Creation's Doom

Just finished, a belt and detachable pocket made from hand-dyed hemp silk. The belt was quilted with images from a favourite book of mine, a Pictorial History of Science Fiction. I stitched Icarus falling to earth from a Durer woodcut, a few monsters and lightening bolts, and 'a city of the future' as imagined by a 1920s sci-fi artist. The pocket flap says "Creation's Doom, See inside", a phrase pinched from the cover of a 2 shilling sci-fi weekly.

I quilt with the image I've chosen propped up beside the sewing machine, so I guess it is stitch - sketching.

The belt is fastened with big siver press studs, and lined in black hemp silk. The pocket detaches to be a little clutch purse, also lined in black with a touch of turquoise round the opening.

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Dyed by her own hand

Enlisting the help of my dye-guru Leanne, yesterday was spent dyeing massive amounts of hemp/silk charmeuse. The fabric supplier warned it was a notoriously hard fabric to dye, so we did a fair bit of swatch testing first. Above is a shot of one of the steaming dye baths.

The final fabrics, with the original natural colour on the left. I am not 100% happy with the colours, but I think we (read: Leanne) did exceptionally well in light of all the variables in the process. The final proportions of the colours in the design will be crucial.

Swatch tests, colour chips and design roughs.

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