Dye-a-Lot

For Jo

2008-10-13T13:29:00.001Z

More at Etsy

2008-04-06T15:27:00.002Z

Some new Serendipity items recently listed on Etsy

Serendipity at Etsy

2008-03-26T15:17:00.005Z

After several requests to make the Serendipity range available over the internet I have opened an Etsy shop. Only one item listed at the moment, but more to come, and some scrummy colours. Watch out for them over the next few days.

Some of you need to watch your postboxes over the next few days by the way ....

Back very soon

Vegetarian Silk?

2008-02-11T12:24:00.001Z

Thanks to those of you that have responded so far. Most of you have sent your address, but a couple have forgotten! I will follow this up next week after Textiles in Focus.

In the meantime I wanted to show you a quick picture of a new line.

I am really excited about these new fabric rolls. We are calling them Embellisher Rolls as the contents are ideal for the machines, but also for any other sort of embellishing too! The main ingredient is Vegetarian Silk. Yes, that's right, a product called Vegetarian Silk. I found it by accident, and it takes the colour beautifully. What is Vegatarian Silk? Well, in truth it is a cellulose fibre from a sustainable renewable source. The rolls contain two pieces of the 'silk', (both are forms of pre-felt and it takes 3 layers of the finer one to make the thicker one. They are rolled together with a piece of fine viscose felt and some fine cotton scrim. Ideal to stitch into for any technique, though. There is another picture of the dyed Vegetarian silk here.

Giveaway Update

2008-02-07T20:17:00.000Z

I am really sorry that this has taken so long. Please accept my apologies for the very long delay.

As compensation for the delay I have decided that I will send something to EVERYONE that posted a comment on the previous post, or who sent a mail to the email address. So.... everyone will be a winner of sorts but I will keep the overall winner secret for now, although there is one.

The email address is slightly different so don't get confused, and it isn't a link so you will have to write it into your mail.
sassalynne @ gmail.com (don't forget to close the gaps)

Apologies

2008-01-03T07:26:00.001Z

I am so sorry not to have posted for so long, but I have had serious internet problems. I thought they were over, but it is still difficult to remain online for long. I will catch up on the prizes as soon as I can check the mail. That's the main problem with online mail boxes......

Appreciative comments

2007-07-26T08:56:00.000Z

It's always good to have unsolicited comments. Here is one I received about the Sassa Lynne perle 8.

"I can't wait to see the new threads........ I absolutely love working with them. It makes me feel like I really know what the heck I'm doing:) They make it so easy and the colors are just awesome!!"

Thank you Candi, even though you don't know that I know!

If you haven't entered the giveaway draw do so now, it is nearly the end of the month.

Chiffon Packs

2007-07-13T15:06:00.000Z

I spent yesterday afternoon dyeing the lightweight chiffon scarves that we sell in packs of 3 pieces. The first picture shows them after they are dried, just waiting to be packed.

And here are some of them in their packets. The white patches are reflections of the camera flash. You can find them on the website

Oh yes, and don't forget the giveaway!

Another giveaway

2007-07-10T11:23:00.000Z

As promised I am offering 2 Jumbo Perle as a giveaway this month. These come in 2 weights - 5 and 8. You can choose which size you prefer, one of each or two of one! The colours will be from our Serendipity range.

The same rules as last time. Either leave a comment below, or send me an email at
sassalynne at yahoo.com. Don't forget to close the gaps and substitute at with @ (but you probably all guessed that.) If you would like to see a picture - there is one on yesterday's post.

I'll let you know where they are going in August. If you are visiting the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham UK, also in August, pop along to the Winifred Cottage stand and see them in person.

Jumbo's by air?

2007-07-09T16:04:00.000Z

A selection of Jumbo perle in both 5 and 8, ready to be packed for Canada. This image is only small, but if you click on it they can be seen more clearly.

Winner, Winner, Winner.......

2007-07-05T11:07:00.000Z

Congratulations to PapooSue, I've emailed you for your address.

Only 5 comments left on the blog, but a total of 72 entered either via comments or email.

This weekend is a busy one for us, but I'll be back next week with another prize draw. Pass the word and watch this space. I'm offering Jumbo Perle for the next prize.

What colour nail varnish?

2007-06-21T13:21:00.000Z

I was amused to find this, and couldn't resist filling it in. Especially as I only wear nail varnish to cover up the dye under my nails!

