Felt, Nuno Felt, Capes and Awards

I could almost start every post with, "Gosh I've been busy..."  but really I have. Here's some pics to prove it. My entries into this years Royal Brisbane Show - EKKA - and the sections they were in.

Felt Garment 

Accessory

Wall Hanging

Nuno Felt 

Then there are all the gossamer shawls I have been making to order.

And this very special full length one

and these are only the nuno-felts.

There are also the shibori silks

Eventually I'll get some of these listed in my Etsy shop.

Oh, and how did I go at the Show?

Silk Flare Dance Pants

I've been working hard on a number of custom orders for my silk flare belly dance pants. So here are a few pics to show what I mean. If you like them and want to order a custom made pair for yourself go to my etsy store here https://www.etsy.com/shop/BeljaysFeltnArt?section_id=12685339 If you are on Facebook you might like to like my page here http://www.facebook.com/BeljaysFelt

 

 

 

 

 

 

So these are just a few of them and they are going to look gorgeous as a group on stage. They are custom made to fit each lady. Some are very tall and some are very short to you can see the advantage of having them made to measure.

 

 

Silk Flare Pants from start to finish

I thought I'd give you in insight into how I make my silk accessories and clothing. It occurred to me that I should after a conversation with the lovely woman who commissioned this set. She kept asking what colors I had and I'd answer what colors do you want. It wasn't until I said that the silk started out white that she realised what I meant. Sooooo

This is a selection of silks that I begin with.

I then dye the fabric a base color. The fabric is allowed to dry before being folded and stitched to create the shibori patterns.

This then goes into more dye pots, the number depending on the desired outcome.

This is what it looks like partially unfolded.

Here is the same piece of silk fully unfolded but still wet.

And here it is dry and ironed. The colors are rich and lustorous with many subtle shades.

I then sew the silk into the item I am making. This is my little sewing corner. It was a very rainy day when I took this photo but the sense of the garden and light is still good.

And here is the finished set. A pair of Silk Flare Pants and a matching Tushi Tie.

Beautiful Bellydance Pants

Well hello! It's 2013 already! I've been steadily working with new ideas and have now combined two of my passions. Shibori dyeing and Bellydancing.

I have launched a range of pants and hip ties which are made to order, so they fit well. Each piece incorporates a hand-dyed design element, so no two items are exactly the same.

So far I have designed and listed lycra pants, with flared silk lower legs. The silk ripples and flows as you move and feels fantastic against your legs. They look great with a matching Tushi Tail hip skirt or under a full ATS/Tribal style skirt.

I also have a range of lycra straight leg pants with a shibori detail up the sides. These are fantastic paired with a lycra Tushi Tail, or with a coin belt. They are really comfortable and would work well for yoga too.

I am currently working a a few styles of tops to go with the pants, which I should have listed by the end of the month. You will find them here http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeljaysFeltnArt So if you are into dance or yoga, and like something a little bit individual, or have problems finding stretch pants that are long enough or short enough, take a look at my offerings :)

Shibori Workshop

I have just returned from 6 days of textile workshops in Springwood, Blue Mountains, Australia. Run by TAFTA, (click here www.tafta.org.au for more info about this great organisation )this was a phenominal schedule of 2 day and 4 day workshops by wonderful Australian and international textile artists. There were so many areas covered it was hard to choose which ones to attend.

I decided to go to Cathy Moon's 2 day shibori workshop and Lizzie Houghton's 4 day nunofelting workshop (more on that next time). Cathy is a fantastic shibori artist based in Brisbane, QLD. She has many years of experience with textiles and dyeing techniques and was a fabulous teacher, happy to share her wealth of knowledge.

We worked hard over the two days, learning a number of different ways to create stitch resists, clamp resists and tyeing techniques. Cathy oversaw the dye-baths, as we were all busy stitching things in or taking them out.

At the end we hung our beautiful silk pieces up on ferns in the quadrangle to make our shibori tree.

Amazing outcomes, don't you think?

Clowning Around with Felt

Every now and then, you have to explore new things. Different techniques. New materials. Alternative methods of construction.

And sometimes when you do all these things, what you end up with is a bit of a surprise.

This ensemble was designed for a craft show using the circus as the theme. But in doing so, I created some little challenges for myself.

Drafting a pattern for the puffy sleeves from segments of a circle. Multiple layers of shibori dyeing to create the striped silk. And the button holes are constucted from silk paper. I've never made this before so it was fun to research and learn a completely new technique.

I'm kind of happy with the outcome. The added bonus is that I have some new skills to use with the other things I make.