Dyeing for fun

I help to run a lunch-time program for some local children, and a couple of weeks ago we did tie dying. The process begins by tying string tightly around sections of calico. Where the string is tied determines the resulting pattern.



Next, I took the kids' material home and dyed it in the laundry sink. It takes about half an hour or more, because you need to constantly agitate the material to ensure even distribution of the dye.



I dried the material (while it was still tied up) in front of the heater on a glass microwave plate.



Even Susie helped!



Finally, carefully cut the string to reveal the pattern. What an easy project - and the effect is impressive. The kids* loved taking home their very own piece of the '60s!

*I loved it too - when I get time I'm going to buy some more material and tie dye to my heart's content! Imagine the awesome skirts, bags and cushions I could make!

Chance Meetings II

I have posted previously about the interesting blogs you can find by hitting the "Next Blog>>" button. Here are some more.

~Dreams is written by a Malaysian girl studying in Perth. I like this blog because of its design and the pictures taken during dissection classes.

Jeep trips from Coast to Costa follows a road trip of an American couple from Miami to Costa Rica. They just picked up and went! Wouldn't we all like to do that...

In Photography by Nuya, take your own round the world trip through the pictures of Nuya, who travels to all sorts of places and posts great-quality photos on this blog.

Wishes & Heros interests me because although it is in another language, the author posts photographs of some amazing crafts (teddies, cushions and so on) she has completed. You don't see crafts of this quality every day.

More coming soon!

A craft worth learning

I love making beaded jewellery! The pictures show the process I followed to make a beaded bracelet for a friend. It's actually more simple than it looks; all you require is a beading loom (I got mine on Ebay), a heap of beads, some thread (I use cotton, except for when I use sharp bugle beads), and a needle. As you can see, the loom is first threaded using the cotton, and the beads are woven on in rows. When it's finished, it is removed from the loom and toggles attached to do the bracelet up. It's a nice inexpensive gift, and only takes a few hours to complete. I'm off to make one for myself now!