Your Nail Polish Color is Black

How you're unique: There's nothing about you that isn't unique

Why your style rocks: You are a total indie chick... and you can pull it off

What this color says about you: "I'm a trendsetter and don't care what anyone else is doing!"

What Color Nail Polish Best Fits You?

Prize Draw for June

2007-05-19T14:48:00.000Z

Well, I promised you another prize this month. June is busy, so the winner won't be anounced until the first week in July. Anyone can enter. If you have entered before - have another go. Follow the directions below, and who knows.....

The prize? The prize will be two of our Yarn assortment packs. These contain a mix of threads, I will post a picture later, the scanner isn't working properly at the moment.

How to enter?

EITHER

1 Leave a comment below, making sure that your contact details are there - either your email, or a user name with a link to an email.

2 Send me an email at sassalynne at yahoo.co.uk (don't forget to substitute the 'at' with @)

We've had 2 winners - here is the way to the third.

By the way, if you would like to see how our Jumbo perle 8 stitches out Ati has a sample on her site.

Added after Sharon B left her comment:

Thanks, Sharon, for the kind comment. If you would like to read what Sharon said on her blog .this is the link. If you haven't read her blog before I suggest you subscribe asap, it is full of interesting thoughts and links, and beautiful stitching.

The Draw is complete

2007-05-16T08:12:00.000Z

Well, where did the days go? This was meant to be posted the day before yesterday, but somehow I got too tied up!

I'm pleased to announce that the winner of this draw is Emily Buchanan. Emily, get in touch with your address and I will send your prize to you.

Thanks to so many of you that entered. I'm sorry you couldn't all win, however there is another draw starting shortly, so please enter again - all draws are open to everyone, it doesn't matter if you have won before, you may succeed again!

Watch out for details on the next post.

The prize draw

2007-05-13T11:34:00.000Z

Tomorrow is the draw for the prize draw below.

Last chance to enter this one, but there will be another one following. I've had some good suggestions for additions to the range. Keep them coming.

Madeleine McCann

2007-05-13T10:26:00.000Z

Please post a picture of this missing 4 year old on your blog and help to spread the net wider. Bloggers are international - someone may be able to help.

Updated information can be found at the BBC news website

All packed up!

2007-04-23T13:31:00.000Z

The threads below are all packed up and ready to go to Australia.

It's difficult to scan them when they are in their packages, but you can still see the colours

These are not colours that I would have chosen to go together, but seeing them all together in a basket I was surprised to see how well they 'sparked' each other off. I think I am tempted to use these threads next time I do some stitching. I love this job, not only do I get to mix and match all the colours, but also see the choices people make! I wouldn't change it for the world.

Don't forget to enter the competition. If you didn't win last month it is still OK to join in again, and come back and enter next month too. The more the merrier.

Prize Draw 2

2007-04-13T15:47:00.000Z

The three chunky skeins towards the top of this picture are Yarn Twists. They are a selection of 7 different yarns. Each 'bundle' is slightly different. They contain a mix of cotton, silk, rayon viscose and a textured yarn. These were introduced nearly 20 years ago now (I can't believe it's that long) and were the original mixed hank for hand stitching.

The three in the picture go with the surrounding threads, but there are many to choose from. We dye them in the same range as the Thread Packs, but they take the dye in a totally different way, due to the mix of fibres. We also dye them in the Serendipity range. They aren't on the website yet, but there is a description.

I would be really interested to know which othere colours you think would go together well in a skein.

Answers, as before to:

sassalynne at Yahoo.co.uk (don't forget to lose the spaces and substitute at for @).

The prize will be two Yarn Twists.

Watch the blog in a month to see who has won. If you have entered before, that's just fine. Have another go. If you have seen this for the first time you too are welcome. Names will be drawn out of the hat.

If you would like to see how a Yarn Twist stiches out - look here.

And the winner is

2007-04-12T11:44:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone for taking part in the prize draw. You have made some lovely comments along the way, and the selection of 'favourite colourways' has included every one in the range! That must mean we are getting something right!

I'm delighted to say that the winner this time is Margaret Roberts, so a pack will be winging its way to her shortly.

There will be another draw starting tomorrow. Do come and have another go. I'm sorry you couldn't all win this time.

Two days to go

2007-04-10T15:18:00.000Z

Just a reminder that there are only to days to go until the prize is announced. If you haven't taken part yet, there is still time.

Here is the information, so pop along and do what you have to do! The winner will be posted here, and in a day or so there will be another prize offered.

Selection 2

2007-04-09T09:28:00.000Z

I love playing with colour, and the Serendipity range is the result of this.

