4-H Leaders

I have a friend who leads two 4-H groups; one for cooking and one for sewing.

This is what happens to your sewing notions as you teach young ladies how to sew:

" Hamming it up. "     
Sewing humor - - -  that's a ironing ham under the sewing samples
which are cunningly placed to look like clothing.

Voodoo Pins?

My sheep shearing friend asked - what's a sewing ham?
Seems so obvious - not.
A ham is rounded and usually has wool on one side and heavy cotton on the other. It's shaped to help press seams open - especially those that are rounded or cut on on the bias. The fabric on the ham helps absorb the heavy-duty steaming taking place. The steaming helps shape the seam.

Dip Dye and Ombre on Project Runway

Have you been watching Project Runway?
I'm a reluctant viewer. I feel stressed when they have to choose their fabrics in fifteen minutes. It takes me 45 minutes to pick out flannel at Joann's!
I feel stressed they have 8 -10 hours to design it, sew it, fit it and finish it.
I actually excel at the absolute last minute way of doing things but this show adds more stress on top of the usual procrastination.
Anyway - this weeks episode has a bit of dip-dyeing and ombre dyeing which my 4H groupies were playing around with recently. Intriguing.
Project Runway: Season 7 Episode 2 Videos | myLifetime.com

If I was more talented -I could show a still of Amy's dip-dyed flirty skirt.
Try this link to another view of the dress she created out of burlap and a little dip-dyeing:

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway/extended-judging/episode-2/video/extended-judging-of-amy-sarabi-episode-2

Tie Dye & Dip Dye, the 4-H WAY

Reporting from the 'Running with Scissors' 4H group:

These  creative girls decided to tackle TieDye and Dip-Dyeing recently. These dyeing methods are two ways to add vibrant color to t-shirts, curtains, hats or any fabric that will yield a pattern depending on technique but will also surprise you every time.
For TieDyeing, they  used a TieDye kit from Jacquard, available from here. "The colors were very vibrant and have withstood multiple washings," explains the 4H leader. "I would get this brand again."

You can see from the above photos they are using rubber bands (tight) to separate sections for the dye. The directions on this kit were good and the following photos show another technique.

 

 

The leader practiced prior with her niece and nephew and used Tulip Dyes bought here. These colors were softer and more muted. The blue is more denim blue and the red is more pink.

Results from the 4H'ers:

Dip Dyeing. These 4H'ers did not use a kit this time. They used idye kits made for the washing machine. Also from Jacquard.
The girls requested certain colors like lime green and aquamarine which Jacquard carries.

The 4H leader says, "They gave a very uniform color which is nice, but we might have gotten different results with another type of dye. I would want to try another type of dye for this project to experiment next time. The idye does give very vibrant color that lasts through multiple washings, we just need to work on our dip dye technique."

No kit for this, thus no exact instructions.

You need a tub big enough to dip your item into. These 4H'ers were dip dyeing tank tops so they needed a medium small container.
The idea is to get a graduated color change from light to dark.

"The 4H girls have received lots of exclamations on their tie dye shirts and they wear them often.
They would like to do this project again. I am keeping a list of tie dye techniques I see or want to try, such as peace designs in the dye or different folding techniques, like the accordion fold."

Hanging Wet
It's easy to discern the color gradients while wet.
Although, when they are dry, they look very subtle.

There are lots of techniques on the internet that can help or confuse you. The basic technique is to experiment to find out which dyes work best, which fiber contents work best ( cotton is a good starting point) and getting the over-all look to be what you envision - or just let your dye imagination loose.


Other links:
1. Paula Burch
2. Martha
3. Dizzy Lettuce
4. a.  Become a 4-H Leader
    b.  OSU Extension:4H

Inspiration

One of the blogs that seriously inspires me is running a contest to nominate someone you know who uses their crafting talents to help people in need.

I nominate Joan Vardenega. She is teaching 4-H sewing as well as cooking to a fantastic group of girls in Columbia County, Oregon (Warren/Scappoose).

She doesn’t have a web site or a blog (yet) but inspires me through phone calls and e-mail. The challenge to create has been raised through her thoughtful interest in not only what her local fabric store in St. Helen’s is promoting, what her girls inspire her to teach, and her knowledgeable feedback to what I am currently creating.

She loves to teach and is always ready to take on a challenge.

She recently completed theater curtains for a backyard theater.

With her 4-H girls, they recently embellished t-shirts with Bleaching, bleach pens, tie-dye and dip-dye.
With me, she recently came over to Canbyland to help me with organizing all my sewing crap into one dedicated sewing room.
She has recently completed teaching a series of garment sewing classes to quilters from her local fabric store, Fibers & Stitches.

Joanie raises the bar.

Thank you.

 

This is Pencil Girl's Tie-Dye T-shirt. Twisting Spirals.

This is the Towel bag Sewing challenge for the 4-H Girls. They were given the sample and the materials and had to figure out how to make the Towel Bag.

Many ripped out seams later, they figured out they needed to make the pocket first.
--After figuring out the measurements.
--Don't forget to attach the straps.

Here is the full-size towel with bag attached. All folds up into the bag and the bag has room for other beach or swimming pool necessities.