Solar Dying with kids in the British Summer Holidays

We just got back from the Wild Weekend at Avon Heath country park, where I spent two busy days teaching knitting, spinning and chatting with visitors. I mentioned to numerous interested parents that Solar Dying was a safe option for kids. SO I thought I had better write a post on it!

Equipment You will need

1. A glass jar with a lid (coffee jars are perfect for this)
2. Dye plants (see list of suggestions further down)
3. A rusty nail
4. Vinegar
5. Water
6. A loose skein of wool or some roving or fleece (must be a plant or animal fibre)

 Once you have collected some dye plants, smush them with a spoon or break them into pieces. Add about 4 tablespoons of vinegar (this doesn't have to be too precise) and fill the jar about 3/4 s full of water, drop in your rusty nail. Add half your dye plant stir and pop your wool in on top then add the other half of your dye plant. You can even layer different dye plants and your skein of wool to create multicoloured yarns (although results for this can be variable as the colours will leach into each other with time) Put the lid on and find a sunny spot to place your jar in the garden, windowsill or if you have one the greenhouse. let the sun work its magic for as long as you can but at least 2 weeks, you can check on the progress of your jar to see how strong the dye is. This is a great project for over the summer holidays. The hotter the sun and the longer you leave it the stronger the dye. Once you are happy remove your wool and place it on a clean surface like a plant tray to dry out over night (if left a long time these can get smelly so its probably best to do this outside on a good day. The next day give it a rinse in some cool water to remove any debris or pieces of dye plant stuck to the wool! hang it up to dry and and enjoy your solar dyed yarn, perhaps have a go at weaving it between some sticks or for older kids knitting, crochet or braiding. You could even make a pin loom from an old small wooden picture frame and more nails and weave some squares.

Blackberry dye results from the dye jar

Ideas for dye plants that are easy to find (although it is fun to encourage the kids to choose plants based on what they know stains and what colour they think it will make) :
Grass
Blackberries
Mint
Onion skins
Marigold flowers
Avacado seeds
Red cabbage
Oak bark
Buddleia

Last minute hand made Christmas Gifts - Roving Fairies tutorial

I have been meaning to share some craft tutorials for a while now, unfortunately Christmas the opening of a second shop and a Toddler who requires constant entertainment has meant that this project has been on the back burner for a while. Maybe next year Ill manage to get everything done.... Anyway the same reasons that have led me to neglect this blog have also lead me to end up with not enough time to make all the handmade Christmas gifts traditionally required by my family. So as I make my last minute gifts this year I will share them so you can enjoy a bit of Christmas crafting.

My First Tutorial will be for roving Christmas fairies.

ROVING FAIRIES

Materials Needed:

Wool roving

Large wooden bead

Craft wire

yarn

Embellishments

sewing needle

scissors

wire pliers

ribbon

Instructions

Thread wire through the bead twist a loop at each end tie a ribbon to the top loop then take a second piece of wire add a loop at each end and twist around the body for the arms

wrap arms and body in yarn to secure arms in place (you can also run the yarn through the centre of the bead and secure to the top loop to stop the arms dropping down)

Start building the fairies dress by taking strips of roving stretching them out and wrapping over her shoulders and around her waist (tying the first layer or two can help add volume and shape. Use a needle to carefully felt the dress a little around the waist (little gentle stabbing action, watch your fingers!) then take some yarn and wrap and sew around her waist (again you can anchor this through the head and into the top loop)

To make the hair start by attaching a long length of yarn to the wire loop at the top of the head, wind the yarn round you hand several times to make a big loop, wind the yarn around the top of the loop and attach again to the top of the head. Position the hair loop and tie and at the back into a pony tailthen take another length of yarn and loosely run it between the pony tie and the top of the head to fill in the fairies bald spot, trim the end off of the hair plait and tie at the bottom with another piece of yarn

Trim and tidy your fairies skirt and add embellishments, enjoy experimenting with different hairstyles and details to create lots of unique fairy decorations to hang in the tree or you could make lots of little fairies and use a hoop decorated with Ribbons to make a Waldorf style fairy mobile.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!