I learned to sew when I was 12, and made almost all of my clothes going through school and college. But after I met the charkha when I was in grad school in the early 1980's, the poor sewing machine started collecting dust. So it is unusual for me to be inspired to sew; I usually have my sister do that part. But these napkins spoke stripes to me, and they are simple to make. I used 2 sets of fat quarters, one for the tops and one for the backs. The tops are pieced, the backs are not, so you could use any backing fabric that pleases you. First I dyed the pieces in a bath of avocado pits and skins. The pits were soaked in an alkaline solution for a few days, then the skins and some more water were added and the pot was brought to a boil. The heat and alkalinity bring out the reds. In a hot dyebath, the fabric only needs about 10 minutes to get as dark as it will get.
I got the napkin idea from a Pinterest post that took me to a Purl Soho tutorial.
My modifications are:
Of course you can make your own variations. I first thought I would use the stripes and the semisolid for the tops, but then thought I should show you what the tops look like if you use just one set of fat quarters. So there are pairs that are the same, 2 with the semisolid as the large triangle and 2 with the pixelated as the large triangle.
Here's how:
The dyes are black walnut hulls, coreopsis, Hopi sunflower, and madder, all grown in the Warren Wilson College dye garden.
]]>Khadi is the Hindi word for handspun, handwoven cloth. Wiki tells me that it is made from yarn spun on a charkha.
I demonstrate in public whenever and wherever I can, and usually do not work on something for a project at those times. I will often allow a spectator to become a participant, and I don't always want that yarn to be a part of my project. So after 15 or so years of demonstrating, my 100% miscellaneous handspun yarn stash is substantial.
Catherine Ellis introduced me to the zanshi concept many years ago, and it occurred to me that I could use those miscellaneous bits in a random stripe cloth. You can see some on the Inspiration/Weaving page of the website.
So look at this!! NO, I did not weave it or fashion it into this beautiful outfit.
You can see I Googled "Khadi clothing" to find it. The website is given above the picture, but I've embedded the link.
Just click on the image to go to the website. There is a slide show, and this is slide #8, designer 11.11.
From their Facebook page,
"What 11.11 represents :
eleven /
eleven is a signifier for synchronicity – 1 specifically is the number
of mastery according to numerologists. eleven / eleven mainly represents
a continuous quest for mastery and excellence."
The weaving pattern is a 16 shaft block twill taken from the Landes book. Then I tie dyed it...
]]>You could tie dye it if you wanted:
]]>The warp is really straight; the curve is an optical illusion.
]]>