↓
 

McCord Works

Tiny crochet doily jewelry

  • Shop
  • Checkout
  • Cart
  • My Account
  • Website Home
McCord Works
  • Shop
  • Checkout
  • Cart
  • My Account
  • Website Home

Category Archives: dye

Post navigation

1 2 3 >>

Repost: Famous in Norway

McCord Works Posted on August 22, 2015 by Leisa McCordAugust 22, 2015

This is a repost from 2014.

I have a little article in the most recent issue of Norsk Husflid (Norwegian Handicrafts), the journal published by the Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association, which promotes traditional craft in Norway. The organization has been in existence for nearly a century, and the journal is coming up on its 50th anniversary. It is the most widely distributed magazine in its segment in Norway, with a circulation of over 26,000 per issue.

I met the editor of Norsk Husflid at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last November. She and her compatriots were having a marvelous time at this spectacular event, and she promised she would put me in the journal. Imagine my surprise when she did actually email me to ask for photos! I am deeply honored to be included in this lovely and prestigious journal.

Norsk Husflid (Norwegian Handicrafts), 2014 Issue 1
English translation via Google

They only post the main articles online, but the editor sent me a hard copy, and I have a scanner. So here is the journal cover, my article and my photo page, complete with slightly crumpled corner. Thanks to Google Translate and my British/Texan/future-Spanish friend Paul, who I recently learned is fluent in Norwegian!

Full-page pdf

As seen in Norsk Husflid

Translation: Miniature crocheting

American Leisa McCord learned to crochet from her grandmother when she was eight years old, with a wooden crochet hook that her grandmother had carved herself. We met Leisa at the quilting festival [International Quilt Festival] in Houston and fell in love with her beautiful crocheted jewelry.

– As my interest in crochet rose, the dimensions of my work went down, says Leisa.

– Because I am interested in preserving the craft, patterns and technique, my goal is to promote interest in crocheting by finding new ways to crochet. For inspiration, I use my rather large collection of patterns from the 1930s to the 1950s, most of which comes from the thread manufacturers. These vintage designs are often the beginning of a piece, but usually I will scale it down, so they are small and light enough to be worn as jewelry. And sometimes I create my own patterns, says Leisa.

The materials she uses are either silk or cotton thread and a vintage crochet hook in steel. She even dyes her own thread to get the color nuances she wants.

Posted in crochet, dye | Leave a reply

Results

McCord Works Posted on January 21, 2015 by Leisa McCordJanuary 21, 2015

And here are the results!

dyed threads

Posted in dye | Leave a reply

Dye job

McCord Works Posted on January 18, 2015 by Leisa McCordJanuary 18, 2015

I’m in the middle of dyeing some silk and cotton thread. Yes, there was a bit of spillage! No harm done, though. This is mostly a restocking of steady colors – purple, maroon (finally!), pearls, turquoise and shamrock. Yes, the bright turquoise cotton and the shimmery shamrock green silk come from the same dye bath, just different fibers. It’s also been a long time since I’ve had any variegated wine colors, so I did some handpainting on both a cotton hank and a silk hank, with just two colors instead of the usual three. How those turn out will be a pleasant mystery.

I’m also dyeing more of the color I refer to as Cambridge Blue, which is a pale color that isn’t quite blue, green or gray. That’s the spillage you see, which looks awfully green right now. That has little bearing on the final color. It’s only the second time I’ve made this color, and I’m also trying it in silk. Might be gorgeous. Might be mud. I will find out in a couple of days. Dye bath happened on Saturday. Rinsing will happen on Monday, and when the fiber gets completely dry, I’ll post the results!

dye bath 0115

Posted in dye | Leave a reply

Dyeing results

McCord Works Posted on May 28, 2014 by Leisa McCordMay 28, 2014

Everything is finally dyed, rinsed and dry. Here’s what I ended up with, left to right.

I finally achieved my dark brown in the silk. It’s less chocolate and more coffee, or perhaps raisin. The cotton in the same dye bath gave me a lovely neutral putty. Which I already have a lot of, sigh. For the next pot, the silk gave me a nice variegated french vanilla, perhaps a bit darker than the first time I dyed it. The cotton is a really lovely ivory that will look nice and antiquey when I work it up. The silk thread also gave me nice bright red, yellow and blue. There will be more rainbow/chakra earrings in the future! Finally, I’ve got another batch of handpainted turquoise blues and greens, which makes me very happy.

dyeingC0514-1200

Posted in dye | Leave a reply

Dyeing

McCord Works Posted on May 24, 2014 by Leisa McCordMay 25, 2014

I’m dyeing some thread this weekend, and I happened to think to snap pictures of the process. In the first photo, I’m in the middle of mixing the powdered dye with water, right to left. The color all the way to the left will, I hope, be a dark brown. I’m mixing a lot of black and a goodly bit of rust brown and crossing my fingers. The last time I tried to dye dark brown, I used a color called Chocolate Brown. The silk came out dark chile red, and the cotton was dark denim blue!

