Birth of a new color

I so love the birth of a new color-I especially love it when I hit the color I wanted the first time.  It is also humbling-I was doing an act of kindness to help a client get a piece stitched for her.  The color is not available-so yep the chemistry part of my brain went into action.  I already had a color that was near where I wanted to go.  It just needed tweaking.  Well, after some color theory thinking-I realized to get there I had to do some change ups.

One this had to be an over dyed linen-that means that I was not going to start with white-ok-what base would mix with the colors to get me there.  I fortunately had a base that would work in my pile of unprocessed linen.  Great I did not have to wait to try my new experiment.

Next how to tweak the old recipe and make it work.  I realized that the orginial being beefed up would not work.  So, we are talking a double dip.  Now what do I need to mix to get the depth of the color I want.  I have to stay in the color zone-but different colors.  A little math-color theory and chemistry and bam-One try and the birth of Common House Sparrow happened.  

And yes I did the happy dance when it dried and it was the exact color I needed.  

I am again pleased to introduce you to Common House Sparrow.  

So, now I am off to dye more of this color and handle orders.  I truly thank all of you that support me and encourage me to keep working on my passion.  I am so grateful that I can do something I love and get rewarded for it.  

Hugs Ebeth

 

 As I stated in my recent post-requests for a catalog have been presented.  So, I am doing posts with walks through colors of linen.  I will start doing the same for my trim products and other items dyed and created by me.  Meanwhile-the website is still being worked on.  You can always contact your local shop or contact me directly for a color or an item.  

I hope you enjoy this small sampling of more colors.  Ebeth

Barnacle - This is part of the newish colors I developed this Spring.  That grouping was so big that I named it as a collection.  It is the Classic Shabby Chic Collection.  A couple of the linens from the previous post are from this collection - To be honest almost all of the linens from the previous post are from this collection.  Sorry, I missed marking them-I will put the names here Stained Grey, Rice Powder, Polar Bear, Dried Virginia Baccy, Colonial Blue and Aged Linen.  

As for Barnacle-the name just popped into my head when the linen came out of the dye bath.  I used to crew on my dad's sail boats and of course cleaning the barnacles off the hull is part of maintence of any marine vehicle.  Up in Virginia in the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic ocean the barnacles are smaller-ususally-and a cream white.  Barnacle just looks like the ones we would scrape off the hull before repainting the hull.

Dirty Ewe-what can I say about this one.  This and Peep's Lost Sheep were one of my first linen colors that I dyed.  When I first started I was overdyeing on Permin's Lambswool.  That was before it was woven by new weavers.  I based the name off Lambswool.  I miss dyeing on the old Lambswool, it was a flat thread and took the color amazingly.  Like I have said before Zweigart is a spun thread and it is harder for the color to grab the thread than a flat thread.  This is a wonderful neutral color and great for samplers and all other kinds of designs.  It for the most part is a flat dye.  Meaning there is usual very little molding in the color.  I can always see Miss Peep watching her sheep when I dye Dirty Ewe and Peep's Lost Sheep. (Peep's Lost Sheep will be posted in another blog posting.)

Mater Samich-OMG this is a Heirloom Tomato without the mayo.  I had a client looking for a linen to stitch Brenda Gervais's 'One Starry Christmas'.  The client found the called for linen a bit too dark for her.  She wanted a brighter color-So off to the dye room I went and I came up with Mater Samich and Hot Santa (Hot Santa will be on another post).  She ended up picking Hot Santa-it is a more cool bluish color that Mater Samich.  Mater Samich has that hot orange/red color.  I always imagine being with my family at the beach eating a Heirloom Tomato samich-white bread of course with salt and mayo on it and drinking a Grape Nehi out of the bottle sitting under the awning of my parent's RV by the beach.  We always kept the tomatos outside-so they were alway juicy and the first bite you could not stop the juice from running down your arms and the seeds just popped in your mouth.  What can I say-Virginia and the coast of North Carolina and South Carolina are the perfect places to eat that Mater Samich.

