Coral Dyeing Experience - Fun & Easy Fabric Art

A few weeks ago, I went to Okinawa, Japan to visit my daughter's family.

While looking for a place to park to tour Shuri Castle in Naha, we came across a cute shop called Shuri Ryusen.  At this quaint shop, I noticed beautiful scarfs and other fabrics which were decorated with coral stamped images. When we entered this shop, we were handed a brochure in English, which explained that they offered classes to learn this technique. I was smitten, I had to attend this class. We signed up immediately.

Photo not taken by me it can be found HERE.

So, one of the last things my daughter and I did before I left Okinawa was take a coral dyeing class at this shop.  While briefly instructed in English on how this technique is applied to fabrics, soft Japanese music played in the background making this shop a peaceful haven for creativity.  

We were first instructed to choose what we wanted to stamp on.  A few of the items we could decorate were a t-shirt, scarf or a tote bag. We chose to decorate scarves.

Next, we were shown four dyes (red, yellow, blue and purple) and how to apply them using a stamping tray. We were also given a chart which showed us how to mix the dyes to make other colors.

The tables held a lot of different corals with a variety of textures on each one.  The smaller pieces were adhered to cement blocks.  There were really large coral pieces too.  All the coral pieces were cut flat so the fabrics would easily lay down onto the coral.  If the coral was smaller, once the fabric was laid down onto the coral, an elastic was stretched over the fabric to keep it in place while you rubbed the dye over the fabric.

A small sponge was wrapped in a cloth which we blotted into the dye.  Then the sponge was rubbed across the surface of the coral.  The lightest dye color was to be applied first followed by darker colors.

The coral dyeing experience was supposed to take just 30-40 minutes but we took a lot longer because we were having so much fun!  

Once we finished our designs, we were invited to go upstairs into a designers studio to watch other artists dyeing fabric items.  Here's another detailed article about this shop.

Here are a few coral designed items that I thought looked great:

Here's how my scarf turned out:

Does coral dyeing sound like something you'd like to try? If so, you'd first need some coral. If collecting coral, be careful not to remove any live pieces from the ocean especially red and black coral because that would be forbidden according to international laws. Luckily, coral that has washed up on the beach is alright to collect but it would be advisable to check the local laws to confirm before you put pieces into your suitcase. If you already have some coral, you are on your way to a very fun craft project.

This is such an easy and fun fabric art technique! I hope you try it! 
xoxo Grandma

Purchasing Leather at a Fabulous Price - a Refashion

I wanted real leather to use to make a pair of baby booties but I didn't want to pay a ransom for the good stuff. So, I did what any leather-seeking-bargain-shopper would do. I went to my local thrift store. I happened to find this really nice leather jacket:

This jacket was only $15.00 and the fabulous leather was in perfect shape.  After purchasing this jacket, I took it home and started cutting it apart.  I would have felt perfectly wicked except it was a size 4 and I haven't fit in that size since I was in 7th grade! So no guilt in cutting up this baby! 

I first used the leather to make these booties for my grandson for Christmas using THIS pattern:

And one more pair for my growing granddaughter using THIS same pattern.

Then I made my third thing from this leather: a pair of boots using THIS pattern for my granddaughter.  I changed/improved the pattern by adding some sticky back felt onto the sole area of the boots. Then I added another layer of sticky foam because these boots needed stability and warmth for taking a child outside in this frigid weather we've been having lately.  

Sadly, these boots kept sliding off of her so I had to do a few extra things. As seen in the below photo, I added elastic right at the ankle height stitching the elastic to the seams.

Finally, these boots stayed on her cute little feet. But oh, how I wish I had of known before I sewed them together. That fur was HORRIBLE to unpick! But that leather... oh that leather! So glad I found it!  

If you want to sew with leather, be brave and purchase a leather jacket at a thrift store. Trust me, it'll save you oodles of cash that you would have spent otherwise at a fabric store. Such a fabulous price for leather!   Since you've now splurged on the leather, don't forget to get a leather needle too for your sewing machine. It'll help your sewing go so much smoother.  

xoxo Grandma

Linked to: Crafty Allie

Summer Ramblings and a Few Newborn Creations

It's been a busy summer for me.  I attended a family reunion at the beach and a few weeks later a big high school reunion.  Last week, my husband and I celebrated our 37th anniversary at my favorite coastal town in Oregon.  On top of all these activities, instead of wishing my family was close by, they've actually been around a lot this summer! As you can imagine, I've been enjoying a house full of children and grandchildren.  

At the end of July, my son's family was able to leave the country were they've been living in tumultuous circumstances and come back to America.  This weekend, my son finally gets to leave that same country and join his family here too!  What a relief it will be to this mother's heart to have his family all together in the U.S.  

Later this week, I'll kiss my youngest daughter and her family goodbye as they journey over 6,000 miles away to live for a few years, while her husband serves in the military.  I keep wondering if my children and grandchildren couldn't try living a little closer to us?  Of course, I realize that their oversea adventures just means I have some pretty cool, new places to visit.

This past month, I discovered a few fun things.  One discovery was a great little fabric store in Cannon Beach, Oregon called Center Diamond Fabric, where I purchased two wonderful batik seahorse fabrics - I'm excited to show you these fabrics and make something adorable for my granddaughters out of them!

I also learned that the clothes I make for my newborn grandbabies look much cuter on the babies than on my clothes line.  I know, not much of a surprise with that discovery. Remember the lace shoes I embellished for my granddaughter to coordinate with the lace dress I refashioned?  Here are a few photos of that outfit on this baby girl.  Isn't she precious?

Stay tuned, because I just finished another sundress and the cutest outfit for this little one, so she'll have plenty of outfits to wear in her new home overseas.  I'll post those photos later when my house gets a little quieter!    - xoxo Grandma