Some of the colors dissolve easily, and others take some work, especially at higher concentrations. Remember, always wear a mask and gloves! Click on photos to enlarge.

dyeingA0514-1200If all goes as planned, we will have, left to right, dark brown in silk and cotton, ivory/french vanilla in silk and cotton, red silk, yellow silk, blue silk, and the funky looking square is hand-painted variegated blues in cotton. Everything sits in the dye bath for a couple of days, and then comes the setting/rinsing marathon!

dyeingB0514-1200

Posted in dye | Leave a reply

Famous in Norway

McCord Works Posted on March 27, 2014 by Leisa McCordMarch 27, 2014

I have a little article in the most recent issue of Norsk Husflid (Norwegian Handicrafts), the journal published by the Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association, which promotes traditional craft in Norway. The organization has been in existence for nearly a century, and the journal is coming up on its 50th anniversary. It is the most widely distributed magazine in its segment in Norway, with a circulation of over 26,000 per issue.

I met the editor of Norsk Husflid at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last November. She and her compatriots were having a marvelous time at this spectacular event, and she promised she would put me in the journal. Imagine my surprise when she did actually email me to ask for photos! I am deeply honored to be included in this lovely and prestigious journal.

Norsk Husflid (Norwegian Handicrafts), 2014 Issue 1
English translation via Google

They only post the main articles online, but the editor sent me a hard copy, and I have a scanner. So here is the journal cover, my article and my photo page, complete with slightly crumpled corner. Thanks to Google Translate and my British/Texan/future-Spanish friend Paul, who I recently learned is fluent in Norwegian!

Full-page pdf

As seen in Norsk Husflid

Translation: Miniature crocheting

American Leisa McCord learned to crochet from her grandmother when she was eight years old, with a wooden crochet hook that her grandmother had carved herself. We met Leisa at the quilting festival [International Quilt Festival] in Houston and fell in love with her beautiful crocheted jewelry.

– As my interest in crochet rose, the dimensions of my work went down, says Leisa.

– Because I am interested in preserving the craft, patterns and technique, my goal is to promote interest in crocheting by finding new ways to crochet. For inspiration, I use my rather large collection of patterns from the 1930s to the 1950s, most of which comes from the thread manufacturers. These vintage designs are often the beginning of a piece, but usually I will scale it down, so they are small and light enough to be worn as jewelry. And sometimes I create my own patterns, says Leisa.

The materials she uses are either silk or cotton thread and a vintage crochet hook in steel. She even dyes her own thread to get the color nuances she wants.

Posted in crochet, dye | Leave a reply

Fancy!

McCord Works Posted on October 14, 2012 by Leisa McCordOctober 14, 2012

I’m using the last of this particular variegated silk thread, with red and orange silk thread. The earrings look like fireworks, maybe?

Posted in crochet, dye | Leave a reply

Before and after

McCord Works Posted on June 23, 2011 by Leisa McCordJune 23, 2011

So, here’s something I’ve been doing this week – dyeing new thread! As usual, I got some predictable results and some unpredictable. Turquoise (bottom right) is always reliable. But see that gold one? Right under the green one? Same dyebath. The green one is cotton thread, the gold one is silk thread. You can see the cotton tie-offs in green against the gold thread. Both are pretty. Heck, all of is is pretty! Can’t wait to get started!

before dyeing
during dyeing
after dyeing

Posted in dye | Leave a reply

Status quo

McCord Works Posted on January 8, 2011 by Leisa McCordJanuary 8, 2011

…and I’m right back where I started.

I’ve been trying off and on to find alternatives to dyeing my own thread. It’s fun and all, but it’s not what I’m all about, and I’m not geared towards color consistency across large quantities or long periods of time. So for cotton, after a lot of trial and error, I’ve found one brand of sewing/quilting/embroidery thread that has a weight that’s awfully close to size 100 cotton crochet thread. But I don’t think it’s better, except for the variegated colors, which are truly gorgeous. For silk, I thought I was home free, since I’d seen my favored beading cord in a rainbow array of colors. Yeah, but not in the size I need – only white and black. Not only that, but the company has gone out of business. There’s another brand, again with no color options in my size, that would be okay for dyeing, but it’s not dazzling white on its own.

So it looks like I’m back to using and dyeing the same threads I’ve been using all along. Oh, and stocking up on the silk before it completely disappears. I suppose it’s nice to find out that I’ve had good judgment about thread all along, but I’m disappointed I can’t improve on the situation.

Posted in dye | Leave a reply

Four projects

McCord Works Posted on April 5, 2010 by Leisa McCordApril 5, 2010

Okay, so here’s what I’m working on tonight:

Dyeing a few scarves and hanks of silk and cotton thread. What’s with the rocks in the cup? Well, the best way I’ve found to crush-dye the scarves is to put them between two cups, with the top one weighted to keep the scarf submerged.

Dye job, April 2010

Blocking the tiniest things ever. If all goes well, these will become earrings. Each star measures less than half an inch from point to point.

Tiniest things ever

I just finished weaving this scarf (Lindsay) and am starting another one (Douglas Weathered).

Lindsay tartan, cotton tabby weave

And if I’m still conscious, I’ll try to crank out a few of these.

Treasure pouches/drawstring necklaces

None of these (except the treasure pouches) will be ready in time for the Cross Creek Ranch Arts Festival this weekend, but there’s a lot happening in March. More on that later!

Posted in crochet, dye, weave | Leave a reply

Post navigation

1 2 3 >>

Product search

Product Tags

Cart

Categories

  • Delights
  • Fancies
  • Graces
  • Spangles & Stars
  • Uncategorized

Site Admin

©2021 - McCord Works - Weaver Xtreme Theme Privacy Policy
↑