#solarpunk crafts

[siriscrafts]

Took my scarf experiment off the loom today! It's a special scarf because I dyed the wool myself using natural dyes. I still need to tie off the ends, but in the meanwhile enjoy some close-ups from both sides:

[siriscrafts]

Patched up some holes in my shoes with embroidery floss! I enjoy visible mending and I refuse to get new shoes because these should last longer. They're not old! The insides of the heels are starting to wear as well, I'll have to reinforce those next...

[siriscrafts]

How I mended a hole in knit fabric!

I patched yet another big hole in my reckless partner's sportswear and decided to document how I did it! I used an embroidery frame to help keep the fabric in place, but it can be done just as well without one. Other supplies are just a needle and some yarn. Here I'm using three strand embroidery floss.

I start by securing the fraying edge. Just stitching around the egde, all around the hole! If the edge is not straight, the parts sticking out will fold a bit when you tighten the stitch, but that's fine.

Here is the first step finished. Next, I stitch the two edges together!

There are a few different ways to do it, but the idea is to use the stitches around the edge to pull the two sides together with a ladder stitch. (This means that there's no tension on the fraying edge, just around it on the intact fabric!) I put the needle through two stitches on one side, then two on the other side and so on, always taking either the next two stitches or one previous and one new. Pull tight!

And voilà, the tear is fixed!

And here's another example with matching colours and finer thread.

[siriscrafts]

I tried a new craft, made a small coiled basket with iris leaves!

[siriscrafts]

Got around to darning the holes in my sock heels! Now they're ready to wear in my favourite boots next winter too.

Also tried carving avocado pits! I let it dry for a few days, cut it in half and used a crafting knife to carve a lil bird. Nice and soft to sculpt!

[siriscrafts]

I put a solar dyeing jar up! I'm dyeing a t-shirt with onion skins and dried lupin leaves! Red onion skins should give green, yellow onion skins a warm golden yellow and lupins cool yellow. Now it will soak up the sunlight for a couple of weeks and slowly release the dye. No electricity needed! I recycled the last of my alum into this – the water in the jar is the mordanting solution i used in my ecoprinting project!

[siriscrafts]

Before and after: replacing a torn belt loop on old jeans. And progress pictures with tutorial in alt.

[siriscrafts]

Next sewing project: Frankenstining two small pants into one pair that fits! I love upcycling my old clothes, and these colours are perfect for the season. The zipper is on the oppisite side on the other pair, so I'll have to figure my way around that... I'm hoping to complete these today. Remains to be seen how overly optimistic that schedule will be!