FiberLAB

2010-11-14T22:37:00.002-06:00

On August 13th, Lee Ann Bell unexpectedly, and tragically passed away in her sleep.

Lee Ann was such an amazing creative person, with a want for knowledge that drove her creative spark and and desire for appreciation of her works. She had a sharp wit and a dry sense of humor with a laugh the would light up your soul. She is missed every moment.

A quick print

2010-08-06T20:13:00.003-05:00

A little print that just fell out of the sky for me. I hope you'll let me know what you think of it!

New Print Redux

2010-07-30T19:07:00.002-05:00

I've reworked this print and I'm much happier now with how it looks repeated.

Silk Organza Itajime Kimono Jacket

2010-07-14T13:51:00.003-05:00

Itajime dyed silk organza. I dyed it navy then folded and clamped it, discharged it in thiox then while it was still folded and clamped, overdyed it red. Tomboy Design created the kimono pattern and finished it. The organza is double layered to make it less sheer and to create an interesting pattern in the background. I hope you like it! I just love it so much!

ity knit floral

2010-07-02T16:31:00.003-05:00

Here's a pattern I designed for an ity knit. Hopefully you will like them!

Organza Itajime

2010-06-16T14:35:00.004-05:00

Sheer silk organza dyed navy then folded and clamped and discharged then overdyed with oxblood red. I'm thrilled with it!

Fish and water print

2010-05-23T14:18:00.003-05:00

A new print! I think I'm going to make a duvet cover out of it. I'm really pleased with this one. I've been thinking about how to do it now for about a year, finally I have a solution!

Ladies Bamboo Socks

2010-05-19T14:17:00.002-05:00

New Bamboo Socks for the ladies! Hope you like them!

Art in the Vines

2010-05-18T13:16:00.003-05:00

I'll be at Somerset Ridge Winery on June 12th for an art show. Lots of great artists and being out in the vinyard sounds like a great way to spend the day! Hope you can come!

Blue Stitched Rayon Scarf

2010-04-26T21:31:00.002-05:00

Stitched rayon shibori scarf. I've been busy! Lots of new posts.

Pink and Blue Twist Shibori Rayon Scarf

2010-04-26T21:30:00.000-05:00

Teal and Yellow Twist Shibori Rayon Scarf

2010-04-26T21:29:00.004-05:00

Eggplant stitched rayon scarf

2010-04-26T21:29:00.002-05:00

Blue and Tan Twist Shibori Scarf

2010-04-26T21:28:00.000-05:00

Purple Stitched Silk Shibori Scarf

2010-04-26T21:26:00.001-05:00

Purple stitched silk charmeuse scarf.

Brown Tied Shibori Silk Scarf

2010-04-26T21:24:00.002-05:00

A silk charmeuse tied shibori scarf. The colors are subtle but I think the photo shows it well.

Black Rayon Discharge Yardage

2010-04-25T20:19:00.002-05:00

3 yards of black rayon that I stitched, tied and then discharged in bleach. I'm thrilled with it. The rayon has a great hand to the fabric, I've really enjoyed working with it.

Yellow Bomaki Rayon Yardage

2010-04-25T20:17:00.002-05:00

A gradated rayon piece. Yellows to red. I'm really pleased with this. I did this pattern before on silk and had a hoodie made from it.

Eggplant stitched rayon scarf

2010-04-23T13:42:00.003-05:00

Eggplant stitched rayon scarf. I am really liking the rayon scarves, they take the dye beautifully and feel great. They have a nice hand to the fabric and drape wonderfully.

Pink Stitched Shibori Rayon Scarf

2010-04-22T13:05:00.001-05:00

New stitched shibori rayon scarf. I just love this pattern.

Pink Shibori Rayon Scarf

2010-04-22T13:04:00.001-05:00

Spring colors, circles and stripes. It just makes me happy.

Blue Stitched Rayon Scarf

2010-04-16T17:32:00.001-05:00

Stitched shibori rayon scarf. And yes, the blue is this intense.

Blue Tied Rayon Scarf

2010-04-16T17:31:00.002-05:00

Tied rayon scarf with spiderwebs and stripes.

Baby Socks

2010-04-16T17:30:00.002-05:00

Bamboo shibori baby socks!

Purple Silk Shibori

2010-04-16T17:28:00.001-05:00

Three yards of silk charmeuse with circles and stripes.

Black Silk Sublimation Scarf

2010-03-29T18:04:00.003-05:00

This is a black silk with sublimated polyester tips. Our neighbor had a great dogwood tree that I photographed last spring and changed the background to black and transferred the image to some polyester fabric. What do you think?