The threads shown today are dyed with the same colours as those shown in the previous post.

However, the intensity of the dye is different, resulting in different colours and combinations

I hope you can see the difference. In the 'flesh' it is quite marked.

Selection 1

2007-04-07T12:16:00.000Z

These threads are currently members of our 'Serendipity' range. Comments on their addition to our named range would be of interest.

For the sake of argument we will call this one 'pink'

This one is 'green'

And this one is blue

Then all we have to do is think of names!

Still a few days if you want to enter the competition ! (See the previous post)

Prize Package

2007-03-11T14:24:00.000Z

Everyone likes the chance to win a prize!

If you would like to win one of our Thread Packs follow the link and let me know which is your favourite colourway. Send an email to sassalynne at yahoo.co.uk (substituting the @ symbol for the gaps and 'at', of course). This isn't the email for sales, that is on the site. If you happen to buy from us and win you will receive an extra prize as well, but you don't have to buy to enter.

I can't promise that you will win the colour you choose, but you won't be disappointed. This offer closes on 11th April 2007, but there will be another shortly after that, so 'watch this space'!

Dyeing course

2007-02-26T16:56:00.000Z

It's always fun to see what someone else has done! These fabrics were produced by a student on a course at Missenden Abbey. These were all dyed on the Saturday morning, although not rinsed and dried until that evening.

All students went home with over 100 samples.

I will be teaching there again next year, it will be a different course, but as many samples will be produced.

A little bit of glitz

2007-02-11T11:43:00.000Z

I don't often dye a rainbow mix of colours these days, but it is certainly the best way to get a quick selection of colours. I wanted to load this picture earlier but got sidetracked. I didn't expect Blogger to co-operate at this time of the day!

These are metallic perle. They stitch like a dream, the little golden twist giving them just a little extra.

Another dyeing day

2007-01-22T14:43:00.000Z

I love dyeing these bundles of threads. Each Yarn Twist contains a mix of 7 different yarns, a mix of silk, cotton, viscose and occasionally linen. The fibres all take the dye differently, so the mix of colours is sometimes very unexpected. The red and orange one is waiting to be twisted. Doesn't the chenille look delicious (although I say so myself!)

100% Merino

2007-01-13T13:15:00.000Z

Family circumstances have caused me to be away from the computer for a while, but that didn't stop the production line.

These are some hanks of merino pencil roving which have been dyed with acid dyes.

I love the density of colour that can be achieved with these dyes, they can be subtle too.

All these colours are destined to be felted handbags. These will be made with my other hat! And hopefully featured on that site.

Having fun

2007-01-08T11:10:00.000Z

I have to admit that I have been having fun and just messing around, nothing serious at all, but sometimes it's good to 'play'. I have been using acid dyes and some needle-felted flowers.

These are destined to be applied to a series of felted bags on which I am currently working. As they are finished they will appear on my other blog

The end result

2007-01-07T15:51:00.000Z

Well. no, it isn't actually the end result of this piece of stitching, but stitching is the end result for dyed perle! This also appears on my other blog as part of the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge. If you knew how difficult it was to produce even this measley effort you would regard it in a different light. I think the thread looks good, though, even though I am biased!

Play Day

2007-01-05T10:01:00.000Z

Well I had some fun yesterday. I don't often get the chance to 'play' with dye, but these are the results of a really fun day.

I use both fibre reactive and acid dyes in my work, depending on the fibres I am dyeing. However, yesterday I tried an all in one acid dye. I only used 3 colours, just to get the feel of it. I dyed both wool and silk (this picture shows some of the silk). I have to say it worked fairly well, but I still haven't got the proportions right. In all honesty - I'll be back to the conventional dyes, but for occasional dyeing and workshops these will be fine.

Today's episode

2006-12-30T17:22:00.000Z

Well, today I have finished dyeing some Jumbo skeins. This was the end of an order, so I'm now looking forward to labelling and packing. There are other colours still drying, but guess who forgot to charge the camera - and I can't scan wet threads!

After the dyepot

2006-11-02T09:03:00.000Z

I thought you might like to see pics of the threads through various stages after they are dyed.

This first on shows them hanging to dry. These are all Jumbo skeins of perle

These are dry, in the process of being wound. The one that is already twisted is a Yarn Twist. These are celebrating their 20th birthday this year!

