On many things
Three Men in a Boat - This Old Thing - dyeing - I capture the Castle
- changes to literary knitter of the month - new shoes
I've been listening to the audio book of Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat and he starts each chapter with a summary of what is going to be covered, as this post is going to cover a couple of different things I thought I might adopt the same policy today.
Has anyone else been watching Channel 4's new show This old thing? Any thoughts? I've been really enjoying the show, but it seems that the reviewers have not been. I find Dawn O'Porter an engaging presenter, and some of the clothes and ideas in the programme are good. One of the sections of the programme takes a neglected vintage item from a viewer's wardrobe, and revamps it to give it a new lease of life. In the first episode O'Porter's team update a white cotton dress with some dye.
To be honest I'm not mad on the speckled effect on the skirt, but the programme did inspire me to dig through my wardrobe and see if I had anything in need of a lift?
In the end I found two candidates lurking in the wardrobe. A Betty Jackson top which I loved when I first bought it but which I haven't worn for ages, and a hand knitted vintage vest, which again hasn't been out of the wardrobe for a while. A quick trip to the shops to pick up some dye and I was ready to go.
Now in true Jerome K Jerome style I'm going to digress. When ever I dye things I am always reminded of the passage at the start of I Capture the Castle where Cassandra, Rose and Topaz are dyeing;
Anyway, back to the dyeing and after 45 minutes I had two newly vibrant tops.
Now in true Jerome K Jerome style I'm going to digress. When ever I dye things I am always reminded of the passage at the start of I Capture the Castle where Cassandra, Rose and Topaz are dyeing;
When I came down from the attic yesterday, I found that Rose and Topaz had dyed everything they could lay hands on, including the dishcloth and the roller towel. Once I had dipped my handkerchief into the big tin bath of green dye, I got fascinated too - it really makes one feel rather godlike to turn things a different colour. I did both my nightgowns and then we all did Topaz's sheets, which was such an undertaking that it exhausted our lust.As I've not come across a literary knitter for this month, perhaps I will expand out to literary crafters more generally?
Anyway, back to the dyeing and after 45 minutes I had two newly vibrant tops.
And, this is entirely unrelated but I want to show them off, I've got some new shoes
Sorry, totally no point to the shoes being included in this post, but they are so pretty :)
Great post and the photos are terrific, the before and after ones really good. Yes indeed, dyeing can become totally addictive - there used to be a product you could use to dye shoes, so if you ever tire of the funky space age baby blue ones (what is it they remind me of . . . .?) you should look out for it. Not seen the Sawn O'Porter show (for obvious reasons) but what a good idea! Save the planet and stop buying so much unnecessary stuff! The school marm in me wishes she could remember it is "bored with" not "bored of" .... but there I go! Keep an eye on your post box - there is something on its way to you.
ReplyDeleteI've used the shoe dye too - on a pair of mum's old shoes! Not sure I'll ever get tired of the space aged baby blue ones but if I do ...
DeleteAlso, just been through my whole post checking for where I said 'bored of', and then realised it was Dawn not me who got it wrong, phew! Very exciting about the post box, I'll keep an eye on it, something I never get bored with ;-)
Very jolly new colours - tops and shoes - and impressive before and after pics!
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