Wishing for Spring

Here is a picture of the Rust-Tex dye studio that I took today.

Will that pile of snow ever melt so I can start rust dyeing again?

This year in Madison, WI we broke the previous most snow for a season. We are at 83" and more is on the way!

Stars and Stripes Forever!!!

Here is a photo of one of the Stars and Stripes T-Shirt I have been making.There are super easy. I use the industrial waste from the stars I had cut for the Image Transfer Kit and a bit of rebar a thoughtful friend brought me.

You can see this shirt is too big for my model, "Theresa". She is a size 4. The shirt is a 2x. In order for Theresa to live in my studio, she has to model ALL the wearables, what ever size they are. I guess we are in agreement on that point because she never argues with me.

Maps Rayon Top

Here are photos of the Rayon top I said I would post.

Of course you want to see the finished product, so...

TA DA!!!

The next picture is of the initial set up. I used rubber bands to hold two rusty cake pans together. The rayon top was wrapped around them and held in place with more rubber bands. Copper wire was wrapped round and round and round. I used three time as much wire on this than I usually use.

You can see the texture of the cake pans near the top of the set up. You can not see the rubber bands because they are white and blend into the shirt. The rubber bands are very visible in the photo below. I took this photo after I removed the copper wire while it was still wrapped around the cake pans.

I was hoping to get a stronger liner pattern on the shirt. But I am not unhappy with the way it turned out.

Weather Forecast

Here is the 5 day forecast from todays newspaper.

There are thunderstorms expected all week. So why is the local meteorologist smiling? Is he evil? No he just knows this is the perfect weather to make "Trees" fabrics, which is what I always sell out of before the rust dye season starts again.
The opportunity to create "Trees" fabric did not occur earlier this summer because we had a really dry June and July. With rain in the forecast, I am happily making "Trees", "Maps", and even trying a "Stars and Stripes" t-shirt. I am making another attempt at a "Trees" t-shirt. Tomorrow I will post a picture of a fabulous "Maps" rayon top!

A Rainy Day in Wisconsin

I knew it was going to rain today so why I did some Stormy Skies set ups yesterday is beyond me!!!
I guess I was tried of doing black dye baths for t-shirts. And felt like doing something more creative.
I set up this little linen piece that had just the perfect place for a landscape in the oval embroidery.

Here is the original set up.

I use that little rake to shape the fabric wrinkles. The rubber gloves I wear don't allow for such fine detail work.

Here is the same piece about and hour later.

An hour after that.

I was worried that the area inside the oval would never turn black. Then it got too dark to take any more pictures.

First thing in the morning, taken while it is still wet from the rain

In the morning things turned out just perfect.
After the rinse out (which I did in the basement because it WAS raining hard this morning) I ended up with this.Neat, Huh?

Cookie Sheet Revival

I was able to make another heart on the cookie sheet that collapsed last week. Here is the set up. By being very careful I was able to make one the biggest rust flakes into a heart shape. I raised it up from the rest of the cookie sheet by putting it on a small piece of wood. Hopefully this will create a white line around the heart. The red is from quebracho red, a South American tree that is high in tannin. I have been experimenting with it to try and get more colors into my rust dyed fabrics. I will post the results tomorrow.

Right now IT IS almost tomorrow. I have to go to bed so I can get a lot of rust dyeing done tomorrow.

Today is Beautiful

RUST-TEX REPORT FOR TODAY

FIRST THE GOOD NEWS

The storm I posted about on Wednesday totally missed Madison!!!

THEN THE BAD NEWS

It came through northern Wisconsin with a vengeance. 5 tornadoes touched down and baseball sized hail did a lot of damage. No one died. A canoe was jammed into a tree.

MORE BAD NEWS

Today is a perfect day for rust dyeing but I have too much to do to take advantage of it. My youngest daughter is graduating from high school on June 17, so we went to some graduation parties today and will go to some more tomorrow. I am also working hard to finish up a commission t-shirt quilt for someone graduating that same day. I have had the t-shirts since January so the parents won't be happy if it is not done in time. I will be putting the binding on tonight, even though all the quilting isn't done. I can only quilt about 30 minutes a day before my shoulder starts to hurt. And I can only hand sew the binding about an hour a day before that starts to cause pain so...

I gotta go get to work.

No More Hearts from this Cookie Sheet

It looks like a squirrel ran across this cookie sheet and "done it in". I guess I won't be able to get any more hearts from it and no dinosaurs either, just a bunch of rust flakes.
The weather around here has not been cooperating with the Rust-Tex production schedule!!! Most of this week has been too wet to work. Tomorrow evening we are expecting a mighty storm with strong winds to blow through here. My DH wants me to REALLY batter down the hatches. I don't mind putting it away, but getting everything set up and running again takes too much of my daily energy, not leaving very much for the fun stuff.

The Rust-Tex Report for Today

What I have to report today is that I have just spent several hours adding to the scarf gallery at Rust-Tex.Com. You should go take a look because I am too computered out to post anything here.