Green Swirls Sublimation Scarf

2010-03-25T19:33:00.004-05:00

This is a different colorway for the swirls print. I think it looks pretty spring-ey. It's silk with polyester printed tips.

Aqua Stitched Shibori Rayon Scarf

2010-03-11T15:09:00.003-06:00

A simple stitched shibori scarf. It's a nice medium weight rayon, took the dye beautifully.

Silk Discharge Yardage

2010-03-10T19:08:00.002-06:00

This was a black silk charmeuse piece that I tied and then discharged.

Black Silk Discharge Scarf

2010-03-10T19:07:00.002-06:00

This is a stitched shibori scarf that was black and I discharged it to the brown you see.

Green Swirls Sublimation Scarf

2010-03-04T13:39:00.003-06:00

Spring colors sublimation print scarf, silk with polyester printed tips.

Green Fish Print Scarf

2010-03-03T20:03:00.003-06:00

I had the fish net design printed on jersey and had a shirt made and some ties, which came out well, and decided to do the sublimated and dyed print on the cotton/polyester fabric which I've used quite a bit. I think it made a nice scarf with the fish print as the tips and the sublimation print on dyed fabric as the body.

Aqua Shibori Brocade Scarf

2010-03-03T19:45:00.003-06:00

Spring colors for this year. A combination of silk charmeuse shibori and polyester sublimation tips. Hope you like it. I've enjoyed working in some lighter colors for spring after such a cold and long winter!

Silk Velvet Indigo Shibori

2009-12-05T18:08:00.002-06:00

Here's how the piece below came out once I had dyed it. It took so long to tie up, but the result is definitely worth all the work.

Indigo Velvet

2009-08-25T20:38:00.003-05:00

I thought I'd show a before picture. This is silk velvet all tied up and ready to dip in the indigo vat. It took a while to tie these 3 yards up.

Velvet Pillow

2009-08-25T16:47:00.003-05:00

This is the front piece for a pillow that is about 60" long. I made up the quote myself and did the sublimation on a very long piece of paper to transfer it to the polyester velvet. I was thrilled with the result and so were my folks, who are the recipient.

Chiffon Dishcharge

2009-08-25T16:23:00.003-05:00

I did a black chiffon tied discharge for this piece. I can do approximately 3 yards at a time, otherwise it looks too black. I'm very happy with the result. Hope you are too!

Sublimation Print

2009-08-25T16:12:00.002-05:00

This is a sublimation print with neutrals and cyan. I just did it as a sample, but it can be made to any length.

Black Satin Itajime Discharge

2009-08-25T16:11:00.001-05:00

I did the tortise shell itajime on this black satin as a discharge. Took 6 hours to get to these colors, but I'm pleased. Very dramatic. I think it would look good as a vest or jacket.

Indigo Bamboo Itajime

2009-08-25T16:09:00.003-05:00

3 Yards of bamboo which I did the tortise shell itajime on. Feels wonderful.

Chiffon Discharge Yardage

2009-08-05T14:03:00.002-05:00

Here is the last of my discharge work for today. An itajime tortishell pattern.

Chiffon Discharge Yardage

2009-08-05T14:02:00.001-05:00

I've worked with this pattern and style of tyeing and discharging before. This one however is spaced a little differently.

Raspberry Itajime Scarf

2009-08-05T14:00:00.001-05:00

More from the discharge pot. I really like the colors in this one.

Raspberry Arashi Scarf

2009-08-05T13:59:00.001-05:00

Today I decided to do some discharge and here is one of the results. I'm very pleased, I like how it varies in depth from thin lines to thick.

Indigo Class

2009-08-05T12:40:00.007-05:00

I finished my indigo class last Saturday so here are some of the things I did while I was in class. Hope you like them!

Indigo Class

2009-07-20T15:03:00.005-05:00

I'm taking a class on indigo dying and here are some of my class projects. I really like the scarves and plan on doing some more of them. I'll keep you posted. There are two more class sessions planned.

2009-05-21T08:50:00.002-05:00

Two images of work I just finished for a client here in KC. I'm happy I got to do this new work! It was exciting to get out of my box and do some new stuff. The scarf was a real learning experience!

Anniversary Pillow

2009-05-13T16:47:00.003-05:00

This is a piece of velvet I printed for my parents anniversary. My quote and design. It's large, 45" wide by around 12" tall, so it covers the head of the bed. It took quite a long time to do, but I am very pleased with the results.

Brocade/Bomaki scarves

2009-04-25T17:15:00.003-05:00

Combination of sublimation and shibori! I'm really happy with these.

Purple Itajime discharged scarf

2009-04-25T17:15:00.001-05:00

Purple Discharged scarves

2009-04-25T17:13:00.000-05:00

Green Squares scarf

2009-04-25T17:12:00.001-05:00

Green squares done by way of discharged itajime.

Pink Arashi scarf

2009-04-25T17:11:00.000-05:00

A discharged pink arashi shibori scarf.

Brown Organza

2009-04-25T17:09:00.001-05:00

This is some brown organza which was originally black and I discharged it to brown. I'm pleased with the result.

Spring Bomaki

2009-03-25T21:56:00.003-05:00

Spring is here! And so is spring colored bomaki. Purples, light blues, light greens, and a deep pink. Made me think of easter, it was a lot of fun to work with and I'm glad I have 6 yards of it. It did take two rounds on the pole to get it just so, but well worth the extra work.

Discharged Batik

2009-03-25T21:53:00.003-05:00

This is the same purchased finished fabric that the "starry batik" is on. This piece however, I did using the bomaki method. I really like it. It reminds me of water at night.

Discharged Batik - Starry Batik

2009-03-25T21:51:00.004-05:00

This is another piece of purchased finished fabric which I then discharged using screen printing. I think it is fun. I don't know that I would want a lot of it, but I like the small 9x12 size that I created.

Discharged Batik

2009-03-25T21:47:00.003-05:00

This was a purchased prepared finished piece of fabric that was in the batik style that I gathered up and wrapped in spiderweb style all different sizes all over the fabric then discharged. It came out very different than the original which was a dark purple and orange batik with teal accents. It was a good experiment!

Out of the Archives - for a good viewing

2009-01-10T15:39:00.005-06:00

You have just seen this one on the blog, but I'm proud of it. It's the latest sublimation print, the fish/net with the blue background. It was a good experiment and I'm pleased it worked out. It was great fun to do and a lot of fun to print.

Here is the neutral checkerboard print sublimated poly cotton. I made this into a duvet cover for my parents, and it's also being made into a dress. The fabric is nice and light and has a fabulous hand to it. I really like this technique and this print. It's a lot of fun to do.

The Silver satin bomaki and the Black satin bomaki. The black has been made into some shrugs by Sophie and Gwendallyn and you can get one at Haught Style. The silver was made into a cute cowl neck top, but I think it would make a fabulous mother of the bride suit, whether with pants or a straight skirt.

The Green Silk, the Pink Silk, and the Yellow Silk. The green silk was made into a dress, but I still have close to 10 yards of it, and the yellow silk was made into a beach hoodie and is nothing but scraps now. The pink silk, I have 3 yards of and noone seems to know what to do with it. It's not my usual color choices, I was taking a risk. I guess that's just what happens.

The bronze bomaki. This one has been made into jackets and scarves by Sophie and Gwendolynn, and they are for sale at Haught Style in Prairie Village (that's in Kansas folks).

Blue Fish/net Sublimation Print

2009-01-08T19:14:00.004-06:00

This is a new sublimation print that I'm working on now. Similar to the others, yet with a tinted background and a different all over print distorted throughout the piece.

Blue Fish/net Sublimation Print

2009-01-08T19:13:00.002-06:00

Here's an up close look at the print.

Duvet Cover

2009-01-06T13:16:00.001-06:00

This is a duvet cover I made for my parents for Christmas out of the neutral checker print. I'm pleased with it. It feels great and has a great weight to it. Just perfect for snuggling down on a cold winter's night.

New Print - Birds Neutral Colorway

2009-01-03T20:49:00.002-06:00

And here is the neutral (kind of more green really) colorway for the bird print. I think I like the neutral better than the color print, tho that's a tough call on this one. I really like both of them a lot.

New Print - Birds

2009-01-03T20:37:00.001-06:00

I have done a new print, this time it's birds. It's very simple, but I like the graphic quality of it. I'll do a neutral colorway of it too. I am really liking the neutral colorways I've been coming up with. Don't mean to toot my own horn or anything...

My Fabric is in KC Magazine!

2008-12-20T13:56:00.004-06:00

Here's the Black Bomaki shrug that Sophie and Gwendalynn made from my fabric! I am in a magazine! My name isn't in the magazine, but the fabric is. That's what matters. I had no idea about the photo being published (or taken) so it was quite a surprise when I heard from Laura McGrew of Tomboy Design (http://www.tomboydesign.net/) that my fabric was in the magazine! The shrug and a swing coat made from the Brown Bomaki are for sale at Haught Style in Prairie Village shops (near Minsky's).

Dress from Jen Kao Design

2008-12-08T15:44:00.004-06:00

Here is a dress that Jen Kao created from some of the fabric I made for her Spring/Summer 09 Collection. It didn't make the runway, but that's o.k. I think it's mighty pretty, but way too short for me! Hope you like it. Jen Kao's website is http://www.jenkao.com if you want to see her whole show. It's very cool.

Green Colorway - Fishnet Print

2008-11-30T14:31:00.004-06:00

This was the original color idea for this print. I am really pleased with the way the others have worked out as well. All in all, I am really happy with this piece of work and am planning on getting some yardage of the print made up to use. Haven't selected which colorway yet though.

Bright Colorway - Fishnet Print

2008-11-30T14:29:00.002-06:00

I really like the way this color choice came out for this print. Lots of different colors, but they go together well I think.

Neutral Colorway - Fishnet Print

2008-11-30T14:28:00.001-06:00

Another color option for the fish print. Much more subdued.

Red Colorway - Fishnet Print

2008-10-28T18:36:00.010-05:00

Final colorway for my new print design. What do you think of it?

Silver Satin Discharged Bomaki Top

2008-10-09T17:54:00.004-05:00

This one just turned out wonderfully. The front of the piece is on a diagonal so the striations are also diagonal, if you look closely you can see it. It feels great and the fabric moves beautifully. Laura McGrew of Tomboy Design created this look as well as the jacket below. Kudos Laura! And many thanks from me and my "Model".

Discharged Brown Satin Bomaki

2008-10-09T17:51:00.002-05:00

At last we get to see a beautiful jacket made from the brown bomaki satin fabric! It is lined with dark purple silk and has a matching dark purple silk top to wear under it. Looks great in person, feels great too!

Bright Sublimation Print

2008-10-09T17:50:00.001-05:00

Here is my print with a bright tone colorway. Hope you like these three colorways!

Jeweltone Sublimation Print

2008-10-09T17:47:00.002-05:00

Here is the print in a jeweltone colorway!

Neutral Sublimation Print

2008-09-24T16:40:00.002-05:00

Here is the latest print I have been working on. This time, it's my design. I put a ruler in the picture to give some scale to the image. I like the neutral color palette. I plan to do this same print with two other color schemes. Hope you like it!

Jen Kao Purple Print

2008-09-13T10:24:00.003-05:00

Here's the second print I did for Jen Kao's Spring/Summer 09 Collection, see below for first print. This one was a lot of fun to work on too. I really liked the colors in this one, especially how the purples and turquoises went together in her print pattern. The print she gave me to work with fragmented quite beautifully. I will be sure to post final pieces made from these fabrics once I have images from her fashion show.

Jen Kao Multicolor Print

2008-09-13T10:20:00.003-05:00

I recently did this print for Jen Kao, a fashion designer in New York City (see Sites I Like for her website). The fashion show for her Spring/Summer 09 Collection was Sept. 12th so now I can post my work. This is a technique I've been working on and I was so excited to get to use it for her! She sent me her print pattern and I worked with it and adapted it to my technique and voila! Hope you like it!

Yellow Silk Hoodie

2008-09-09T13:37:00.002-05:00

This yellow variegated silk made a gorgeous hoodie tunic. The top was made by Laura McGrew of Tomboy Design. See Sites I Like for a link to her website. She makes wonderful clothes.

The Green Silk becomes clothes!

2008-09-09T13:36:00.002-05:00

Here's some of the green silk bomaki finally made up into an outfit designed and made by Laura McGrew of Tomboy Design, see Sites I Like for a link to her website.

Brown "Al Verso" Scarf

2008-09-04T14:09:00.002-05:00

Brown satin bomaki with brown velvet on the reverse. This one is over 7 feet long, more than long enough to wrap around you and have some left to show off. Plus it was fun to make!

Pink and Yellow Silk Bomaki

2008-09-03T13:15:00.002-05:00

Variegated pink and yellow silk bomaki. I am really very pleased with the way this one came out. It's nice and bright in person. I used a 10 momme silk for it, it would be just as nice with an 8 momme as well, lighter weight too.

Black Velvet Bomaki Scarf

2008-09-02T18:54:00.002-05:00

Black velvet scarf with black satin bomaki tips. It is about 9 feet long, perfect for wrapping up in. Feels wonderful and soft too. I plan on making more out of some of my other bomakis. Keep posted!

Art Nouveau Print Scarf

2008-08-28T14:04:00.001-05:00

A new scarf for the collection. I made the print for this on velvet, then attached it to a purple velvet and voila, a scarf is born!

Foundation Colors

2008-08-06T15:29:00.005-05:00

The foundation palate of colors available. These are all satin bomaki resists. The colors are from the upper left and going clockwise; silver, lavender, raspberry, brown, and black. The fabric is 45" wide and available up to 15 yards long. I also have the black/brown velvet bomaki resist available, and it is also 45" wide, but can only go up to 8 yards long.

