Hand Dyed Thread "Roses"

Painting dye on thread

 New batch of hand dyed thread "Roses" is now listed in my Etsy shop. 

As always, preparing and dyeing the thread by hand is a fair amount of work, so each batch is small and unique!

After the dye has set (cured) I wash the excess dye from the thread in the rinse bath. This is followed by clear water rinses, then the skeins are laid out to dry.

In this project I used Karey Solomon's hand dyed thread (Map of the World) along with Lizbeth thread in Spring Green and Mocha Brown Medium. The pattern is my original, still in progress.

Early Beginnings of a Celtic + Floral Theme

 Wishing everyone happy creativity in 2020!

My first design experiment this year resulted in a necklace combining a simple Celtic motif with encapsulation (tatting over multiple core threads). The brightly colored floral effect comes from bringing out a multicolored thread out from the core to tat with, then returning it back to the core and tatting over it with the main color. I plan to do a better explanation later with a video demo. Also perhaps a better design, but actually I really like this necklace - the wire wrapped beads quiver constantly when worn, making an eye-catching statement!

 The following pictures show bright green tatted chains being woven "over and under" through a tatted brown motif, using a narrow Celtic shuttle. More to come later!

A gift for you: Star Capella video and PDF pattern

Here's the link to my video demo: https://youtu.be/6CQSxeBsU-E

The link to download the PDF pattern: 
https://www.keepandshare.com/doc/8245543/star-capella-pendant-pdf-473k?da=y

The story behind this! 

First of all, I do not tat as fast as the video! The speed has been increased with video technology. In reality, it takes me 2 hours to complete one Star Capella motif. The video lasts about 25 minutes. I increased the speed on much of it and edited out boring parts as well as "bloopers".

I got the idea for this design by playing around with one of my previous free patterns, "2 Way Star". That one is still available from the "My Free Patterns" tab of my blog.

I've been watching some of the longer videos in other crafts while doing my fitness exercises at home. If there's something I really want to try making, I'll refer to it on my tablet or smartphone while making the project, pausing to complete the next step and then continuing the video to see what to do next.

So, I thought I could make a complete project video myself, and include the PDF with detailed instructions. Free because I haven't done any giveaways in a long time. Enjoy!

Trying JTatter's 3D Tatting Platonic Solids

The very talented designer Yulia has an Etsy shop called JTatter, where she sells her unique tatting patterns and tutorials. Many are 3 dimensional and all are stunningly beautiful! I've tried a few of her Platonic Solids and it's making me feel like I'm learning the properties of geometry in a fun way!

Earrings I made from the Tetrahedron pattern by JTatter

Another pair of earrings using the Tetrahedron motif by JTatter

I enjoyed tatting this Icosahedron motif designed by JTatter

My project in Lizbeth metallic thread using JTatter's Platonic Solids tatting tutorial.

Pizazz, Kinetic, and Wire

A fresh batch of Pizazz hand dyed thread is done and listed on Etsy. It's satisfying to see how bright these colors are when dry, since they're darker when the wet dye is applied.

Leaf earrings using Pizazz thread, from the pattern Small Maple Leaf.

Earrings in hand dyed and Lizbeth Metallic from the pattern Kinetic.

I combined tatting with wire wrapping to make this mixed media pendant.
Playing around with more ideas!

Interested in the basic techniques I'm using for wire wrapped tatting pendants?
See my video on YouTube.

CMY Spectrum

I used the "CMY" primary colors: cyan, magenta, and yellow. If you buy printer ink, you'll recognize these as the printer's primaries. Because I wanted to choose the most accurate fiber reactive dye colors for this mix, I looked at the detailed information given on Paula Burch's website.

I needed to rinse out my brush for each color after applying the dye in order to keep the colors clear and bright. So, although only 3 colors were used (the secondary colors came about from the primaries overlapping) it was one of the trickiest batches I've ever done. The results were worth it, I think! They're listed in my Etsy Shop.