Open studio

 I have been dyeing scarves for my studio opening, woad and pomegranate.

Eco dyed clothes and cushions

 Some photos from the studio opening, last day tomorrow.

Liz Hewitt, eco dyed and indigo dyed scarves

And a small piece of weaving, working towards future exhibitions now.

South West Textile Group at Westonbirt

Skirt, top and scarf

This is my piece for the SWTG exhibition at Westonbirt Arboretum which opens today from 10 until 4 finishing on 20th of this month.
 I have seen some of the other work being displayed and it looks like its well worth a visit. See their website for general information http://www.forestry.gov.uk/westonbirt

Indigo

After my last experiments with indigo dyeing I wanted to try direct printing with the plant.  I am quite pleased with the results, but they are more faded than I would have liked so I need to work out how to get more intense colour. Its all experimental as I don't really know what I should be doing. If anybody out there is also trying this I would be interested in their methods. I bundled mine in the usual way and then put them in a pot with a fairly gentle heat for about two hours, it took a while before any colour came through. My friend Liz has also been dyeing with the plant so I am looking forward to seeing how she did.

Blouse dyed from previous indigo dyeing session
with leaf printing round hem

Hem

Plant dyed silk noil

Love the colours just need to be more intense

Puzzle Wood

Not much writing or much else going on at the moment. Visited the Puzzle Wood in the Forest of Dean a couple of weeks ago with my Mum. A bit dark for photos but here are a couple, a truly magical place. I hope you can get some idea from these. It has loads of pathways and 200 steps and was used as an iron workings. The landscape is partly natural and partly human made. It covers 14 acres and took us about an hour to get round at a leisurely pace. We saw a shrew and heard lots of rustlings. You can imagine fairy's living here.