blue sun prints

What a happy day.

This was supposed to be a post about a new camera case I stitched up yesterday but in the (warm) light of day I am so underwhelmed by my sloppy stitching that I have renamed it the prototype.

Today I have discovered the thrill of cyanotypes and it is my new best hobby.

Last summer my best birthday present was a day learning the basics of darkroom photography. Well I don't remember any of the theory but the bit where the picture appeared was magic. I have no idea why developing photographs is so exciting but it is.

The second best presents were the sun printing kits (cyanotype and salt printing).

Being a pessimist and English I promptly put them away in a suitcase for a year as I suspected we would have no sunny days for a good while. I don't really want to jinx things by passing comment on our summer so far this year but safe to say my freckles have joined up.  

Today conditions were perfect for sun printing and we had a go at cyanotypes. It was so much fun and I am amazed by the results. The kit only came with 5 OHP sheets for the negatives and 5 pieces of cotton paper for the prints but I am already researching replacement kit.

The pictures I used were all taken with a digital camera...

 ...but I would like to at some point and with the help of a friend do the whole thing in an almost completely analogue fashion - using a film camera to take film photographs and develop the negatives in the house. I will need a lot of help. 

And I am very excited about the idea of cyanotype onto fabric. Oh the possibilities.

cyanotype sun printing 

after washing and fixing and washing again

the prototype camera bag: C minus

merit badges

For the best holidays I am in the habit of making a memento, usually in the American scrapbook style. Unless done quickly I tend to go off the boil and get distracted (hence the 'Skye Trail' scrapbook has been on pause for a year).

We have just finished a 6 day backpacking camping trip in our backyard, the Lakes. It was a made-up route with no eponymous title but it was brilliant and deserved a memento. This year instead of scrapbooks it is the year of the merit badge.

Girl guides new self esteem badge

What got me thinking about merit badges was that the Girl Guides have recently launched a 'Free being me' corporately sponsored self-esteem body image badge. Who'd have thunk it. Back in the day, I was of course a cub (guides were sissies) and I really enjoyed collecting merit badges. I can't remember all the ones I had but vaguely recall a badge with a dustpan and brush on, another with entertainers masks and a third with an artist's palette. I also remember making a scrapbook of the royal family but can't remember which that counted for.

Thimble on the left with Bad Hair Day Lady on right - merit badge sleeve pretty empty

6 days of hiking gives a person quite a bit of thinking time. Clearly we needed an overall commemorative merit badge for the trip, but there were a number of opportunities for earning achievement merit badges along the way.

Some badges I would find quite easy to achieve:

• The water fetching badge
• The suncream vigilance badge
• The first aid badge.
• These badges could have a green edge.

Other intermediate badges (orange edge) might include:

• The rucksack badge (more complex than it sounds)
• The cook a meal without help from a friend badge (I might be too lazy for this one or possibly too busy with the water fetching badge)

Difficult (red edged) badges are:

• Putting the tent up (includes choosing a good camp site with level ground out of the wind away from midges).
• Map and compass badge

To get us started here we have the bush toilet craft or shitting outdoors badge. Anyone familiar with long distance hiking will understand this one. Burning the toilet paper should be considered only if the risk of setting fire to the countryside is deemed negligible. I recommend laxatives before the trip to ensure minimal defecation urge. In fact this first badge was rightly awarded to my travelling companion who has much more skill and experience in bush toilet craft techniques.

In case you are wondering the symbol if of a pile of steaming remains with burning toilet paper:

Small embroidery hoop for making merit badges

Bush toilet craft merit badge

Moving swiftly on, the commemorative trip badge depicts key features of the trip: date and distance travelled; the red fox and green lizard spotted en route (red fox too fast to photograph); lakes and campsites with elevations...and an ambiguous boot which I am told looks like a monkey:

May '14 Lakes backpacking trip commemorative badge

The green lizard

thinking about merit badges

gryffindor

Sheila's gryffindor

Things have been a bit quiet on the craft front this year

Never fear, Sheila's needles are still busy and she has been creating some real gems. One very lucky boy received this gryffindor scarf and I believe he was very excited and couldn't wait to wear it to school the next day. He is really really into Harry Potter.

I remember that feeling, being incredibly excited about wearing something very special to school. When I was about 5, mum made me some grey corduroy dungarees with a donald duck patch on the pocket and I got to stand up in front of the class so they could admire them. That was a very good day.