Mermaid's Firewood  This color came out of a grouping of Truffle Pig, Southern Pecan and a couple more.  I was in an experiment on how I could vary the same dyes and change up the amounts and the base color of the linen to see how they would vary in color when dyed.  When I pulled Mermaid's Firewood out of the bath it reminded me of old driftwood.  So who would use driftwood????  Why a Mermaid of course.  Hence Mermaid's Firewood.  This color always has a spark of surprise and uniqueness with every piece.  The way the dye mixes and sets on the linen can go from a dark hit to a lighter hit.  The modling is always different.  I just love imagining a Mermaid by a fire at night warming up before hitting the ocean and diving into the cold ocean to frolic with all the other creatures that she lives with.  

Virginia Mud Pie - Growing up on the coast of Virginia in peanut, soy bean, and tobacco country you have unique dirt.  It has a light black/grey coloring with sand mixed in.  I did not realize till I moved away from my beloved state to go further south that this type of dirt is unique to the more northern southern states.  Here in Georgia we have this dirt that is quite orangeish like clay.  The only time the dirt is another color is when dirt from other areas has been mixed in.  Here in Atlanta we are at the bottom of the Appalachian Mountain range.  Atlanta is almost as far north and west of the state as it can be.  It always surprises me that people think Atlanta is more toward the coast and closer to the bottom of the state.  We are a mountain area-not flat like the area I grew up in.  Trust me, take a bike ride you you will find out fast how hilly this area is.  And the dirt here is hard and clay like.  It is nothing like the coastal dirt that I grew up with.  When I dyed this linen Virginia Mud Pie just popped into my head.  Now as a good southern child growing up yes you always made mud pies.  Of course I had to bling mine out.  I broke into my piggy bank and my brother's and I took all the silver half dollars out and put them on top of my pies as decoration.  It would be an understatment to say I got into a lot of trouble when my mother found out what I had done.  Luckily all the half dollars were found and put back in their rightful piggies and I do not think I did that misadventure more than one or two more times.  Can we say hard headed.  

Well, thank you for reading about my colors and their names.  I am busy with organizing the pictures and taking more of all the linens as I have them on hand and will post more.  

As always, if you have questions please contact me and I will do my best to handle your request or answer your questions.

Off to the world of color, shipping and what ever mischief I can get into today.

Hugs Ebeth

Pictures of some of the newer Linen colors

 I get asked if I have a catalog of my products....That would be me being organized and carving out time from an already overloaded schedule.  That really sounds snotty does it not.  But it is reality.  I am a one man band....that means all the packages, ironing, dyeing and so on is up to me.  Trust me, I go to bed with a to do list longer than the one I had when I got up in the am...

Well, I am putting up some of the newer linen colors here.  I will keep posting them as I take pictures to send to Hoffman my distributor.  Those guys rock sending all the products out to our Local Needlework Shops.  Plus the pictures I take for my Etsy shop.  I try to take all the linen pictures beside a DMC color code for reference.  I understand it is hard to make decisions when the product is not in front of you.  The translation of color is a topic all in itself.  Just a brief talk through.  There is the dye process onto the product, then digital pictures (which tend to lean to the white of light in the coloring), then pulling into a computer program, then you have your screen on your computer or phone, do not get me into the whole discussion of printing from the original to a print product.  It all depends on the inks used and the mixing of only the primary colors to get the color.  Then it depends on how you see color.  That is a factor.  Some people can pick up the undertones and some cannot-and as we age color starts to fade.....wow yep a small lecture about the translation of colors.  I am off my soap box-  I present a parade of a few of the new colors on linen.  Hope you like them.  Ebeth

Stained Grey

This is just a hint of coloring to the linen.  It takes the edge off the white or off white of the linen.  It works for so many designs.

