fiber arts and handicrafts

[RoseMorninStar]

Oh, that is just lovely.

[Maria]

That is pretty- but I'm not understanding---- is that marquetry or applique of straw? I've never seen straw applique before and don't know what it looks like.

[Frelga]

Maria, that's the straw.

[RoseMorninStar]

Is that done on fabric/felt? Or lacquered onto wood?

[Frelga]

The method I know is to flatten the straws, dye if desired (or you can pick different natural colors) then glue the straws to the paper shapes and cut out. Glue to a wooden board, and cover with lacquer.

There may be a way to do it on a fabric base, but I don't know how. It would need to be on a rigid backing and the lacquer is also important to fixing the straw and preserving it.

[Maria]

There's some amazing stuff out there!

straw applique.jpg (202 KiB) Viewed 3039 times

https://thestrawshop.com/straw-applique/

I never knew you could do things like that with straw. I've never even considered straw for artistic purposes.

Wow!

[narya]

Now you have me interested with the intarsia. I've had it in the back of my mind to knit something highly complex. I think about it, but haven't done it. Here's a pic of the back of a sweater I knitted many eons ago. It's of the family's fishing cabin. Thanks to my extremely tight gage, it didn't fit my hubby, whom I had knit it for. Now his grandniece is the right size for it, so I've handed it down to her.

Traditional Tlingit blankets are woven of mountain goat wool, with fine strands of cedar bark spun into the warp - no problems with moths for these blankets - some of them 200-300 years old.

[Maria]

That's a nice depiction! I've been thinking about trying a sweater with crochet. Maybe after my next few projects are done. Crochet isn't as stretchy as knit, so I'll have to make cardigan style, I think.

And I like the idea of cedar fiber woven in to keep moths away. How do they make it soft enough to not be splintery?

[narya]

The blankets have very fine fibers added to the wool from the thin cambium layer between the bark and the wood of the tree. It's flexible and has a high tensile strength, and can be split down to threadlike pieces and added into wool as you spin it. It is also used (in 1/4 inch wide strips) to make baskets and hats.

Like the hats in this webpage, by a friend of mine.
https://www.haidacreations.com/cedar-weaving1.html

And the blankets in this webpage.
https://alaskamagazine.com/authentic-al ... t-weaving/

[Sunsilver]

Those are both extremely beautiful, and superbly crafted!

[Maria]

Very interesting! Cedar trees are weeds here, and I would have no trouble at all getting some of that inner bark to experiment with. I'd love to be able to make something moth proof out of my sheep's wool.

[narya]

Those are both extremely beautiful, and superbly crafted!

That's because I didn't show you photos of what I've done.

[elengil]

The blankets have very fine fibers added to the wool from the thin cambium layer between the bark and the wood of the tree. It's flexible and has a high tensile strength, and can be split down to threadlike pieces and added into wool as you spin it.

Is it added to keep bugs out of the wool?? I was pondering the possible benefits of having cedar spun with wool and that one just jumped out as a great benefit to keep your beautiful wool weaving from getting bug holes!

And curious what they used for the blue dye, a muscle or snail of some kind? Blue seems a less common natural dye so I wonder if it is similar to the Jewish blue dye?

[narya]

Regarding the dyes, I'd always heard the blue-green dyes involved urine and copper. Here is a more nuanced look: https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/han ... sAllowed=y

Yes, the cedar is to keep the bugs out of the wool in Chilkat dance blankets, though it has the added benefit of making the blanket a bit stiffer, which made it dance more beautifully.

Maria, the inner bark is actually harvested from the tree while it is still standing, in narrow vertical strips. https://www.haidanation.ca/kiss-humming ... arvesting/

[Frelga]

If you have always wanted to make a cross-stitch of that infamous French manuscript illustrations of a nun gathering phalluses from a tree, the pattern is on etsy. NSFW, obviously.

[Inanna]

Eeks. And lol. Simultaneously.

[elengil]

I want to do the one with the cat running away from the nun with the thing in its mouth.

[Jude]

Holy swear words. Is that from the Luttrell Psalter?

[Frelga]

Holy swear words. Is that from the Luttrell Psalter?

It's marginalia from Roman de la Rose. Those 14th century French people.

I want to do the one with the cat running away from the nun with the thing in its mouth.

If I say I was thinking about you when I posted this, please be assured that I only meant your proficiency with needlecraft and your expertise in antique art.

[RoseMorninStar]

Oh. My. Word. Kids these days. Err.. I mean...
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No excuse coming to mind..