I still haven't got in to the whole Harry Potter thing, though I am told it is never too late. I would be a Ravenclaw I think (blue and silver).

saul

saul in-situ

Problem - steam escaping from bathroom and creating mold patches through house

Solution - open bathroom window and put draught-excluder outside door to retain heat

Problem - do not own draught-excluder and getting sick of someone using piles of clothes as a make-shift one

Solution - make one using leftover fabric from the Patch Pants

Problem - only leftover fabric from patch pants is the grey leopard print and leopards are pretty difficult and not draught-excluder shaped:

leopard

 Solution (genius) - leopard seals are long and smooth:

seal

Problem - stuffing isn't heavy enough for draught-excluder filling

Solution - use stuffing and cat litter (the type made out of recycled paper not the dusty chalky type)

saul the seal

escaping

fish in mouth

 Problem - draught-excluder so life-like and friendly someone keeps bringing him into the living room 'out of the draught' and for a bit of company
 Solution - give up

patches

I was born and raised down in Alabama
On a farm way back up in the woods
I was so raggedy, folks used call me, “Patches”
Papa used to tease me ‘bout it
Of course deep down inside he was hurt
‘Cause he’d done all he could...

Ingredients for upcycled patchwork pants:

1. 3 old fleece jackets, cut into patches

2. leftover crocodile shoe fabric 

3. leftover hot water bottle cover fabric

4. some faux fur 

5. cow cotton lining

6. leftover sleeve ends for pockets (lined with cow cotton fabric)

matching evening ensemble

cow cotton lining

up-cycled sleeve pockets

On special occasions can be worn with a Patch jacket.

“Patches
I’m dependin’ on you, son
I tried to do my best
It’s up to you to do the rest”

crocodile shoes

crocodile style down slippers

I anticipate that one look at these elegant beasts will leave people with a desire or longing to create 'the look', so being a generous crafter I will outline the process.

1. Start with a pair of really stinky down boots destined for bin (3 years or so of foot pong and worn down soles optional). Wash slippers.

much loved worn stinky down bootles

2. One can cut the slippers up at this point and remove the down for later use but be prepared to find down in extraordinary places for weeks (such as in the DVD player and up your nose).

down trying not to stay in box

3. Look for a down boot or slipper pattern on internet (I really like these ones based on this pattern but my plates of meat are a bit too big). Failing that if you are impatient to crack on just make it up as you go along - get a pair of pre-existing slippers and cut out fabric pieces of approximately the same shape, but bigger, as these are giant slippers.

4. You need inner lining fabric (leftover from the patch jacket), stretch fleecy outer fabric (I got my scales fabric from Just Sew and had a hard time choosing which animal print to choose), some kind of hard-wearing fabric for the soles (I wanted the sticky slipper fabric or faux leather but could only find boiled wool felt locally so went for that) and ... by far the most important thing to remember when making a down-filled project is DOWN-PROOF FABRIC.  

pattern pieces based on pre-existing slipper design

5. Down-proof fabric: this has to be tightly woven with a high thread count. Without this the slippers would go from plump to flaccid in a few weeks, shedding feathers like a moulting duck. I was thrilled to learn that the stuff I needed was called 'cambric ticking'. This is such a lovely old-fashioned combination of words, conjuring images of The House of Elliott (I loved that series). I was even happier when I went into Just Sew and the lady immediately knew what this was and had it in stock (I love that shop). Of course you need to cut double pieces for the cambric ticking to line the lining and the outer.

If you don't live near any helpful shoe-making elves, continue as follows.

6. Sew the ticking to the lining pieces. Sew the front and back pieces to the 2 side pieces so the cambric is uppermost. Leave enough room to get your foot into the slipper but not too much room or the slippers will fall off (though there is a work-around with elastic).

cambric-lined lining

7. In the same way, sew the ticking to the outer (crocodile skin) fabric, this time ticking innermost. Attach the outer to the inner at the foot-hole opening (obviously turn the fabrics right side together to do this). 

body of slipper without sole

8. At this point the slippers have no sole/soul. I decided to sew an extra piece of quilt wadding to the ticking lined sole.

lining with wadding and boiled wool felt outer sole

9. Sew the sole lining to the slipper lining, right sides together. This is the shell of the slipper with the ticking-lined outer and lining facing each other:

completed slipper lining turned inside out (right)

10. Sew elastic to the foot-hole opening at the sides and back to ensure a snug fit. 

attaching sole and elastic

11. Sew felt sole to outer - remember to LEAVE A HOLE FOR STUFFING WITH THE DOWN.

12. Add down - this bit is very messy. Do outdoors unless you live in a county where it rains for about 200 days a year.

stuffing the slippers with down

 12. Trim excess fabric after ensuring correct fit (most important that the sole is the right size for your foot). Finish edging with suitable bias binding - I used skull ribbon.

skull ribbon

  13. Prance about daintily

Slippers lined with skull ribbon

14. Debate whether slippers look more like dinosaur eggs, crocodile shoes or a snake distended with mammal.

dragon eggs

crocodile shoe

snake eating a sheep

15. Gaze at new down slippers with pride, even if they are a bit lumpy looking.  Like the handspun Herdwicks , it isn't about perfection.

dinosaur egg slippers?

16. Don't bother buying Sock stop paint from Fun to Do. It might be solidified and unusable due to having been on the shelf for far to long and will only lead to disappointment.