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Texere Troon Aran Wool Felted Bag & Purse Knitting Pattern 004

£1.50

Here is a knitting pattern for a felted bag and purse using Texere Troon Tweed aran. The yarn is used double for the bag meaning you'll have it knitted up in no time and the little purse only uses one ball - so great, quick gifts. The transformation of the non-felted bag when you take it out of the washing machine is brilliant and the rigidity of the bag means it doesn't even need lining! All the shades of Troon are marled or tweedy, so even if you don't want stripes you could achieve a lovely textured effect with very little effort.
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China Blue 1237 - Destiny

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C4 Linen - Cerise Marble

£6.12

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Serenity Super Chunky by Wendy - 1708 Teal

£3.52

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In Action DVD - Jan Beaney & Jean Littlejohn

£19.99

In this 2-hour DVD, Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn share their thoughts and experiences of creating sketches through to beautiful textiles. Known around the world for their textile art and creative workshops, Jan and Jean demonstrate a variety of techniques including: fabric paints, dyes, embellishing, knitting, foiling, soluble film, hand and machine stitching. Educational and Inspiring,
IN ACTION is suitable for the beginner and professional textile artist interested in embroidery, quilting arts, surface design and fabric art. A perfect accompaniment to the "Stitchscapes" book as many of the pieces Jan and Jean work on are illustrated in the book. It's great to see how they have been created and see and hear the authors design processes and techniques in "real life".
Buy the book and DVD together and save £2.00
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Amica Thistle Ring - Candyfloss

£5.65

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Dyeing & Colour

Shop Sections | Books & Patterns | Dyeing & Colour

Colour Explorations
Book 15 in an inspirational series of creative embroidery books by Double Trouble - Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn.
In book Jan and Jean explore the vast subject of colour and choose yellow and purple as feature colours to show how effective working with complementary colours can be.
Beautiful colour photographs throughout including detailed close-ups.
With sketchbook illustrations by both authors you are led through chapters of yellow and related themes of organic decay, rust and decay, then purple with floral themes along with what happens when yellow and purple meet as well as observational drawing and still life drawing.
There isn't one particular technique or method of stitching in this book, rather you are shown how to look at colours and explore the relationship between complementray colours and how they can influence your work and designs. £7.50

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A Dyer's Garden
Rita Buchanan - From plant to pot - growing dyes for natural fibres. Rita has been studying dye plants for 20 years and growing them for 10; she uses the dyes to colour natural fibres which she spins into yarn for knitting and weaving.
This book walks you through a garden season from design to planting to harvesting for the dyepot. The author tells you what is not worth growing, how to control invasive species, what the likely yield will be plus lots of other hints and tips.
The hundreds of colours presented are but a sampling of the striking hues you can achieve by following the author's foolproof methods and encouragement for experimentation.
A Dyer's Garden is fully illustrated with colour photographs of plants and flowers and the colours they will dye different fibres to. Plants include madder, yellow cosmos, dahlia, marigold, sunflower, yarrow, zinnia, hollyhock, basil, hops, indigo, woad and many others. You may even have some of them already growing in your garden.
This is a great book for anyone keen to use as few chemicals as possible within their garden and their dyeing and there is a wonderful sense of satisfaction if you've gone full circle and grown the dye as well as knitting or weaving your project. It is not only an interesting read for dyers, but gardeners will also be fascinated at the versatility of plants that will look beautiful in the garden as well as being productive dye stuffs. £9.99

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The Craft of Natural Dyeing
Jenny Dean - Glowing Colours from the Plant World. Jenny is passionate about natural dyeing: she not only researches ethnic dyeing techniques and lectures on the subject but also has her own business supplying natural dyes and running workshops on natural dyeing.
The ancient craft of dyeing was practised by most early civilisations. Long before the advent of chemical dyes, peoples all over the world relied solely on nature to provide them with sources of colour.
This book shows you how you can do the same with bought natural dyes and those you can make or grow yourself. Many of the dyestuffs are well known products such as privet, carrot tops, marigolds, turmeric and onion skins and you are guided through how to extract the colour from the dyes with the final chapter suggesting plants you can grow yourself.
The book is split into chapters of materials, equipment, step-by-step techniques for dyeing a skein of yarn, mordants and dyestuffs. There is a large chapter on colour and how to achieve the shade you are looking for by combining colours.
We have been selling a Natural Dye Kit for some years and it is always in demand, showing that our customers want a natural product to colour their natural yarns. If you want to move on from the kit or add some different colours and materials to your repertoire then this book will teach you everything you need to know. £7.95

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A Handbook of Indigo Dyeing
Vivien Prideaux. Be inspired by Vivien who specialises in decorative and domestic textiles made from natural fabrics and threads and dyed with fibre reactive, indigo and cochineal dyes.
The art of indigo dates back thousands of year: examples were found in the tombs of the ancient Egyptians, and there are references to its use in the Bible.
Using traditional and contemporary methods Vivien shares her expertse as a dyer showing how to use this natural blue pigment.
The book is very detailed with all the technical information you could ever need. Chapters include the history, health and safety, materials, tools and equipment etc plus choosing which yarns and fibres to choose and how the indigo dyes them all differently.
You are show lots of Shibori methods including itajime clamping, kikko folding, bomaki wrapping and katano, plus stitched, folded and gathered shibori, binding objects into fabric and folded. A a bonus there is then a small section of projects to make including a silk scarf, a jacket and a cushion. £12.99

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Colour on Cloth
Ruth Isset - Create stunning effects with dye on fabric using this glorious book by this renowned author of "colour" related books and Art Van Go demonstrator.
Explore the creative possibilities of applying dye to fabric using direct dyeing, layered dyeing, painting with dye and folding techniques.
As the stunning photographs of finished fabrics in this book show, gloriously colourful effects can be created on fabric using simple cold water dyes.
Easy to follow "recipes" allow you to mix up the jewel-like colours used throughout and guidance is given on the technical aspects of colour and dyeing.
This book appeals to all those involved in textiles, such as embroiderers, quilters and textile artists, as well as students and teachers of design. You are urged to develop your own creativity and learn to experiment with colour. £17.99

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Shop Sections | Books & Patterns | Dyeing & Colour