-law, Lydia, helping her to pick out fun fabrics for their house. I love her choices and am so looking forward to doing some sewing and designing what she wants in their home. I can't wait to see what we are going to make!
In January of last year, our youngest son purchased a house in Florida that has turned out to be a really nice starter home for him in Delray Beach, Florida.
We loved the fact that he wanted some help and guidance as he started to fix the house and we spent a lot of time in Florida last year ripping out walls, cabinets, and flooring.
The joke became that everything was 'Florida Square' - NOT!
The yucky, dirty, behind the scene stuff is done, and I am flying down to visit my son this week to hang the drapes that I made during my last visit. We will also make a few bench cushions for a built in seating section we designed and built. Doesn't hurt my soul that it is going to get really cold here at home and I will be in a little warmer weather in Florida for the week!
One of the projects that we are going to work on is to design a new headboard... the kind with wings that we will teach next year in the STUDIO. I'll be sure to post pictures as we create and design this new project. In the meantime, I am trying to figure out what to pack and what fabric and sewing supplies to take. I hate to buy sewing supplies when I know how much I all ready have at the store! My husband and I will be driving back home, so I also have to plan what to work on during the long drive... you know I won't sit still for that long, especially with the Christmas party just 6 days from my first day home!!
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