More Yarn Twists

Now starting to twist the Jumbo skeins of Perle. These are perle 8

All labelled and ready to go. These are the Jumbo Perle 5

A new selection

2006-10-30T09:43:00.000Z

Later than I promised, but here is the collection that I dyed the other day. It wasn't the dyeing that took the time, it was the finishing off! All that winding and twisting. I'm always glad when it is done.

If you look closely, you will see that there are 15 different colourways, however the scan doesn't seem to show them very clearly. The threads are a mix of metallic perle, perle 5 and coton a broder. They are destined for our thread pack collection.

A disaster averted!

2006-10-24T19:48:00.000Z

Today I had an important appointment. I wanted to look my best, so imagine my exasperation when yesterdays rubber gloves sprang a leak and my hands were covered with pretty colours! Well, frankly, not so pretty colours. I was using navy in various intensities with other colours, so I had blue and green splodges in very unsightly places.

However, help was at hand! A previous accident had introduced me to Body Smoothing Exfoliator sold by Marks and Spencer, and I can thoroughly recommend it. The label says that it has jojoba beads, but whatever they are, just wet your hands and rub. I met my appointment with scrupulously clean and smooth hands. Thought you all might like to know the secret, of course olive oil and sugar have an effect too, but I have to admit that it isn't as good.

No pics today, but some more new colours to appear tomorrow. Oh, I love playing!

Finally back to the dyepot

2006-10-22T09:30:00.000Z

You may well have guessed that over the last few months Dye-a-Lot hasn't! It has been very difficult to maintain any sort of routine due to family circumstances.

However, today I was playing with colours. I haven't actually used these colours in combination before, although they are colours I use all the time. I hope you like the result.

They are shown using different intensities of each colour. Glad I made notes, some of them are really subtle.

I want to stitch into this

2006-07-06T14:25:00.000Z

This is a closeup of a yummy piece of felt that I dyed. Now, where did I put my thread.........?

Weekend Dyeing Course

2006-06-27T13:34:00.000Z

I thought you might like to see images from the dyeing weekend that I taught at Missenden Abbey. It was great fun with fantastic samples created. These are just a few images.

We dyed inside, but dried in the grounds of the Abbey

Just some of the pots and potions!

A few of the finished samples from one batch. We managed over 100 samples in the time we had.

Fabrics galore

2006-06-14T10:17:00.000Z

I really enjoy dyeing a selection of fabrics together. As all fibres take the dye differently it is often possible to discover effects that won't work with only a single fibre.

These pictures are from a batch of dyeing that I did before the weekend. It included cotton, silk, rayon and linen fabrics.

The top picture is a heavy linen fabric. I like the little angels that seemed to appear from nowhere!

Here is a closeup of some of them

silk fabric has a selection of thistleheads in the patterning, a row at the top and another at the bottom

A lovely cotton lawn. Much deeper colours than seem in this photo taken in full sun. The colours range from deep coral to Fuchsia, and also bright turquoise to lime green. I have already started work on this fabric. Part of it is destined to be a bag, it is partly stitched, eventually I'll post a pic.

Colour mixes

2006-06-04T12:50:00.000Z

Yesterday I dyed 3 different fabrics in the same dye bath. I am always amazed at the way colours mix on different fabrics.

The one on the left is a lovely cotton fabric. It is heavier than a lawn, washes like a dream and is easy to iron. I dye it in 3 or 5m lengths and often use this colour combination.

The second one is silk. Again it is a good quality - a heavyish weight that actually would make a lovely wedding dress in its undyed state. It drapes well and is lovely for quilting. This scan actually shows how 'thirsty' silk is. It has absorbed as much as possible of the colours, mixing and combining them into this subtle combination. This is a 3m length, but often there are 5m lengths too.

This third scan is part of another cotton fabric. It is heavier than the first, more like a poplin. All fabrics were pre-scoured (made ready to accept the dye before dyeing) but the colours don't spread as far as in the first picture. There are a few areas of white fabric still remaining. These are not unpleasant, I will probably leave them this time as they are not dominant, however if there were a few more I would consider it as a candidate for overdyeing.

Hope you like them

Sassa Lynne

2006-06-03T20:16:00.000Z

How I came to be involved with Sassa Lynne is a long story, and not one to be embarked upon today! Suffice it to say that I have long been seduced by colour, and to now have the opportunity of mixing colour to my heart's content is almost my idea of heaven!

We recently launched a range of 42 colours. These can be seen on the website http://sassalynne.com however, part of the fun is discovering new combinations and making them work. I have so many ideas and hope to introduce several new items in the next while.