The pig and the bear

We decided to test our pig design from a week or so ago on a different fabric. Nothing is quite as perfect as the rhubarb mohair - but I was too curious to see the pig in a non-piggy colouring!

So we grabbed a piece of our hand dyed sparkle mohair, and got to work. 'Bluebell' is the result!

She's pretty sweet  (and has already found her new home), but I still think I liked the soft pink of the original pig best. We want to try the design in a few more fabrics, then we'll probably get it ready for sale as a PDF pattern.

~*~

We also got a request for a custom bear in pink and purple - and this was the end result! We ended up calling her 'Jelly Bean' and she's made in 'Perky Pink' and 'Amethyst Sparkle' faux fur lines from our store. This was the first time we've used these fabrics, and put them together - and I'm really impressed with how well they've worked considering they have completely different textures/densities!

(The necklace has now become a favourite with Chelsea (nearly 4yrs) too. She was eyeing off the one I made for Jelly Bean, so I told her I'd make her one just for her. It's just a heap of our tiny coloured bells strung onto a cord, then tied into a ball. Chelsea wore hers all day - I just had to bargain with her to take it away for the night!)

Rhubarb the Pig

Remember that Rhubarb dyeing I experimented with on the weekend? (you can see the finished coloured mohair below) .... well, I decided the colour was too perfect for a pig to make anything else.

So I set about designing a pig pattern.

Meet Rhubarb - the pig. I am in LOVE with this little guy. He just worked - and I really do feel very grateful when that happens. It saves so much time messing around making adjustments and alterations. I think it gives me a lot of confidence that I'm finally getting this 3D soft sculpture thing too!

Rhubarb stands in at about 9", and with his over-sized head and cute little nose, is just the kind of critter I'd like to keep for my own collection... but we put him up for adoption and he found a home immediately! lol.

I will probably try working with this pattern again, maybe in a not-so-real piggy colour to see how it comes up? I don't know if I'll be able to better Rhubarb though. There was just something about him!

Experimental mohair dyeing - using Rhubarb

I was chopping rhubarb for a couple of apple-rhubarb crumbles I was making yesterday when it occurred to me that there was a fair amount of colour staining coming from the skin on the stems. I decided to see if the colour from the rhubarb could be used to dye mohair (I've used brown and red onion skins successfully in the past, as well as beetroot and kool aid... so this was just another thing to have a play with!)

The crisp white mohair.

adding the rhubarb.

We also added a dash of vinegar to help set the dye (as it was a plant-based dye. When using berries apparently it's better to use salt)

After about 20mins bubbling away on the stove all the colour had leached out of the rhubarb .

You can see how yellow the rhubarb ended up! The liquid was a murky pinky colour.

The mohair didn't get quite as dark as the liquid, but it did soak up a pretty pastel pink tinge.

(at this point my crumble was ready to cook as well!) 

Even after rinsing it was still a really lovely pink. This is the fur still wet. We hung it to dry outside for 24hrs

This is the dry-result. Only a very pale colour, and not quite as 'clean' a pink as it looked when wet - but I still think this will work quite nicely for an antique looking bear, or even some cute little pigs? Stay tuned to see the final product! 

(and I had fully intended to take a cooked photo of the crumble... but we started eating it before I remembered to!)