I like this style. For a cloth mask, I don’t think the front seam affects permeability, and it allows for a more comfortable shape along the top edge. Small tucks keep the lower edge under and around your chin. The outer of these is a fairly tight woven, natural dyed cotton. The lining is a…… Continue reading canary mask & pattern
black walnuts
It was a good year for roadside walnuts. In six years, I have yet to meet anyone not pleased to see them taken away. Among other things, I did some basic shibori with the dark brown dye bath. The browns are beautiful. Sometimes people comment on the colours I wear. There’s something noticeable about them.…… Continue reading black walnuts
natural dyed thread
Current natural dyed organic cotton thread colours – yarrow – goldenrod – wild carrot – tansy – onion skin – black bean – sumac grey – sumac purple – cochineal mauve – cochineal rose – cochineal pale pink- annatto black walnut – annatto
indigo thread
Current organic cotton natural indigo shades – dark – medium dark melange – medium bright – bright mix – light- woad – indigo/weld – woad/weld
sewing with the birds
It is nice to set up the treadle machine outside. Canary thread works well in the made-in-Guelph Raymond, which has a shuttle style bobbin. The peacock decals on the machine bed have worn off. The leather belt needed tightening. These pliers are made to cut hide belts (industrial ones are thicker and were originally buffalo),…… Continue reading sewing with the birds
boro time
Love of handstitching, indigo, Japanese textiles and mending inevitably leads to boro, from the Japanese boroboro – something tattered or repaired. It was traditionally done with hemp. I adapted it for my merino wool jersey tights, using scraps dyed with indigo, sumac and black walnuts. Boro is historically associated with peasant farm workers, who patched…… Continue reading boro time
early spring
Mother Nature is all around. Adding to the Dragonfly jacket-in-progress. Plant dyed thread, Snowdrops on Eramosa. Yarrow coming through pavement Robin friends are back
Goethe’s mystic colour theory
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published Theory of Colours in 1810. He disagreed with Isaac Newton’s famous 1672 optical spectrum analysis, and was more interested in how colour is perceived. Enlightenment artists and scientists were very engaged with quantifying colour. In 1708, French painter Claude Boutet based the above wheels on Newton’s findings. In 1775, Austrian…… Continue reading Goethe’s mystic colour theory
year of the dragonfly
Chainstitch embroidery on hemp, in Canary’s natural dyed organic cotton thread.
organic hand dyed thread
Canary naturally hand-dyed organic cotton thread in a variety of colours is now available here, and also on Etsy. It’s a sturdy weight that works well for machine or hand stitching. It does not contain any synthetic dye or fibres. Spooled on kraft cardboard tubes. No plastic packaging or shipping materials.