Rice Powder

This color reminds me of how many times I am asked how I name my products.  I start with an idea of what color I am going for.  As soon as the color is in my head I start the chemistry of what colors will mix together to get to the end product.  Then I start the math of the chemistry to measure out how much of a color needed to make the color.  It is magical when I hit the color the first time.  It comes from experience of working with the dyes and powders to know how they play off each other.  I digress-When I created Rice Powder the moment I put the linen in the bath immediately Rice Powder popped in my head.  After I finished processing the piece of linen I went to the computer and pulled up Rice Powder-it was almost spot on of the pictures on the screen.  Other times-I do name a color after an event or a person who requests the color.  But most of the time as I am creating the product the name just comes to me.  The reverse hardly ever works.  I also like to name the products with non-tradtional names-laughing can you tell?????

Polar Bear

Now who can resist a name like that?  When this color came up I immediately thought of the old Coke commercials from Christmas.  It had to be Polar Bear.  This is a bright and fun color.

New England Bog 

This was a customer request.  The client had an older Blackbird Designs pattern and the linen in this color is not available anymore.  This was a little hard-the orginal color was dyed on Permin which orginially was made from a flat beaten flax thread.  I usual dye on Zweigart-this is a twisted flax thread that is made for the upolstery industry.  So the dye will take differently.  Even though I pretty much hit the color it will not be as rich as the Permin linen.  This is because the flat beaten thread has more open fibers and accepts the color deeper than a twisted linen thread.  With all that said-this is a great substitute for the older designs on this color fabric.

Dried Virginia Baccy

This color is an overdyed.  There are times you cannot get there from here.  This is one of them.  I wanted a slight green hue to peak through the light brown.  This linen is overdyed on a color base to enhance the coloring.  That is always tricky.  The color sometimes goes off on its own when doing an overdyed.  It all revolves around chemistry.  One-the base product may look like the same color-but the orginial source may have had to use a different dye or the flax for the linen could have been grown in a different area.  So, the dye will adhere to the product a little different.  But, it is always fun to create an over tone to a color.  It takes a lot of thought on what colors would blend with the base and give you the color that you are looking for.

Dark Chocolate

This is not quite one of the newest colors.  I am putting it out here because I have had quite a few request for it lately.  It is not the dark brown of a semi sweet dark chocolate.  It has a lighter tone like a Dutch dark chocolate powder.  It is a fun color and not too dark to stitch on.  Plus who can resist chocolate?

Cow Fodder

Who would not want to stitch on something called Cow Fodder?????  I was trying to help a client get a straw like color.  One - straw is such a dull and ordinary name-plus this color is just off from dried straw.  I love the subtle hint of reddish/brown over tone on this linen.  It is quite a hit and also one of my favorite go to colors.

Cosmic Platinum

Now this one is unique-just like my Peddler's Blend this is a chemical reaction process.  Each piece is unique and cannot be repeated.  This dye process takes 3 steps and all depends on the temperature staying constant.  Each piece is a work of art by itself.  Now you are thinking that it is too busy to stitch on.  Trust me-it works for Samplers, smalls and other kinds of designs.  I just love this color-it always makes me smile when I have the final product and see the spontaneous  results.

Colonial Blue

My new go to.  I love this color.  It is so light it goes with all colors.  It can be for samplers, traditional designs and all seasons.  Trust me the picture does not do it justice.

Aged Linen

This is a subtle coloring to the linen.  It has slight molding to the color.  

