Tag: reuse

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Pojagi Tutorial with bonus ironing

 I can’t be forever dyeing!  Sometimes I like to dig into old news.  A nice big pile of linen can be seriously inspiring.
So are these gorgeous pojagi.  Not really quilts, though pieced like one, a pojagi is a Korean wrapping cloth.  I was suddenly struck with how ugly the curtain on the door to the garage was. It’s been there as long as we’ve owned the house and has always escaped my notice.  It’s a perfect storm!  Drop everything and MAKE STUFF!!
Notice the aluminum square to the left of the pile.  I cut it up with scissors every now and then to sharpen the blades.  It worked for a short time and was helpful because my scissors are overdue for a sharpening.  But I digress – Check out those orange pants.
 They were at my local thrift shop and I had to have them.  They were 100% linen, Ralph Lauren and PINK.  I thought I could dye them brown but stupidly picked up the terra cotta dye (WHY?) and they went horribly orange and – even if I had grabbed brown – fatally splotchy.   I put them into storage for years.
This is one of the first dye jobs I ever did.  Now I know how to pre-treat fabric so it dyes evenly.  But – AND THIS IS IMPORTANT – you have to do stuff wrong first before you do it right to really learn…climbing off soap box… Also, easy come, easy go.  I can always cut things up and make them into something else.
 So, I cut up several linen pieces (5 pairs pants, 1 red dress, 1 white shirt, 1 orange top) and ironed the bejeebers out of them…so satisfying to get rid of those bejeebers.  I then cut them into smaller squares without giving it too much thought.  I wanted random sizes for a crazy quilt look.
Here’s a quick tute on how to make an enclosed seam:
One of the many cool things about pojagi‘s is that they have no wrong side.  I think this kind of seam is called  a flat felled seam but feel free to correct me.  I layered the square on top about 1/2 inch lower than the edge of the bottom square.
 I sewed the seam down at about 1/4 down from the edge of the top square.
 There is a whole lot of ironing involved with this process but linen is happy to be ironed.  I ironed the overlap from the bottom square into the seam allowance.
 Like so.
 Then I sewed along the ironed under edge and voila!  A completely enclosed seam.  For consistency’s sake, I call this the wrong side
 Here’s the right side.  Time to iron it again to give it a clean look.  I’m not gonna lie, I get a lot of satisfaction from ironing linen…I love you, linen.  Sorry, that should have been private. Anyhoo, I actually messed that up once or twice so I have some wrong side seams on my right side and vice versa but it’s a very forgiving process.  I made several panels and then sewed all those together using the same seam.  It was time consuming but I love the result:
 
Tada!  The Final Curtain.  I rushed the end – it was dinner time – so the top is messy.  I should, and one day may, redo it but I’m just going to leave it for now.  It makes me happy.
 
 Here’s one of the other cool things about pojagi, because they are not quilted – they don’t have to be because the seams are totally enclosed – they are as sheer as the fabric used and look amazing with the light behind them.  Perfect for curtains in a place where privacy isn’t important.  I have the best view from inside my garage.
Backside
Since that view just isn’t observed by everyone, I plan on making another for the kitchen window that looks out to the yard.
I feel like the colors have a fun ’70’s vibe. I like being able to follow my nose and make things in an intuitive way. It’s a great project for people who don’t need a plan to follow.  But, I’m sure planners could make a nice tidy pojagi, if that’s what they’re into.
Have fun with it.  I plan on making a totally indigo dyed version after November, when my month of craft sales is over.  Happy sewing…and linen ironing…mmmm..happy…
Find my adventures and lots of fun pictures at Facebook.com/jenniferdyes.  Thanks for stopping
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TBT – Before the blue took over.

I made this a few years ago.  It’s inspired by Korean pogaji wrapping clothes.  Which are hand stitched out of scraps of fabric.  Mine isn’t hand stitched.   FrontI used french seams to stitch together linen that I took from thrifted clothes.  You can see my first ever attempt at dyeing in that blotchy orange.  Then I made into a curtain.

Backside

It’s on my garage door, which I see now is very dusty.  I remember making it as a super enjoyable experience.  I LOVE ironing linen almost as much as it loves being ironed.  You need super high heat and a very steamy iron.  It’s extremely satisfying.

I plan on re-making it in shades of blue.  I have another naked window in my kitchen that needs one, too.  They’re on my “to do one day when I have nothing better to do” list.

Then I took a macro picture –

Macro

because I love macro pictures – which distracted me mightily.  So I’ll just post some of the pictures I then took with my macro lens on:

June Flower CollageI hate to stay too on topic.  Now you can see why I never get to that that to do list.

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Blue or Green

I saw this when I was out and about today:

I thought I would share it in case you need a smile.

Check out this difference.  The green stuff is the dry fabric that soaked in the black bean water for 24 hours.  

The blue stuff is still wet.  I just pulled it out of the dye bath after a 48 hour soak.  

I wonder if it will stay blue or if it will dry green?  I’ll probably never find out.  I did one of those things I probably shouldn’t.  But it’s inevitable, so I did it.  I threw everything in the wash.  

I know I shouldn’t, naturally dyed fabric deserves a gentler treatment than that.  However, not only am I sure to throw them in the wash without really thinking at some point anyway, they are also napkins and dishtowels, they really should be able to handle the wash.  I hope they stay blue, I don’t really care for the green.  I suspect that green may actually come from the mordant.  

They are in the dryer as I type away.  When I pulled them out of the wash, they were pretty pale.  Living and learning, that’s just how I do.  

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A Blue Miracle

Spoiler:  That stinky ass mordant that threw everything cock eyed.

