I'm still waiting for finished products to take pictures of, so I'll post them later. We had dye left from our tie-dye party and used them on some stuff. I was especially excited about the results of our silks. I have wanted playsilks for the boys for quite some time. I can't bring myself to buy them though because I know what the blanks cost from Dharma. So I found a great, permanent but quick way to dye them and they turned out great. This method doesn't make them all smooth and even and perfectly one color. It gives them a mottled look. Almost marbled.
First, we put the scarves in a stainless steel bowl and poured white vinegar over them and let them soak for 30 minutes. Then we wrung them out and put one-at-a-time in another stainless bowl. I let the boys squirt dye over them. We did lapis/midnight, yellow/orange, forest/bright green, red, and then lots of colors to try and make brown (as per M's request). After it looked good and dye covered, I put it in my microwave steamer, covered it and nuked it for 2 minutes. Then rinsed. And rinsed and rinsed and rinsed--silk holds it's dye well! After we did each one, I washed them in synthrapol and dried them. They look great! The boys had so much fun playing with them before bed too. I really should have taken pictures, but oh well. Tomorrow.
I also painted a skirt. I had this cool watercolor flower idea. I mixed the dye up thicker than I planned and then I couldn't get the look I wanted on my practice fabric. So I painted yellow and purple asters instead. I think I'll like it alright. We'll see. Who knows, maybe I'll love it?
G is astounding me with his growth the last month. He is talking so much better. He says all the grandparent names, repeats just about everything, and forms full sentences. He is starting to do scribble writing, where he writes a line of scribbles and tells us what it says. And he loves drinking out of a regular cup instead of sippy cups. AND he is more interested in using the potty. He has been great at using it as long as he is naked, but the other day he wanted his pj pants on with no diaper. He remembered to go to the potty and pulled down his own pants.
If this blog still exists when he is old enough to read, he will be horrified to find this here and I will be the cause of much emotional damage I am sure. But I'm thrilled at the progress he is making.
M on the other hand seems to have decided that 8 is darn close enough to 13 to be a total pill. Actually he is a really sweet kid. He just knows how to push my buttons. But that is pretty normal I guess.
On the sewing front, I used up some more fabric in a baby gift. So I didn't really use that much I guess, but it felt like an accomplishment. Then I cut out matching pants and shirts for the boys. The pants are taking awhile as they are 12 pattern pieces each and I'm double topstitching them. They had darn well better turn out! But they used a lot of fabric. Yay!!
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