Well-this is just a sampling of the colors of linens that I dye.  Thank you for going down the path of how a color came about and the other information that I added to the color.  I hope you enjoy my humor and very slight knowledge of chemistry and so on that I share with each description.  Hand dyed industry is a unique niche area.  We for the most part use dyes that are made for large vat dye process.  We use very small amounts of the dye and this can cause color changes when producing a color.  The dyes are made using the primary colors then there are what are called fillers put into the mixture to bond the color together.  The filler is usually a mixture of left over powder from other dyes.  In a large vat this causes hardly any variance in the end result.  But when working with hand dyed niche production any small varience can cause a big color change.  Plus the base of the product, water, other chemicals, weather and so on can cause the end result not always consistent.  But then again-that is the fun of overdyed and hand dyed.  Plus-shhhhhhh-the design and color police never show up and get you if you change your project to fit your own taste.  I know that you fall in love with the picture-or even the orginial model if you are so lucky to be in the room with the orginial.  But as with any art-no two pieces are ever the same.  Trust your instincts.  If you feel like something is off when you are working on a project-put it down come back and if the color or anything bothers you change it.  If you do not feel like you can change it on your own there are always friends and shop owners that will help you change out things to help you get the results you want.  

Well-again thank you for sharing some time with my ramblings and may you have fun creating your projects.

Hugs Ebeth

Revamping Pictures

 It seems that one never has enough time to get things done.....Life always is getting in the way of life.  I have been working on new pictures for products-You know me utilitarian and that is always not the best way to present..... 

Here are a few items that you can purchase from your local needlework shop or go to my Etsy .  You will never know what you will find in my shop.  

At the moment-well A long moment I am working on getting a direct sell site up and running.  Seems that there is a bit of muck to go through to get that done.  I will eventually be switching my www.damesoftheneedle.com over to a sell site that works.  With the help of a small team that has skills to do thig I will hopefully get this done.  You know me-the tortoise and possibly even slower to move into any new direction.

Enjoy the new pictures-I hope to put up some pictures of my past years travels-they are not quite needle related-but I hope you find them interesting.   Hopefully that will be soon.....Have a few tweeks to do on them and then will post.  If you are interested in some still photos and some reels that I have posted visit my instagram that is in my company name and my personal instagram and see what I have been up to.  Of course my FlossTube is quite silent.  But who knows.  Well off to do the magic-get those colors going and orders out the door.  Stay cool in the hot summer weather-love this time of year-wish it lasted longer.

Sweeney Red 1/4 Rick Rack

Snow Mini Pom Pom

Ida Neel's Cherries Chenille

Sweeney Red and Miguel's velvet with trim finishing packet

Well off to do my chemistry and magic.  Hope you have a wonderful day.  Ebth

Do I see red????

Red has always been one of my favorite colors-we know I love designing silhouettes.  I am not sure how many times I have said it and will say it.  White on red is just stunning....I have others I have done-but I thought red for the day would work. 

Here is Merry Christams pin pillow.  You can use it on your tree or as a hoiday pin pillow-dough bowl.  Just keep imagining.  I so love to see people jump start off an idea, design or anything that I put out there.  It is so inspiring to share and grow with gifts given by others.

Here we have Mini Drum Christmas ornamnets.  These are a joy to stitch-yes there is over one.  But you can to Tent Stitch and it helps with the stitches bunching up.  These guys are wonderful.  If you do not want to make them into ornaments-then you can use them as pin drums.

This is Believe-a larger Winter Themed Christmas drum.  And yes-I seem to love the word Believe-I have several pieces with that in the name of the design.  I confuse myself at times and trust me that is not hard....

I so hope that you are finding time to enjoy the moment.  It is so hard these days and with the end of the year coming up and plans happening for the new year it is hard to take a moment and to just breath.  It is wonderful to document these moments, but in truth the memories are just as good or better.  The kids and I miss the photo opportunities a lot these past few years.  It seems with traveling in, working-trying to just relax and visit-the photos are the last thing we think of...

I will try to remember to get a photo or two this year.  Especially since if any of you follow me-my photo in Just Cross Stitch Magazine for my Christmas Ornament is not my children with me.  It is random people and I find it amusing.  Maybe next year I will put in a picture of someone else....

