a wee ray i visited on monday at the aquarium in coney island.
i want to share photos of what i’ve been working on ALL DAY but it’s late(ish) and the lighting is non-existant. excuses, excuses. anyway, i dyed so much fabric today that my hands are all stiff and silly. like, they’re not working very well right now. back when i had access to a washing machine (thank you mom and dad) i had no idea how lucky i was. no. idea. hand dying is a labor-intensive project, my friends. imagine agitating (by hand!) two messy 5 gallon buckets (at the same time!) of semi-toxic (known to the state of california to make valerie very anxious) fiber reactive dye in the bathtub for oh…about an hour and a half. now imagine doing two batches in a row and then hauling all of that wet fabric down the street and around the corner to the laundromat where you look both ways before shoving the color-dripping fabric (it does not stain–i washed it with natural/un-dyed yardage to prove it) into the machines before anyone yells at you and there you have the first half of my day. don’t get me wrong, it was awesome. i’m really pleased with the colors i chose and the way they turned out. and i’ve come up with some good, collection-related names for them too. but i’m wiped out!
anyway, i also picked up the screen and had a minor fit when i brought it home and noticed that the little registration marks were not blocked out and the taping job was shoddy at best. but! instead of stewing, i bought some screen filler and then stamped some knit fabric all gingham-wise while i waited for that to dry. the plan was to screen a test yard tonight, but ian gave me a glass of wine with dinner (potato and asparagus pesto pizza) and alas, i’m about to crash. but that’s enough work for one day, right?
one day soon we will have actual items for dear birthday’s fall collection to show you. soon enough.
also, what do you think of tshirts? i woke up this morning with an idea for a drawing and i said it out loud really fast before i forgot it and ian said it sounded good. i was thinking valerian cards (definitely) and maybe a tshirt. but i’m kind of on the fence about printed tshirts in general. people seem to like them though, right? and this would be rather nice. even i might wear it…
…oh so fashionable lady that i am…wearing the same shorts every day…
August 20, 2008 at 10:12 pm |
whew!
valerie… your post reminded me how… exhausted i am (i’ve been sewing all day long with only some blog read breaks and a muffin baking break)… and… more so… really excited for your new dear birthday ventures!
i can’t wait to see the new printed fabrics and the colors… did it dye your hands too? (i batiked with my campers in the beginning of the summer and my hands were red and blue for several days…)
i would happily wear a dear birthday/ valerian printed tshirt… during the many winter months i live in layers and tshirts are an integral part of that! they are only revealed towards the middle of the afternoon when i come in from recess with my kiddies and we’re all taking off all the extra layers! it’s great!
i hope you sleep well tonight… get lots of rest because i want to see photos tomorrow! hehe.
(i’ve been wearing the same jeans all week long… that’s what i do when i’m home sewing… it’s my thing! ha!)
August 20, 2008 at 10:12 pm |
yikes! sorry for the super long comment… i should have just emailed you!
August 21, 2008 at 7:40 am |
hey tiffany! well i wore gloves while dying, but i still managed to stain myself with little splatters here and there. i can’t imagine what gloveless batiking would do!
thank you for your vote (and long comment!)–you’re right, tshirts are integral to layering, which is a must in winter.
good luck with the sewing!
August 21, 2008 at 2:32 pm |
hmmm… would you make the T’s or use pre-made ones? they are definitely a staple, but i wish there was more variety out there, style-wise. though i guess there is now, with Alternative Apparel and others. just avoid American Apparel if you can ;n)
August 21, 2008 at 2:44 pm |
oh god. i hate american apparel! actually, that’s not fair. i super dislike and am totally disgusted by dov charney and therefore his company is dead to me. i’m still smarting from the pain i felt in my heart after reading about his horribleness when i was selling dear birthday printed ts using their bases. i had such high hopes! they had organic before anyone else. alas. dead to me.
i wouldlove to make my own and for a while i was experimenting with reworking thrifted ts for this purpose, but the whole point is to be able to offer something relatively affordable to folks who dig dear birthday but can’t shell out the big bucks for 100% handmade and making them from scratch (or even reworking) involves jjust enough extra time to defeat the purpose.
alternative apparel has organic ts and their wholesale prices are ok. they have nice cuts too, but i’m thinking that in this case something pretty standard might be the way to go.
basically i’m looking for something that would be a pretty easy sell that could fund my more elaborate projects. the ts would be hand-dyed and printed and everything, but no more than $30.
i was looking at their scoop neck t for the ladies and the basic for men..? men are so difficult.
was that a long enough answer?? slow day at work!
August 21, 2008 at 7:52 pm |
wow! I did soooo much fabric dying my first to years at school it was crazy. Then again, we had a whole room set up for it, complete with dying vats, wracks to hang wet wet tapestries, stoves, and large tables. I remember sitting for hours jiggling a large tub so certain areas wouldn’t over-dye. It would have been utterly horrible had I had to run across the street to a laundromat ( probably would have gotten weird looks to!) I haven’t done any home dying, the idea of it kind of intimidates me as I’m so worried about getting stuff everywhere. But I’ve been really wanting to do some shibori , in all my “free time”…haha
August 21, 2008 at 8:49 pm |
i can’t resist american apparel. i was momentarily put off by reported supposed antics of the owner. but it’s media. and do we really know? i kind of reverted back to buying from them. um, minimally. they get basics so right.
August 22, 2008 at 8:51 am |
good point, tara swan, we might not know the whole story.
however.
i think that the number and frequency of complaints about him, coupled with the lawsuits and his general sleaziness illustrate a kind of sociopathy that personally, i’d rather not perpetuate through my support.
obviously my moral outrage and refusal to give some tiny sum toward the building of his empire is no skin of his back, but it makes me feel better.
also, he’s canadian.
(just kidding! i love you canucks.)