Do your own thing

Today was a do your own thing day. Some of us loafed around reading the books that members had brought to share, and that Nola had bought for the ATASDA library. Helen was working on "this old thing". I don't think she should be allowed to describe her work that way, do you?

Tricia was crocheting a scarf with two yarns and the result is gorgeous.

Carol was working on secret women's business for Prue, who was steadfastly not looking. I can only show you this tiny bit: By the end of the day, she had added a lot more stitch and it was looking fabulous. But you'll just have to wait until the end of the year for the grand unveiling.

Nola knitted a bit on the endless jumper. Prue suggested it must be for a giant! Nearly finished...
Next time, we're having a "What the?" day. We all have those materials in our possession that we've long since forgotten what to do with, and often we have projects that have ground to a standstill. So they are all coming to our "What the?" day, so we can pool ideas. I wonder what we'll see?

Bringing out the inner child

This week at Fibrecircle we had such a fun time! If you've ever had the impulse to make a mark on a pristine surface, maybe graffiti a wall, this activity is for you!

First some background. A couple of months ago, Helen told us about an activity she organised with another group. They took a sheet of paper, everyone drew on it, and then it was cut into sections and each member took a piece, to do something with. We all thought that sounded like fun. The same day, Helen also brought some fabric from her stash that she no longer needed. One piece had not been claimed - a large piece of furnishing fabric, originally from the stash of Helen Lancaster, a well-known Australian textile artist and curator. "Wouldn't it be fun to draw on that?", we said.

This week, we all arrived with our stash of fabric-fast pens. It was a large piece of fabric, so it took us a couple of hours to draw all over it. Here are some of us at work:At first it was a bit terrifying, to have to make some marks on the surface. Most people started small. But as time passed, we really got involved and started experimenting. Graffiti is fun, although we all discovered that it's not quite as easy as you might think! After a few minutes, we moved along a seat, so every part of the fabric was drawn on by all of us. We also included our name or initials each time, since graffiti is so much about tagging, about declaring, "I was here, this is my space".

Here are some close-ups of our work: Some names are easy to see, others less so.

We limited ourselves to black and red pens, and tried to cover the whole fabric evenly, like a graffitied wall. The fabric also had a muted pattern. Here's what the whole fabric looked like:(Sorry, it's hard to get all the marks to show up, but it gives you a general idea.) Once we finished, we cut the fabric into equal pieces and, with the drawing folded inside, each person took a piece. Our challenge is to use the fabric in some way and bring the results to our first February meeting in 2010. (The long lead time is because we are also doing another collaborative project at present, but since some members want the work they receive to be a surprise, we can't share those things with you yet. Stay tuned!) Each person can change the fabric in whatever way she likes - by adding colour, by cutting it apart, by stitching, whatever they want to do. I think the results will be fascinating!

August part 2

Today, Helen showed us how to do Orizomegami. It's a method of dyeing folded rice paper with water-based dyes to give complex patterns. We each folded rectangles of two different weights of rice paper into small parcels. We dipped them quickly into a bowl of water to dampen the paper, and then dipped the edges or corners of the packets into bowls of ordinary food colouring. (Wear gloves! Food colouring loves to dye human skin!)

Then we pressed the packets between two small sheets of stiff cardboard and carefully unfolded the wet paper using tweezers or a paper knife. The paper can tear quite easily, depending on the weight of the paper. Then we laid the sheets out to dry.

The way the parcels were folded affected the pattern. We were also struggling with Sydney's spring winds, which chose today to arrive, and some drying sheets were splashed with falling droplets, which added to the interest. We also saved the drips from when the papers were pressed between the cardboard, and it gave interesting semi-blended colours, not always the brown that might have been expected. Although we all started with exactly the same papers and colours, it's remarkable how different they all are.

