OBV facial pads restocked

I have just restocked the obv facial pads available in my Folksy store. These are my best selling item and always sell out.
These gorgeously cuddly and colourful facial pads are ideal for use with cleansing creams. The outers are soft organic bamboo velour (70% bamboo, 28% organic cotton and 2% polyester) and inside is a layer of organic hemp/cotton (55% hemp, 45% organic cotton). These are hand dyed with procion mx and colours will vary. You will receive a set of 4 tied with a co-ordinating ribbon. £5 plus 50p postage.

The Altered Element - Motherhood Diptych

I recently received this superb wooden diptych from The Altered Element and knew straight away that I wanted it to be decorated in a tribute to motherhood. The base was gesso'd then painted with several light layers of cream acrylic and reed Decoupaint Antik. The edges were given a light brush of old gold Decoupaint Patina. I gently dyed some vintage pages on an old 'Book of Common Prayer' in tea, these pages were from the Service for Churching (a medieval service used when mothers returned to church after giving birth) and Child Baptism. These were then carefully sewn to ripped white butter muslin (cheescloth) in a red feathered straight stitch. They were adhered to the base using collage medium, creating a slight tranparency to the fragile pages. Lastly I addded images by Artchix and some vintage buttons.

A rusty bustle skirt - Alter It Monthly entry

When I saw that September's theme at http://alteritmonthly.blogspot.com was rust I just couldn't resist having a go. You see, I've been boring my family silly for months with rust dyeing. It started when dh found a bowl of rusty nails while building our new chicken shed. Since then I have used it to dye calico, muslin, bamboo velour (going to make a lovely hoody from that) and there's some silk in there at the mo. So I thought I'd create a rusty bustle skirt for this month's entry - maybe I should call it a rustle skirt.




I used a rust dyed Sanderson curtain with rust dyed calico for the main skirt. The pocket is a rust dyed cluny lace table mat which has been sewn on in a feathered straight stitch.


I used some rust dyed vintage cluny lace for the waist decoration, machine stitched the word 'rust' then accented it with some rusty discs from the dyeing bowl.



The waist ties are made with rust coloured bias binding and have a clock face and key dangling from the ends.


I think it has quite a steampunk feel.

UKStampers mail art swap

I recently received this beautifully stamped card as part of a mail art swap on UKStampers :)


Thank you LME, it is lovely and the colours are very me.

Simple strip quilt

This quilt is a basic strip quilt using a Bar Harbor scrap bag for the strips and a pair of vintage Sanderson floral curtains with oriental bird design for sashing and backing. The batting is organic cotton and it is quilted 'in the ditch' around the strips. This quilt is destined for our bedroom once it is re-decorated.

Altered Element DT - Dainty apron

In the August DT pack I had a lino cutting kit which I used to design a greek horse stamp. I decided to experiment further with the stamp using Jacquard Lumiere, my favourite fabric paint with it's great texture and slight shimmer. The greek horse seemed to lend itself well to a vintage nursery theme so I set out to evoke a bygone era with a dainty apron.
This apron, made to my own design in heavy unbleached loomstate calico, has been stamped with Jacquard Lumiere which has then been heat set with an iron. Accents are provide by stitched framing, muslin layering and a variety of machine stitching in red. It is finished with red tulle ties. Being wearable art, it is designed to be worn and can be washed gently at a low temperature. Pretty but practical.

Bark - nuno felted scarf

My play with procion mx dyes and scrim/cheesecloth produced some colourful pieces of fabric ideal for nuno felting (felting wool onto fabric). To do this the fabric needs to be fine and loosely woven, making scrim ideal. Methods of felting do vary and I don't stick religiously to any one method.


I took a piece of dyed scrim and cut it to the required length - the felting process will shrink it by 20-30%. I decided not to finish the edges as I wanted a more organic, unstructured look. On my table were towels and bubble wrap, which I laid the fabric onto. I layered wool roving in random directions, overlapping yet leaving some areas free from wool, adding a touch of wensleydale fibres to the edges. I layered quite thickly as I wanted a bark-like effect but a finer scarf would need much less wool. I then covered the area with net and sprayed with cool soapy water. I did not use warm water yet as I wanted the fibres to start to adhere to the fabric before felting.


I then rubbed soap over the net and rubbed the fabric until the fibres had travelled through the fabric, initially patting down, then using circular movements. Occasionally I had to lift the net as the fibres were attaching to that.
Once the fibres were adhered and no longer moved around I removed the net, placed bubble wrap on top and rolled the scarf around a piece of swimming noodle, securing it with elastic bands. I rolled it 100 hundred times from each end, then rinsed in hot water and repeated this several times. It is important to change sides and direction for even felting.
I then removed the scarf from the noodle, stretching it into shape. I submerged it in hot water and it was the folded into a parcel and thrown onto the floor 25 times, opened and refolded and repeated - this was done several times. Finally it was rinsed in cold water and dried.

The places without wool have developed delightful puckers and gathers, with great texture. A lovely autumnal scarf.

Cotton scrim, procion mx, wool roving and fibres are all available from The Altered Element.