Spring Wool

It has finally happened!  We've coordinated with a mill near us that specializes in the finest merino jersey to be had.  Our shipment of Oeko-Tex 100 certified Merino has just arrived, and there's a special twist: it's machine washable!  AND it's softer than the wool that we had previously been using (hard to imagine, but it's true).

  Yesterday, Suzanne and I mixed up a batch of colors that we thought showed our yearning for spring: palest aqua, a lovely sap green, and twilight blue.  Next will be colors in the warmer range: a pale coral, some yellow, and some more suprises!

Brilliant Spring

I'm still hard at work on the arm warmers that I talked about in my last post.  The colors that I'm finiding in my yard are filling me with inspiration: Take, for example, the brilliant yellow of the

Oregon Grape, a plant which is native to my region.  Isn't it smashing?  Here is a translation of the color into armwarmers: 

Yum, right?  What inspires you this season?

Springtime

We've been working hard on perfecting our techniques for dyeing our lovely wool fabric.  The dyes that we've been using are absolutely gorgeous, but they yeild a color that is a little bit too primary for our liking.  As a small pop of color, the brightness is perfect, but on a whole garment the effect is overwhelming.  So I went to work mixing my own colors and have come up with a nice, earthy pallette.  But what to do with all of the lovely primaries that we have?

I am a huge fan of accessories, and I started thinking about what I would love to have for chilly spring days.  Arm warmers are a favorite for me.  I like to wear them running because even though my core gets warm, my arms and hands are still cold.  But they're also great as a fashion accessory, and a really nice way to get those sleeveless garments out of the closet just a little bit earlier in the season.  So I played around with pattern and texture and came up with these lovelies.  Now available in our shops and with more colors coming soon!
 



Happy Spring, everyone!

Sweater Love

What a great day I had yesterday, photographing the lovely Michelle, who modeled some of our new handmade sweater designs. I love these sweaters because they're very comfortable and so versatile.  Shown here is essentially the same sweater in different lengths and necklines.  

Currently, we offer a ballet scoop neck, a cowl (shown in this previous post) and a hoodie.  Any sweater can be made into a dress or tunic, too! 

Michelle and I went to Tumwater Falls for our shoot, and it was a beautiful, sunny day.  We had a great time, and I'm so happy with how the pictures turned out. 

  

This particular dress is available for purchase now in our online shop.

Dyeing to be Perfect

Suzanne and I are both enamoured with the idea of using hand-dyed organic fibers, and I'm completely excited about doing our own dyeing.  My first two batches came out uneven and speckly, but I soon figured out the chemistry and perfected my technique.  It turns out that it's critical to wash the fabric first with a high quality professional textile detergent, and timing the fixing process with the right temperature is also key. 

Anyhow, this last batch I dyed included the colors, "Sand Dune" and "Cayenne Red."  The first color is a gorgeous pale mushroom grey, while the red is definitely chili pepper!  And I'm so happy that the color came out uniform and perfectly saturated. This fiber is organic Oeko-Tex 100 certified merino wool jersy knit.  It is super soft to the touch, and warm to wear.

Onward!  I can't wait to see these turned into garments!

Little Lap Jacket

 

Another one of our designs is this little lapped jacket, which is reminiscent of a Nepalese style of jacket.  This one was made from a sweater that we felted and re-cut into our pattern.  We serged it together and trimmed it with a cotton knit in a fun stripe.  I just love the way it turned out, and the weight of the wool is perfect for those chilly fall days.  We plan to make this style for adults as well, but as yet we have not found a good source for thicker wool to acheive this weight.  We may have to cut up multiple sweaters and have more of a colorblocked look.  We'll see....

The jacket pictured is available now in our Artfire shop; it's one of a kind, so when it's gone it's gone for good.  Of course we will make more of these with the same pattern, but because we're up-cycling wool, no two are alike.