Hand-Dyed Yarn

 

The other day, I spent a happy nap time in the kitchen with steaming pots of vinegar water, yarn, and dye. I haven't dyed yarns in years (some previous attempts here and here), so I refreshed my memory of the process with a few tutorials and then jumped right in.

 As everyone knows by now, I love making a mess. Dyeing your own yarn is a great way to make a mess. I suggest gloves at the very least, but a full body hazmat suit wouldn't be overboard. I got dye everywhere. Luckily it came out of my jeans, off the floor, and didn't stain the counters. The trick is to get it up quick before it sets.

Anyway, this round was done with food grade dyes on a bulky 100% wool single-ply base yarn. All of these little skeins are destined to become doll hair. Fairy doll hair.

Aren't my pictures nice? I rigged up a tiny home photo studio for about 10 dollars and 20 minutes worth of time. As you can see though the window, there was almost no natural light to be had that day. Ha, mother nature! I got good shots anyway. The how-to for the photo light box is here.

Nekkid No More - Sewing Machine Cover

My new sewing machine (a Singer 4423) is awesome. It was my big Christmas gift this year and I've really enjoyed using it. The only downside is that it came with a less than attractive plastic cover.

I remedied that today with this super simple project. Before I made this sewing machine cover, I looked up a few tutorials but in the end I just measured it, sketched up a rough idea of what each piece should look like and stitched it up. I wasn't able to complete it in one sitting but I would estimate I spent about an hour total.

My sister taught me how to make these easy and cute roses from felt last year. I used up-cycled felted sweaters for both the roses and the leaves, but any felt will do. There's a tutorial on how to make them here.