Here are Beverley's:

and Carol's:



These are Helen's own:


These were a collaborative effort for Tricia:

And these were Nola's:


See, all different! You can see the fold marks (this is a feature of this kind of paper dyeing) and how the folds affected the way the colour went into the paper. It's a very interesting technique, and easy to do with the minimum of materials. We talked about ways to use the papers. Obviously, most paper uses would be fine, but you could also adhere the paper to a cloth backing with diluted PVA glue, which would make the paper robust enough for stitch.

August part 1

We've had a quiet time at Fibrecircle lately. Each meeting since June, some members have been away, and we've mostly been working on our own things. But this month, we have made up for it.

Firstly, Beverley taught us how to do a Coptic binding on a book. Carol brought lovely papers for the book outer covers, and Nola contributed some parchment paper for the inner covers. First we learnt a clever technique for making no-glue covers.

You may have to think about this a bit when you do it. You take the outer cover paper and fold it over the stiffening, top, bottom and sides. You trim off the excess at the corners, leaving a small amount to turn under right on the corner. You do the same with your inner cover paper.

Turn in the top and bottom fold of the outer cover, against itself. Lay the stiffening on top of the wrong side, with the side flaps of the outer cover sticking out.
Turn in the side flaps of the inner cover, against itself. Lay it on top of the stiffening, wrong sides together, and tuck the side flaps of the outer cover in underneath it, over the top of the stiffening. Tuck the top and bottom flaps of the inner cover into the pocket formed between the outer cover and the stiffening. Presto! It's quite firm.

I won't attempt to explain Coptic binding, though! Here's what my book looked like:

And this is the binding:
Pretty, isn't it? I could have run the ends back into the book, but after knotting them off, I ran them through to the spine, because I think I will incorporate them into more embellishment on the cover.

Gorgeous things!

Today was an ordinary group day, so we weren't playing with anything special. But almost everyone had wonderful things to show.

Beverley had some quite old show and tell. These pieces were made by her maternal great grandma in Ireland. Just incredible workmanship and in great condition considering their age. She also brought some work made by her paternal grandmother, who was a prize-winning embroiderer. Just incredible.

She also had the clothing from an antique doll given to her by an uncle. They were so detailed, just tiny replicas of adult clothing. I photographed the outfit with the top open, so you can see that it has been fully lined. Underneath is a modesty piece, a sort of blouse front, tied round the neck, to cover the front of the body under the top. Here you can see the back of the skirt, complete with bustle.

Beverley also brought some of her own work. Here is a piece she is working on, inspired by an article in Quilting Arts magazine.
She carved the stamp shown at the bottom, and used it to stamp on the background fabric. Then she stamped the same image onto another fabric and cut the images in half. She applied the cut images over the stamped images, giving a blended image. It's an interesting technique with lots of possibilities.

During the day, she was working on this bag, sewing on the handles. She has just a few stitches to go. It looks just beautiful.

Today, Carol was working on a set of ATCs for a swap, but I'll let her tell you about them. Nola added some text on a book she's working on, but it can't be shared just yet. And Helen had some beautiful books to share but the hopeless photographer didn't record them, or anything else she did today! Mea culpa!

More polymer clay

And some photos from the last playday, this time of Helen's polymer clay work. She decided to focus on buttons. She makes a lot of books, which often have buttons and ties as fastenings.

Playing with polymer clay

Rather belatedly, here are some photos of our last playday. We decided to experiment with polymer clay. Carol brought her pasta machine, having decided that making pasta was a thing of the past, and Prue ignored her jet lag to bring her little oven. Nola was using Fimo, while Tricia and Carol had Sculpey. I'm not sure what the others used now (sorry!).

Nola's main aim was to make a name tag for ATASDA meetings. As far as that went, it was a dismal failure, since she wasn't happy with either nametag. One used transparent Fimo, which turned out not to be transparent at all when baked, and had to be carved off again. The second was made from those inevitable leftovers and didn't suit the purpose it was intended for. But she made some beads and other jewellery things:

She also did some imprints from wooden stamps: These will be painted with acrylics and probably given a brush with gold paint or a little Treasure Gold as highlights.

Carol made some beautiful things, which I hope she'll share here. I have photos of just these few, a barrette and some jewellery things: