May I Be...

"May I Be." 2012. Embroidery on fabric.
Borrowed text from Erin Endicott,
who happens to be an amazing stitcher.
Thanks @healingsutras!

Please (@artweeklylondon)

"Please." 2012. Embroidery on fabric dyed with purple onion skins.
@artweeklylondon

Dumbo Arts Festival just a day away!

"What I Want." 2012. Embroidery on fabric dyed with purple
onion skin. "Borrowed" text. Thank you to the woman who
sent me this line via Twitter. I LOVE it!

"I'll be as gentle as you need me to be. #alovethatdoesn'tbreak"
2012. Embroidery on fabric dyed with mixed berries.

Hash tags make it a tweet, right?

Boyfriend window shopping on onion skin-dyed fabric

Blueberry Dye experiment

Continuing my dyeing experiments, I visited my beloved local Trader Joe's on Monday night, where I purchased 2 bags of frozen berries. Here are the results of mixing half a bag of frozen blueberries and a bit of vinegar.

More precisely, I let the berries boil in water, added the fabric and some vinegar as mordant, then let the whole mix simmer for an hour (with a lid on!). I let the fabric sit in the blueberry mush overnight, and removed it the following morning. I gently washed the fabric to remove any excess dye, and ironed it to heat set the dye. Above is the result.

While this fabric has a pinkish cast, I can still see the blue origins in the color. It is definitely darker than the purple onion skin. I'm having so much fun with this project!

Natural Dye Experiments

Last Saturday, I taught another Extraordinary Embroidery (intro) class at 3rd Ward. As usual, I had a great group of students, including 3 women visiting from France, and a book artist, Rebecca Kelly, who brought in some fabrics dyed with natural dyes (walnut, berries). Her work and passion for dyeing inspired me to try it myself. 

As I write this, an antique swatch with a lace border is simmering in a bed of mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries) with some rice vinegar as mordant.

Pictured below is fabric dyed with purple onion skin and rice vinegar mordant. Also pictured is the first embroidered tweet made from the onion skin-dyed fabric.

Purple onion skin-dyed fabric

"My heart is a tuning fork, and it's calling you in, my one true love."

Love Heals.

Final Version of "Submerged," I Promise!

Emotional homework

Bubbling over updated

I believe I posted this piece a while back. I found it in my apartment and it asked me to pick it up and make some additions.

So excited for Dumbo Arts Festival 2012, and the Embroidered Tweet Confessional!

I received my first confession for my upcoming project at the Dumbo Arts Festival, "Embroidered Tweet/Post-it Note Confessional."

If you are in New York, join me on Saturday and Sunday, September 29-30 in Dumbo, 1-4pm, and share your confession(s) with me.

Or, send me a tweet:
@IvivaOlenick.