Wednesday, March 7, 2012

face cloth



I had this idea to make a face cloth. Aren't faces so easy to envision and then so darn hard to stitch? They are for me, so I printed out an outline for this first one. I'm not sure that it won't be torn out within the next hour. I tear out nearly everything I stitch, it's always one step forward, three steps backward. But it seems like a less solid line of stitching would make this face more ethereal -- or maybe thread with less contrast would do that, too.

There's a pot of stone soup brewing -- a few more have been added, some real, some wool.

Has anyone dyed silk cloth in a black-bean dye-bath? I'm choosing to start with silk because from nearly all accounts, a thorough mordanting is necessary. I want to skip the mordant and see what happens. If you've black-beaned anything, I'd love to learn from your experiences.

Make full moon art! The full moon is approaching -- where I live in the US it'll be early morning on Thursday, March 8.  Share your stitching, photos, drawings, paintings, poetry, etc. by leaving a link in Friday's comments or email me over the next few days!

See you again when the moon is full!


16 comments:

  1. wow. can't wait to see silk come out of that black bean dye bath...organic beans, no less. that's a pretty expensive dye bath. i don't mordant any of my silk and it works just fine.
    i just love your 'face cloth'. that's not what i expected to see when i saw the title of your post.

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    1. Deanna, thanks -- yes, a different kind of face cloth! The dye-bath is brewing -- then I'll be cooking the beans for soup so it's also a meal. ;-)

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  2. Faces are so hard, especially if you are doing a line stitching. The natural shading is missing, so they often look flat. I hadn't thought of black bean dye. I read about black soy beans for dyeing, but haven't found any yet. Looking forward to seeing your results. Have a happy!

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    1. Jeannie, are they ever hard, I honestly had nooooo idea. Something to play with, I guess. It's a full moon dye-bath, haven't put any fiber in yet, will show it if anything happens. Or not!

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  3. I am afraid of faces...they never come out as I wish! But you have given me a good idea for a moon face :) And you've reminded me that the greenish doily is outside in the dye pot (the smell of onions was getting to me!) Will watch for more of this pretty face.

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    1. Nancy, glad something came to you!! I'm pretty much not happy with this face but have held back from tearing it out like I wanted to. I get sort of reactive to any of my work that I don't like -- destroy the evidence as fast as I can!! I wonder how your doily looks, I'll be by to see you!

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  4. I was hoping for a Moon tonight, but it turned cloudy, so all I could see was a smiling crescent peeking between the clouds. But that may be just fine for my Moon Art!

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    1. Jo, I'll be hoping for clear skies tonight, too. I think it may just happen, it's like summer outside right now...

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  5. Faces are a tricky think to stitch and I always draw mine with a chalk pencil
    or a disappearing ink fabric pen. Even then, the face comes out the way it
    wants to when you begin stitching. Remember my doll face. I ripped it out probably
    3 times to get the face I wanted.
    Black beans for dye??? I have never heard of that...but I will say I love eating black
    beans! : )
    I look forward to seeing how your silk turns out. Fun!
    Happy full moon <3

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    1. Marie, I was thinking about you when I was working on this because you've created more than a few wonderful faces -- obviously I need to keep it simple, VERY simple! Yes, black beans for the dye-pot and after that, the soup-pot! I'll keep you posted. Happy full moon to you!

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  6. faces are hard. i have a few unfinished ones in my piles. but yours looks like a lovely start. it makes me think of a cameo and still love your stones.

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    1. Cindy, you're right, it looks very cameo-like. We'll see about whether I continue with it or not....!

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  7. I like your ambiguous title, and the beautifully serene face you're stitching...look forward to seeing her finished. It must be rip out and start again time, for I've done that too. I had an idea to stitch an archway and stepping stones for my full moon art, but the Moon had other ideas! My art is now posted on my blog..and I have to say, I just love this process where my mind is making decisions, but my inner wise woman has other ideas...and they're spot on!

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    1. Nanette, yes, not your everyday facecloth, I guess! ;-) We've just got to follow the threads...or the hands.... or anything but the mind!

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  8. Your stone soup made me smile... Really curious about how your dye bath turns out.

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  9. Glad to hear that, Deb. Posted the outcome today (moonday).

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