Finally--feeling creative again!

Been in a rotten mood lately--not sure if it was due to the weather, a boring job that drains the life out of me, or what...I have been sewing, making, dyeing and all that, just haven't bothered to post anything here.

Saturday and Sunday I spent batiking, these are some of the fabric pieces I ended up with:

I use beeswax and parafin, melted together in my electric frying pan, and the high-tech stretching method of push pins on a cardboard box.  Egg cartons are some of my favorites to use for patterns, I save them, and always look on the bottom of the carton to see if there is a different design that I haven't used yet.

This pattern is from the egg carton shown above.

I also used a pool noodle, which melted a bit by the time I was done.  Luckily I can get them at the Dollar Store and cut off a couple of inches as I need them.  Cookie cutters also work great--but the heat from the wax transfers quickly on the metal cutters, so pliers are definitely needed to hold them.

After waxing, I put the pieces on some plastic, and pour on some dyes mixed with soda ash.  Then they get covered and stay in the sun for about 2-3 hours.

 The pieces then have to be boiled to remove the wax, and sometimes I over-dye to get a secondary color.

The blue/green piece above was made with a pool noodle, the middle piece with the flowers was with a cookie cutter, and on the orange piece the polka dots were made with a carrot.

It was a great weekend!