Happenings in the Stitch Study

You’re probably thinking that I have a lot of time on my hands recently.  You are right.  I’m only employed part-time (working on it), which means: 1) I don’t have a lot of cash at any given moment and 2) I spend many more hours per week sewing.  And blogging, of course.  Right now I’m working on a few different things that I’m going to share together once they’re all done.  In the meantime, I don’t want to go totally silent on here.  So here’s what’s happening:

Experiments in dyeing.

I wasn’t digging the color palette of this piece of fabric, so I thought I’d try to change it.  I’ve dyed stuff before (the notions for a bra blogged here), but I’ve never tried to dye fabric that wasn’t white to begin with.  First, I tried using Rit color remover, but that didn’t work.

Then, I stuck a swatch in a bleach solution, which did absolutely nothing.  I assumed it was a yarn-dyed poly that was here to stay.

Finally, I picked up some iDye Poly (in green) and tried to simply over dye it.  Guys, I stood over this boiling, fuming, stinking pot for almost an hour and I thought I had achieved an okay shade of forest green.  NOPE!  Once I pulled it out and washed it, all I was left with was a green/grey tint.  Very disappointing, but I think I can still make it work for what I have in mind.

BEFORE

AFTER

On a happier note, I threw some bra notions in the pot as well and got some nice shades of green!  The darker bits were left in longer because I had forgotten about them.  Such is life.

Experiments in sewing.

I also made this funky little mesh sweatshirt, just for fun.  I’d had this utility mesh in my stash for a while, and I’d actually been using it for an electron transport chain demonstration for my classes.  I used the Sewaholic Fraser sweatshirt pattern, and used some black ribbing for the cuffs and bands.  It was very easy to put together on my serger.  I just shortened the stitch length to make the stitching more dense.

This is not what I’d normally consider my style, but I was drawn to the idea of a workout wear layering piece.  I’m aiming to look less frumpy in my day-to-day underemployed life.  The problem is I haven’t yet figured out what to wear under it!  It’s way too open weave for just a sports bra.  Suggestions are welcome!

Anyone else doing any experimenting lately?