Printed piece from class - Ripples

2008-07-28T13:59:00.002-05:00

I recently took a fiber continuing education class and this is one piece I did. I call it Ripples. The colors didn't come out quite as planned, however I am still pleased. I have been wanting to do a 2 yard screen printed cotton piece for several years now, and, since I lack the facilities to do one at home, at least for now, I was happy to find a class where I could work on one. Holly Stewart teaches these continuing education classes at the Kansas City Art Institute (you can go to her website from this blog, she's under "sites I like"). She's a great fiber artist and a fabulous person. I think it's safe to say that if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be doing this right now.

Silk Itajime from class

2008-07-28T13:56:00.002-05:00

Here is a silk itajime from my class. The little blue/black marks are from the wood pieces I used to press it. I wound up dying this piece three times to get all the colors. It's 4 yards long, and I have no idea what to do with it. Maybe something will come up later.

Cotton itajime from class

2008-07-28T13:54:00.001-05:00

This is a cotton piece of itajime shibori from the class I took. I'm pleased with the funky shapes on the edges, and I may turn bits of it into another piece. Stay posted...

Sublimation piece from class

2008-07-28T13:52:00.002-05:00

Sublimation piece from a class I recently took. I'm pleased with it. The heat press didn't like me too much since this was a tied piece that I sublimated solid color into. It was a little too thick for the press to close...

The Next Step Section 2

2008-07-14T14:49:00.003-05:00

This section of the green silk bomaki shows how the color can get to be more intense in a different area of the piece. This photo shows two sections, one above the watermark and one below.

The Next Step

2008-07-14T14:25:00.003-05:00

This is a 11 yard long piece of silk that I dyed using the bomaki method. It's too bad you can't feel how light and soft this piece of fabric is. I am pleased with the way it came out. This is only showing half of the width of it. It is a whole 45" wide, though, as usual, you lose the edges of the fabric due to the line where the stitches were put in, so actually it's more like 40" wide usable width.

Silver Bomaki

2008-07-14T14:24:00.000-05:00

More Black Bomaki Yardage

2008-06-23T07:46:00.002-05:00

This time I photographed it all crumpled up just for variety. This piece is 11 yards long by 45 inches wide. ELEVEN YARDS. This is getting big. I like these larger pieces although they take so very much longer to do. It's worth it in the long run I believe.

Even MORE Brown Satin Bomaki

2008-06-20T14:56:00.002-05:00

Today I finished up THIRTEEN YARDS of the brown satin bomaki. THIRTEEN YARDS. That is almost a four story building tall! It came out well. I'm not posting a photo of it since I posted one the other day. This is by far the most yardage I have ever done.

Brown Satin Bomaki Yardage

2008-06-19T10:55:00.002-05:00

Six yards of the brown satin bomaki. That is a lot of bomaki.

Black Velvet Bomaki Yardage

2008-06-19T10:42:00.001-05:00

I did four yards of this black velvet! I am very pleased with the result. Brown and black are always a classic.

Black Satin Bomaki Yardage

2008-06-16T15:18:00.002-05:00

This bomaki piece is 6 yards long by 45 inches wide. This image is just a small part of the whole piece. Finally I am able to do larger size yardage. Hopefully somebody out there will want to make something out of it, or of some of the other yardage that I am planning on doing later this week. I've got my fingers crossed!

Purple and Gold Shibori

2008-06-09T15:49:00.002-05:00

This shibori piece is also 4 yards long and it was folded then hand sewn into pleats then pole wrapped then discharged, washed, dryed and ironed out. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it in the long run. I think I spent upwards of 24 hours of hand work on just this piece. This photo only shows less than a quarter of the whole piece. I am trying to work on doing yardage, hopefully it will pay off!

Bronze Bomaki

2008-06-09T15:47:00.002-05:00

The bronze satin bomaki is about 4 yards long and there are two of them. I think they look kind of like marble in a way. This photo isn't the greatest, but it does serve to get the point across.

Black Satin Bomaki

2008-06-09T15:44:00.002-05:00

As a bomaki goes, I was REALLY pleased with these two scarves. They are both quite long, about 4 yards, which makes them really fun to wear since there are so many ways they can be wrapped around your body. The fire-like tiger stripes are very dramatic.

Canning Jar Scarves

2008-06-09T15:38:00.006-05:00

For these I simply wadded up the silk into a tight ball and placed it into a net bag, then into a mason jar with water and dye and let it sit for an hour! It was surprising what I got when they came out. I think I like the green and purples best.