Anyway-I am off to do my usual.  Have a Red day-smiling.  Ebeth

 

We have a theme

 

It seems that I am a series starter-and then I get squirrel ADHD or something.  Truly I do not have enough time in the day to keep things on track.  I do have Beth who helps me-but since the holidays I have had jury duty and her schedule has been whacko, so hopefully we can sync up soon.  I NEED THE HELP.  An adult nanny would be the perfect solution  Nanny McPhee I need you....

Here is Fish and Swan the second in a series I started a billion years ago.  It is great for grabbing that small piece of linen and any colors that you want to use if you do not have the ones called for or just feel like a change up.  These are quick and fun and a great gift.  Stitch a few up and have them at the ready to give to your stitching friend.  Or if you have a small family of borrowers living in your house-they may work as cushions for their couch....Yes, I am on form with the bad jokes today...

Another series I started.  Believe it or not the borders for the rest of the series-I just need to stitch and finish them.  The first started in Just Cross Stitch 2021 and went on....we shall see.

Now this Halloween Series is fine-I can add to it or stop.  It really started a billion years ago in a Just Cross Stitch Magazine.  I still sell the first one like crazy.  I am toying with adding a few more....I so love silhouettes.  It is like making a puzzle.  You have to manipulate the positive and negative space to give the image depth and detail....

Well, I am off to get things done-you guys know the drill....items available in my Etsy Shop.

I hope you have enjoyed the little stories....

Ebeth

Just rambling-no pictures

 Just wanted to drop in and thank you for following me.  I know that I can go into hiding at times.  It is hard to do as much as I do....it is sorta hard to define what I do.  

I dye-not only linen, but trim and other fabrics.  I try to squeeze in designing here and there.  I sell wholesale and retail.  I hardly have time to sleep-no kidding.   

I am not sure if you are like me-but since the lockdown-I have been working on getting out there and making my life 'normal'.  That is hard when you work from home.  At first the lockdown was great-no change here.  But then stores changed hours, things got harder to find and time seemed to slip away.  I have learned how to shop at different times, go online more-which, if you have not purchased from a source before can be a little unsettling.  

A few of you might have known-but in March of this year 2022-I fell in my studio and had a fight with a bookcase and it won.  I broke my right shoulder.  With the help of a very good friend and many more-I was able to keep my business going and move through the event.  I was lucky and did not require surgery, but it was over a 9 month long PT event and I still have issues.  It weakened my body core-so I am doing Yoga like crazy and walking is a problem.  Who woulda thunk-that injuring your shoulder would cause so many other issues.  

I learned a lot on having others help me.  It was interesting teaching someone to help me dye, handle cutting linen and trim.  They definately decided there is no glam in this line of business.

The first of this year-I canceled all my events-before my shoulder injury.  I think the universe was telling me something.  I did add on a wonderful class in Texas in October and I managed to walk a show-Houston Quilt show as a buyer and got inspired to venture into other items to sell.  

I have fallen in love with Mister Finch and some other textile artist I have found during this weird times in our world.  I have started doing more textile arts and upcycling items.  I will share some of my mushrooms and other items that I have started doing in my 'spare time'.  

I just want to close this rambling with again, thank you for following me.  I hope to get more lives out there and share my thoughts and knowledge.  Please look for me popping up in a few magazines.  I have some designs coming out in them and am trying to meet a deadline for a personal dyeing article.  It is not to help you be a professional, it is all about starting off, being safe and a few tips to get you excited about trying dyeing.  

I have found that dyeing is like finishing.  After you do it once maybe twice you decide if you are going to go down that rabbit hole again or not.  Trust me both are not for the faint of heart.  I truly wish more designers gave their finishers the credit they deserve.  Being a true finisher is a talent not to be challenged.  It is the most amazing experience to start with nothing and to create a tangible item without any pattern or help.  Lots of times when one is busy creating and moving to the next deadline you deny yourself the moment of happiness and sense of accomplishment-to just sit back and say-I did that.  

Well, I am off to move items around-find missing things, dye, stitch and create.  Look for some pictures of some of my new creations.

Hugs-have a stellar moment-ebeth