The cost of frugality

April 4, 2018 - JenKen Leave a comment

Tie dyed Flour Sack towels in spring colors

Just finished up some fresh Flour Sack Towels tie-dyed in spring colors!

This batch differs from the other Shibori dyed Tea Towels that I have made/and sold for months. In the past, had sourced some pre-hemmed towels of good, consistant quality that I could dye “as-is” – that is, without having to sew up cotton towels myself. But then I found a new source and these were offered at a REALLY good price online. When they arrived at my studio I found out why they were so much cheaper than the ones I have been getting. These new, cheap “Flour Sack” weight cotton towels are much lighter in weight than the “Tea Towel” weight ones. Ruh-roh.

Truth be told, they are actually great quality for what they are – they just aren’t what I thought they would be. Some bargains come with a cost, it seems.

So I learned a little lesson in frugality, but I learned a little more about Shibori tie-dye craft as well. You see, the different weights of cotton fold differently and soak up dye differently. The lighter weight of the “Flour Sack” style allowed for easier folding of the Spiral pattern and the Mandala pattern than the heavier – and stiffer – Tea Towel weight. However, the sturdier “Tea Towel” weight lends itself much better to the more structured Diamond and Web folds, the finished product has a much crisper line than those of the “Flour Sack” weight.

Ah well! Always happy to add to the vault of crafty knowledge!

By the way, the batch of “Flour Sack” Tie-Dyed Tea Towels is headed to Minnesota for the St Paul Art Crawl, April 27th – 29th 2018. My work (the tie-dyed Towels, Baby Onesies and other hand-dyed accessories) appear as part of a collective showing at the Crawl @ Carleton Artist Lofts. If you need a little art and/inspiration in your life (who doesn’t??!) and you live near the Twin Cities, do the Crawl!

Shibori is my new favorite

January 13, 2018 - JenKen 1 Comment

Officially ga-ga for shibori.

Shibori dyed Tea Towel in pumpkin orange

I have been Shibori-ing up a storm – not just because it’s my new favorite crafty technique, but because I couldn’t keep the products in my Etsy store! (Ahem, #humblebrag.)

Purple + Lavender Shibori dyed Tea Towel set

I’m not complaining, though.

After an experimental phase (documented in part in this post) through the spring and summer, I learned some really cool folding patterns that dyed up beautifully. Unfortunately, the finished results wouldn’t work for what I had planned. You see, I had been looking for ways to make my own unique cotton fabric for the cotton pouches I sell at BohoQuest, but the shibori patterns were too big. They wouldn’t translate into the small drawstring bags.

Then I had the brainstorm that the large geometric patterns might work on something else. Something that could hold – nay, that required a bigger pattern. Something home decor-y.

Tea Towels?

Et voila:

And that dovetails nicely with the running theme of my blog – that unexpected results can lead to unexpected victories! Sometimes you just have to let go of your plan and embrace the journey your craft has for you.