ridgewaystudios.org

Thanks to everyone who visited during the Studio Tour Weekend.   This is the best way for us to learn about our customers’ preferences, because they can see a wider range of our work than what is in shows or galleries.    This year, for example, I had some experimental bowls with resin, and the new Stormborn ice-dyes.  I also learned that I need to keep working on the charred-finish wood.  Luckily, the woodturning symposium the very next weekend in Loveland gave me some of the techniques that I need to make these more successful, thanks to Merryl Saylan.

The Studio Tour is also a great time for customers to learn about our making process.    It helps to keep traditional crafts thriving, even when the technologies may have been superseded by mass production.  Winter is coming, and making things is a very human strategy for survival.

Ice-dyes are like tie-dye on steroids, and much less predictable!  After dyeing some quilting fabric, I couldn’t resist making garment-dyed dresses, camisoles, harem pants, lotus capri’s, and a few jackets and vests in the Game of Thrones colors of ice and fire.

The clothes are rayon jersey or woven rayon, sewn for Dharma Trading in Indonesia.   The dyes are Procion fixed with soda ash.  All of the garments have been washed three times in the dying process, so they won’t shrink.  A curious thing about rayon is that the fibers are weak when wet, so no wringing or line-drying!  It really loves a medium hot dryer setting.   The woven garments benefit from a touch-up to hems and bindings with a cool iron (wool setting).

Garments are one-of-a-kind, in women’s sizes M-L-XL-XXL