Hand Painted Winter Skirt

The cold Melbourne winter has brought with it a desire for cozy knits and faux fur. My inspiration for this project was around winter warriors so I designed a tribal influenced pattern and hand painted it onto linen fabric. Lining the skirt with faux fur I salvaged from a remnants bin gave the skirt volume and a super cozy feel, so warm in fact that I may not take it off until spring! 

Knitted Cowl Vest

I had a hooded scarf that I crocheted but it never quite fit right. It was one of those things I made in the early days and I could never quite bring myself to give it away or pull it apart to make something else. I'd look at it with all my other scarfs and cozy winter things every time I opened the draw and then it hit me that I'd been holding onto something that I never wear for over 10 years. That realisation was exactly what I needed to pull it out and undo it. With all my balls of freshly unraveled yarn I wanted to make a kind of cowl vest, I like cropped sweaters and cowls so it's kind of a combination of both. I'm in love with how warm it is and that I still have left over yarn to make something else with.

Crochet Tablecloth Dress

I found a tablecloth in an op-shop and because I have a slight obsession with doilies I had to get it. For months it sat hanging over my clothes rack (looking pretty) while I thought about how I want to put it to use. I often picked it up and draped it around myself to see how it sat and to figure out if I could actually bring myself to cut it up. In the end I only cut a small hole for my waist and gathered  parts of the fabric to give it body and make it a little less see through. I made the top of the dress from a stretch linen blend which enabled me to avoid cutting the tablecloth further to put a zip in.

  

Indigo Skirt

 

Knitted with wool yarn on sale from a closing down craft shop and dyed with natural indigo dye. I think this skirt pairs beautifully with a cute tutu which gives it volume and shows the free form hole pattern nicely.

Indigo Socks

I love the colour blue and I love even more that nature can produce this colour dye. I finally got around to dying some of my knitted pieces that I had made specifically to be dyed with indigo and I was so happy with the results that I kept digging through my draws to find other clothes to dye with the left over dye in the vat. The left over dye was a great way to freshen up some faded harem pants of mine as well as some slightly stained white clothes. I love the idea of breathing new life into clothing rather than sending it off to the op-shop or the rag bag.

Here's a pair of socks I knitted with some wool yarn I bought on sale when the craft shop in the city was closing down. I bought white yarn knowing that I would figure out something to make that I could then throw into a natural dye bath. The dye is a little darker in some spots but I like imperfections so I'm happy with it.

Dyeing with indigo is like pure magic. The fabric comes out of the pot green and when exposed to oxygen turns blue right before your eyes. I'm excited to play with indigo some more and experiment with shibori, I could very easily end up with an entirely blue wardrobe so maybe I'll look into madder and other plant dyes first.

My socks pair beautifully with stockings and my new Indigo Skirt.

Jute Twine Shoes

I've managed to get my hands on shoe lasts for size 6-10 women's shoes and I've been meaning to experiment with shoe making for a while now but it's a tricky one to get your head around when you have no experience with it.
I find crochet easiest for working out shapes and how things work so I crocheted a pair of shoes out of jute twine as a fun experiment. There is an extra layer for the sole and I coated the sole in latex to make it waterproof. I probably should have added a few more layers of latex because as I discovered when it started raining, the water soon seeps through but overall I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

Silky Knitted High Waist Shorts

In the deep of Melbourne winter, huddling close to the warmth of the old gas heater I knitted these shorts. When I'd finished them they sat neatly folded for weeks before it was remotely warm enough to wear them for so much as a photo shoot.

The shorts are knitted with a gorgeous Japanese silk and wool blend that is slightly textured with a variegated tone. I worked them in the round to give a lovely seamless finish and I added just a little detail on the back to break up the straight stockinette stitch. Knitted shorts are fun, I can't wait to wear them more as the weather warms up.