Two words I will now casually throw around so I sound like I know what it’s all about.
I kid!
I was lucky enough to be invited by the folks (if Evan and Katie, all two of them, can technically be called “the folks”) at Course Horse to attend a little blogger meet-up/shibori indigo dyeing workshop at the Textile Arts Center in the Village. I have zero photos of the other babes (Christine, Sonja, Clio [she of the awesome disclosure statement, lol] and Devra) that made up our fab five, I was too busy folding and clamping and being impatient to throw things into the indigo pot!
And also, my camera phone pics are hardly award winning quality, lol. Luckily, the others were generous with their snaps.
Tricia, Devra, Katie, Me, Addison, Sonja and Christine.
The indigo! This picture (mine ;p) doesn’t capture how truly beautiful it is!!
The space, which was PERFECT for feeling creatively inspired with its exposed brick, big windows and this huge yarn display was the best place to play for a few hours. I’ve been past here tons of times and I don’t think I noticed it…
That’s one of the cool things about Course Horse, especially in the face of all of these new creative space places in NYC, it leads you to the type of class that you want. Someone (a blog reader?? Shout out if you read this!!) once tweeted me for help in finding a place to rent time with a sewing machine while she vacationed here in the city. This site is perfect for hunting down that info. Textile classes?? Bingo! Cooking classes?? Bingo!! Stuff to do with little people?? BINGO!!! lol You guys know I need that info ;o)
I don’t need tons of encouragement to jump into trying new crafts and I certainly don’t need help with buying the tools of the various trades, lol. I took a risk and went anyway. Let me tell you people dyeing is addictive!!
This is our instructor, Addison, showing us some samples and how they were folded to get the resulting pattern. Super groovy stuff!! As soon as we were dispatched to prep, I was off like a shot! Lol
Here are my first three resist attempts, all folded and clamped up:
#1 Accordion folded in three (the long way) and then into triangles.
#2 Accordion folded in three (the long way) and then into squares.
#3 Accordion folded into small sections and pressed between plexi glass.
And my first timer LUCKY results!!
Can you believe that you can get such amazing results from the simple materials and methods I used??
Here’s try #4:
Accordion folded from one end to about a third of the way in and clamped. I started again from the opposite end and folded another third and clamped. Then I folded the middle section and clamped. I added more clamps on the ends and then wrapped rubber bands around the whole bundle.
The result:
I love how the different folding directions and clamp locations made changes in the pattern.
Try #5 was hastily thrown in with no before shot. This was achieved by binding five buttons with rubber bands. The middle button was added last. I think the diamond shape is a result of that.
This one also stayed in the longest, because I totally forgot I put it in there! I was busy wrapping up this one:
I accordion folded the fabric lengthwise and started wrapping at one end, moved to the other and finished in the middle.
I think this one had the best result:
Doesn’t it look like an old bearded man??? Take another look:
Do you see it??? Lie to me, lol
This workshop was truly a blast!! Learning something new and creative is always a great time, but in a group it was extra enjoyable. The conversation was non-stop! Devra and I enjoyed a little fantasy indulging as we imaged being independently wealthy, ladies of leisure taking endless classes in our sunlit studies.
We all had so much in common (as women, sewers, bloggers, New Yorkers….) and all really delighted in the knowledge that we had those things in common. Evan and Katie joined in (look for Katie to start a blog any day now) and Addison encouraged us to try as many methods as we liked. She shared her knowledge freely and answered SO many of our questions. Bloggers are a curious bunch, lol
By the time we were done, the drying line was laden with projects.
And a good time was had by all.
Evidence!
Sonja really is that funny!
