Dye A Scarf for Spring!

Found this on Martha Stewart's website today and I thought it was so worth trying! (Plus it's inspired by Japanese Indigo! How could I refure?) It has a nice little intro to shibori dye techniques as well. Enjoy!

xoxox -Amy

image from MarthaStewart.com

Inspired by a traditional Japanese textile, this versatile accessory is just a length of fabric and a bottle of dye away. 

Martha Stewart Living, October 2012 

To create traditional Japanese textiles using the shibori technique, a plant was often plucked, fermented, and reduced to make an indigo dye, and then a piece of fabric was folded, compressed, or twisted, bound, and dipped into it. Consider this project a shortcut: To achieve almost the same effect, you need little more than a length of fabric (nearly any fiber will work), a bottle of blue dye, and a few plastic bins. The result is a lightweight scarf perfect for crisp fall days that can be wrapped, dangled around your shoulders, or even worn as a belt. The look is elegant but also as loose as the process itself.

Dip-Dye How-To

Tools and Materials

Scarf
Iron
Clothespins
3 plastic bins
Liquid dye
Dye fixative

1. Accordion-fold scarf. Press with iron, and secure with clothespins. (If scarf is wider than bins, fold in half widthwise after accordion-folding.)
2. Mix dye in a bin according to manufacturer's instructions. Dip scarf's folded edge in dye (the resulting stripe will be twice as wide as the dip).
3. Dip scarf's folded edge in another bin filled with cold water to rinse it.
4. Mix fixative in another bin according to manufacturer's instructions. Dip folded edge in fixative to set.
5. Clip accordion-folded scarf to a clothesline or a pants hanger hung from a broom handle suspended between chairs. Place newspaper or a drop cloth underneath scarf to protect surfaces. Let hang until completely dry, about 1 day.

Choosing a Fabric
Different fabrics soak up color in different ways. Experiment with scraps of fabric, the widths of the accordion folds, and the dilution of the dye. These four scarves are made of, from far left, cotton, bamboo rayon, rayon, and crepe de chine silk. The longer you dip your scarf, the more likely the dye will bleed.
Cotton gauze scarf, 15" by 60", $4.25; bamboo rayon scarf, 11" by 60", $3.50; rayon scarf, 11" by 60", $4.25; and crepe de chine scarf, 15" by 60", $6; dharmatrading.com. Liquid dye, in Denim Blue, Royal Blue, and Aquamarine, $4 for 8 oz.; and dye fixative, $4 for 8 oz.; ritdye.com.

Jury Photos then and Now

PINK! That is all I could think of when I took a look back at my old jury photos yesterday. You know at the time some decisions just seem so right to you? But in reality they really aren't? haha. I just remember thinking at that time, "wow! This pink background is like, so perfect!" Now I look at it and I sort of cringe. Live and learn! This years jury photos I took were much better I thought. But maybe next year I will cringe... haha!

These layered earrings where super time consuming. They look large here but in reality they are pretty tiny. I think people don't realize that smaller pieces usually require more time and work than larger.

This is a slight variation on the opera links necklace.

Wow, so I completely love this brooch. I adore combining Japanese indigo with the bamboo wood look.

These stacking bangles are so fun! Hopefully I will list them in the shops soon.

PINK!!!

Compared to the pink, I like this background much better. For now.

xoxoxox -Amy

First Show Recap

Wanted to say thank you as always to all of my wonderful customers who stopped by the show on Saturday! :)

I love this show because it is held in my old high school. It always brings back good memories. Since this was my first show of the season being close to my house and being a relatively short show was nice. Despite that, I was still exhausted afterward and ended up taking a two hour nap haha!

Now it's time to clean my studio (and house) and get ready to send a collection of my work to New York for the summer!


My next show will be in the heart of Towson at Towson Town Spring Fest!

Xoxoxo - Amy

First Spring Show!

I'll be showing my work tomorrow at Loch Raven High School's Spring Craft Show from 10am - 4 pm! This is my first show of the season so you know I've:

A) drank way too much coffee
B) gotten very little sleep
C) turned my home into a madhouse
D) all of the above

And you thought you'd left school ages ago ;)

Come out and say hello tomorrow!!

Xoxox - Amy

Spring is springing!

An Easter egg inspired statement necklace I created today! Happy spring! Also an observation I made at Trader Joe's last night: kumquats are like so small! Insanity. Like how do you peel them? Or more like who will peel them for me?

Xoxoxo - Amy

St. Patrick's Day Sale! Sun Ah Blair Jewlery Coupon Code

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hope you all are wearing something green! To celebrate I have a special 30% coupon code for my readers that can be used on your total purchase in my Etsy Shop:

EMERALD13

This is a great opportunity to get a little something for yourself or for someone you love at a great discount :)

Coupon code is good through:    03/24/13

xoxoxox -Amy

Remembering Japan

Today we remember the victims of the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami as the second anniversary passes.  You all know how much I love this Country and I thought I would share some of my photos from our trip  just prior to the crisis. Our thoughts and prayers are for the many victims and their families on this day.

-Amy