I found an online source that recommended that fabric soak in mordant over night (instead of three days) so I pulled everything out today (please, follow my example and ignore all the dirty dishes on my counter).  I won’t lie to you, pouring various stinky liquids form jar to jar and mixing them all up is fun as hell.  I felt very evil scientist-y.

Backing up, check out these fermenting bean bubbles.

Next time (oh yes, this will happen again), I will try and time it better.  I am sorry to horrify all you frugal bean eaters out there, but I threw the beans away.  I don’t even have room in my frozen compost pile for them.

I think it looks pretty brown here.

Maybe a but purple.  But, when I threw in the mordant soaked fabric,

GREEN!  Muddy green, at that.  It looks greener in real life than in the picture.  I’m pretty disappointed/stoked to play with mordants in the future.  That’s why I will have a next time and I’m not even done with my this time.  Right now, they are lined up on my windowsill, wedged between the proof that I shouldn’t be allowed to have indoor plants.

More tomorrow; I’ll check them in 24 hours, hoping for a blue miracle.

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It Must Be All The Pink.

Just a quick post to let you know that the Mail Art head has arrived!  Really in good shape.  I thought she would have gotten beaten up a bit more.  I’m so glad to be wrong!

Yes, I realized that I called a Styrofoam head a she, what of it!  She’s totally a she; it must be all the pink.

Thanks to feelGR8, who is part of my Mail Art Guild via Ravelry, for sending me pictures and letting me use them here.  

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Learned a Thing

 

I learned a thing!  I’ve been doing more painty stuff than sewy stuff.  I’ve never played with paint before.

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I learned that gesso is a liquid.  Just kidding, sort of.  It is messy and drippy stuff and that doesn’t work well for my purposes because, as you may have guessed, I didn’t notice right away.

 

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Luckily, wax paper is awesome-ly useful stuff.  I knew about the wax paper for patterning altering but not for painting.  I have a new respect for it.

Here’s something I’m still trying to figure out.  Maybe you can help. 


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I found these cool bingo cards at a thrift shop and thought they would make an awesome book.  

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But they are really bowed.  You can’t really see it here.

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But you totally can here.

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So, I clipped them together in the hopes that they would straighten out but they haven’t and it’s been weeks.  Any ideas?  Right now, they are in my bathroom.   I was hoping the steam our showers would help.  Seems a little desperate, even to me.

I love learning new stuff, I try to learn something every chance I get.  I’ve signed up for  LifeBook 2014 Class online and hope to learn a ton there.  Though, I doubt she teaches how to bend cardboard bingo cards to my will.  One never knows. 

 PS – No, I’m NOT done decluttering.  The upstairs looks awesome and one table downstairs is almost clear.  It’s a marathon.  🙂

 

 

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Mail Art For You

A little Mail Art for you.  

Here’s what I started with.

I made sure to leave spaces for the address and postage.

And then went to town with the Sharpies.

I limited the colors and really had to fight the urge to add green in at the end.

I don’t know where she’s going yet but I hope whoever gets her sends pictures of how well she took to travel.  Sorry, it probably won’t be anyone who reads the blog…so I guess it isn’t really for you.  

If I get pictures of her after her travels, I’ll share them here.

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Learning Binge

I’ve joined a weekly art journal challenge thingy.  Our first task: Make shapes and color them in.  I can totally handle that.

I made the shapes in one of my found paper journals.  It’s on a shiny catalog page.  The paper didn’t really take the paint well but I like it anyway.

Here it is after I colored the shapes in.  I like using my found paper journals because they are a mess already so I can’t screw them up.  I only used a few paints but I mixed them up together and changed the colors.  I felt like a kid playing in the mud only with brushes instead of hands.  

I’m having what feels like a learning binge.  I’ve signed up for some online classes and am in serious play mode…like always, I guess but this time I’ve got a purpose…sort of.  Anyway, I’m having so much fun.  

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Process

You may have noticed I’ve been a bit quiet lately.  It because my interests are changing…in a good way.  I LOVE sharing process posts on the things I make.  Knowing that I have a place to share all my mistakes and discoveries is actually a huge inspiration for me.  

It’s easy with quilts because, even though I make them up as I go along, I know I’ll be ending up with a quilt.

But lately, I’ve been fiddling around with a bunch of different mediums. I’ve been making all kinds of stuff and I don’t know, when I start, what I’m going to end up with.  That makes sharing the process part scarier.

But I’ve decided, like I usually do, that “What the Hell” is the road forward for me.  So, with that in mind:

 

Check it out…I’ve been painting cereal boxes…because…they might be journal pages or prints or part of a sign or mail art…something.  

And, I’ve been gesso-ing board books to make…something, probably.  

Playing with goo and paper is really fun.  I do actually have some ideas in mind.  I have some stories I want to tell that I’ll use the board books for.  But that’s something I’ve never really done before and will surely be a messy process.  Hope you’re up for the trip with me.  

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Book Binding Comparison


I made a couple of new books this week.  They’e different but both pretty awesome.

The one on the left is bound using the Coptic Stitch and on the one on the right I used a piano hinge binding.

Coptic stitch is pretty and tidy.

It also makes this really gorgeous braid that looks like knitting.  

One of the best things about it is that it opens flat so it’s great for making art or writing in.

The piano hinge binding, at least the way I make it, is a fabulous chaotic mess.

I used ribbon and skewers and embroidery floss.  I let the strings hang out!

Piano hinge also opens flat.  I think I require that in a handmade book.

They also play well together.  I’d say they both win, but since they aren’t actually competing for anything, that makes no sense.  Didn’t stop me from saying it though.