Crazy mum and the fluffy

 

"Mum's so crazy, she's crazy about fleece, she's crazy to do felting in the hot days"

Yes, we're into summer but I still crazy about wool felt. Being fibre fanatic wool is my second skin. Like my hair and skin,  wool follows me life long. Last weekend my studio neighbour Z. got some raw fleece from NZ,  freshly shorn from lamb and sheep !

大熱天還攬著毛茸茸, 瘋瘋的. 是喲, 羊毛就好像我的身體髮膚, 無論冬夏總是隨著我走, 這日鄰居給我好大袋的新西蘭原羊毛, 我們先做一小片試試, 好易氈化,好柔軟的, 之後我做了一大片牆上掛飾, 然後加上植物印染, 又可成為冬日肩上被飾.

  

We played a sample with all those 5 breeds.  They're so beautiful, curly and sheen.

 

Not long we felted a piece, so soft and easy felt except for the black one.  I'm not sure what are the species, one should be Romney.

 

My neighbour's so kind to give me a lot. I'm crazy about raw fleece especially the curly ones.  Immediately I made in the studio a wall hanging with all those fleece. 

1) I laid them carefully with the tips up, in the middle left the flat blank white but scattered some mulberry silk.  

2)Turned it over and layered a thin wool

3) Covered with scraps of chiffon as backing and light draping. 

4)  I made it in the both room since it's muddy. 

Less then 1.5 hours finished with the sheen look.

I hang it in the studio.  It looks fine,

Like playing color with euc. Why not put some color on it ?

I dipped the leaves in vinegar, rolled up the bundle and boiled for 1.5 hours.

"Hmmmm, what's the smell?"

"Pleasant? Yap, I love the heavenly smell."

Color added. Leaves sheen with mulberry silk .

The "Before and After" wall hanging.

Indeed I also like the original but keen on experiment of natural prints.  

 

Be it a wall hanging, a table runner or a shoulder wrap in a cold winter.

A bit color is fresh in a gloomy winter.

"Oh mum it's already summer here.  Are you crazy to wrap with all those fluffy?"

Well, refresh with the cool mint in the hot summer.  This is the display of art walk in Stanley where my little studio located. 

Pine and Bottle Brush prints 針松與串錢柳印染

 

Last year I tried the bottle brush (Callistemon Viminalis 串錢柳）on silk, it gives purple. I was wondering how it looks on boiled wool.  The day before I done a piece but not quiet nice and I've to remake with brighter euc leaves. 

去年做了串錢柳印在𢇁料上有明顯粉紫色，日前嘗試印在呢絨上，但效果不什清晰，後加上一兩片按樹葉帶出一點橙色後，總算有些看頭。

  

This is how it looks after I put a few orange euc.  The background purple is the bottle brush shade only.

 

I made three groups on a boiled wool with the leaves picked on the day I strolled along the river.

 

Already April, it's still spring here in Hong Kong.  Sprouts with vivid colours.

 

Me, busy as the egret, looking for something...... walked and walked......

 

Spring - carpet of flowers, refreshed my sights.

Finally found the bottle brush.  I picked a few home.

 

Before and after pictures comparison.

The top picture,  three groups of leaves, all are with casaurina, the left one with bottle brush, others without but with a marigold.  After an hour boiling, the outcome was not very good, I then put the euc to bring out some color.

 

The "before and after" of the one with bottle brush.  The final added euc got a bit orange color.

 

So I found that bottle brush is no good on wool but only on silk.  

Quite rich patterns with Casaurina and euc. Casaurina on boiled wool is my fav so far.

My Pine imprints collection and conclusion 針松印染

 

Since returned from Irit Dulman's workshp of Casaurina (馬尾松) imprints for 2 weeks,  almost everyday Ive been doing experiments with our local pines. Now that I find my conclusion on different fabrics for my own ref. 

這兩星期做了一系列的針松印染實驗, 本地的馬尾松條子不什粗大 , 印在絲料上不大實色, 但在羊毛呢絨上很清晰, 可印出簡潔色調, 日後我會做更多研究.

The coat I made in Israel fits me and my daughter.  Yesterday we're supposed to take outdoor shots.  I like the vivid green or beach shots with my creations.  Too bad it's raining.  No way just took a few in the corner of my urban apartment.

 

Casaurina pines of Israel are very strong, bold and longer.  The layout on the coat is prefect.  No doubt it's under brilliant Irit Dulman's guidance.  It suits my girl well.

 

This was also done in Israel. Prints on silk jersey drapes well.

 

 This is also done in Israel with Casaurina and Camomile on silk jersey.

 

Found our local Casaurina, I tried silk fabric with Camomile from Israel. Pine lines only soft but good that Camomile gave sharp yellow (last blog post of making)

(Regionalism please excuse me, I brought only a few sample for experiment!) 

This is silk chiffon, I laid pines, overlap bundled and boiled in dye pot with turmeric. Looks too much for the overlapped prints.

Still good for styles

This is silk chiffon, I laid little pines, bundled and boiled in dye pot with logwood chips. Of last experiment of overlapped prints, I can control to put only little pines and leave blank and clean.
(last blog post of making)

 

It's a 2-yd silk chiffon,  ways of wrapping.

 

Well, less is more, I just laid very little pines on the "boiled wool" with few bits of euc. (last blog post of making) 

Simply a wrap...

or wrap it a skirt.

Of all the fabrics with pines I love most on boiled wool.

I bought a cotton top less than 1 euro, put two large Castor leaves with a few pines and little onion skins, boiled in logwood dye pot.

 

Leaves and pines are bold but onion brown not much on cotton

 

I tried pines on wool felt.  Made a purse with Finn and Icelandic fleece.

 

Pines on wool felt are not as sharp as on "boiled wool" but still visible.

The day I strolled along the promenade of Tel Aviv, I picked a few stones on the beach .  I made a zipper chain with a stone as embellishment.

  

Intended to make a face but the pines are not strong.

 

Another experiments with a kind of unknown leaves and a few pines on silk.  

I made a tote bag with my handmade ceramic button.

 

Another tote bag with assorted euc leaves and a few banyan tree air root. This is not related to pines but found banyan tree air roots may have lines effect with iron mordant.

 

The cotton T formerly dyed in onion pot with assorted euc and rose leaves but not visible.  Redone with a few pines and two Castor leaves to bring out grey pattern.  My daughter said the T color is urgly just like a site worker's T, too muddy (好似泥工件衫喎!).  

 

I put her another one, I said this one is hand stitched by granny.  She's surprised and said it's pretty.  Indeed this is the second blouse my mother hand stitched.

Last year I gave my mother a cotton fabric with my natural prints and asked her to cut it a T shape then running stitches along both waist lines and shoulders.  She made it and I finally sewed by machine and lined the necklace and arms.  That's simple for me but my mother is 85 years old.  She always said she's no use but I console her she's still mighty.

 

This is the blouse my mother made and my daughter showed in style. 

 

Mother and daughter, we both dressed the blouses my mother made.  

My conclusion of our local pine prints on fabrics is best for "boiled wool" and silk jersey. For my own making of this series I usually do not have mordant on fabrics but pine leaves are iron mordant and placed on damp fabrics.  An hour boiling is more than enough.

 

When my girl was little I used to make her dresses but my mother seldom made for me. 

 Now I'm old she made me. I'll cherish it.

The three generations demo in natural prints.

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This video Irit Dulman reveals her secret of Casaurina prints is amazing. Thanks for her generosity of sharing.