I recently was in India and purchased several tablecloths and table settings
that apparently are made with vegetable dye.

Supposedly you are supposed to soak these in salt water before washing to
prevent bleeding, but how much salt, what water temperature, and how long?

Very good question! I didn’t know the answer to this myself so I called the experts at Dharma Trading. They really do know everything about dyes and dye processes, an amazing resource!

Some textiles produced overseas are often not rinsed of excess dye, this keeps water usage to a minimum and saves time. This means dyes can often transfer to your skin or worse dye an entire load of laundry. Apparently the salt and vinegar techniques are more fiction than fact, and don’t really do anything to set dyes or remove excess dye.

The best option is to set the dye with a product called “Retayne” and hot water. This will fix the dye particles in the fiber and prevent color bleeding during washing. The second step is to remove all of the excess dye with “Synthrapol” and hot water. This product removes excess dye and keeps loose dye particles in suspension so they don’t stain other areas of fabric, great for patterned fabrics when you need to prevent lighter areas from getting stained with dye from darker areas. In the end this process helps you achieve a textile with vivid color that will not bleed in future launderings. This process is also great for quilters, it can keep say the red squares in your quilt from bleeding into the white ones.

I called on Dahrma trading for advice on the Ombre story I worked on in 2008. This is some of the initial testing I did, you can see the Dharma Trading dyes above. I used Synthrapol to keep the white areas white.

* Do you have a craft question you’d like to ask the experts? Please click here for more information! Remember – all queries must be sent VIA EMAIL to be considered. Thanks!

One of my favorite sewing tools is the bias tape maker. With the heat of an iron, this tool folds strips of fabric into perfect bias trim. It is commonly used to finish seams on the inside of garments and often used to complete the outside edge of a quilt. It's usually not the focus of a project but bias tape made from colored or patterned fabric is an easy way to add interest to a sewing project or even store bought items. I did a bias tape story a while ago and some of my favorite projects were the simplest. Click here for the basic techniques.

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1 A simple square of linen with rounded corners bound in patterned bias tape makes a great napkin.

2 Store bought towels are trimmed in a cute liberty print, these would be a great housewarming gift

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This set of bias tape makers is my favorite,  they are from Clover, they work really well and you can find them here.

I wanted to share this clip art calendar from the current issue of Living. It's a great way to enjoy a favorite photo or several photos over the course of the new year. It's also inexpensive pretty easy to make, here is the how-to,  clip art and frame. Happy New Year!

I have always wanted to try some tie dye crafts. My friend Karlo Bello made some great dyed scarves to give as gifts and to sell at the recent Martha Stewart Craft Sale. I saw the results of his efforts and wanted to share a few. He is inspired by all types of shibori including kanoko shibori (commonly known as tie dye) and itajime shibori (folding and clamping) but loves to combine various techniques into one piece. I also thought his tools were great, very simple but you can achieve so many different effects. Also check out the tie dye story from the August 2007 issue of Living, it has really great how-to info.

This is a corn wreath I made for A Texas Thanksgiving. The secret to it's construction is gluing wire into the base of the corn, it makes it easy to secure to the form and arrange once you are done. It takes some time to prep the corn but it is constructed very simply. Smaller corn about 4 to 8 inches works well on a 18 inch wreath form. Another tip is using the smaller ears toward the center to fill the inner curve neatly.

I love the monochromatic corn, it would be fun to make one in yellow, white, or blue? Here is the how-to:

Texas wreath

The amount of corn required depends on the size of the wreath; we used 140 ears on an 18-inch wreath form.

Tools and Materials

Rotary tool with standard bit

Dried pink miniature corn (available at farmers’ markets)

Craft glue

9-inch piece of 18-gauge stem wire for each ear of corn

32-gauge floral wire wound on a paddle

Wreath form

Wire cutters

1 Drill a 2-inch-deep hole in the base of each ear of corn. Squeeze a dab of glue into each hole, and insert 1 stem wire per ear. Let dry overnight.

2 Anchor floral wire to wreath form. Attach an ear of corn by wrapping floral wire around corn stem wire. Without cutting the floral wire, add corn an ear at a time across the wreath form’s width until you have 4 or 5 ears in a row. Overlap rows until you come full circle. Cut floral wire, and secure end to the wreath form.

I love these pens, the Pilot HI-TEC-C pen is so great because it has such a fine point, they are available in 0.4 and 0.3 and even 0.25mm! There are lots of fine tip felt pens available but I'm a hard writer and I tend to destroy the felt tip. What I love about them is that they are durable, smooth, extremely fine, and come in a lot of colors, things you don't usually find all in one pen.

They are difficult to find in the US, but you can find them in new york and on the west coast at Kinokunia bookstores. I also found them at the Tokyo Pen Shop online.

These botanical motifs, cut like paper snowflakes, pay tribute to Hawaiian quilts. You can frame a single cutout or an arrangement of them, in one color or in several.

1. Cut a piece of background paper (your choice) to fit inside the frame.

2. Map out the design: With a clear grid ruler and a pencil, lightly draw squares in any configuration to guide the placement of motifs.

3. Cut rice-paper squares to fit inside each marked space in the grid. Fold each square, following our preparing appliques how-to and using the ti-leaf template(resize it as needed to fit the folded paper triangle). Cut out motifs as directed, and unfold them. (If the creases are highly visible after unfolding, press them with a hot iron (no steam).

4. Coat back of motifs with a glue stick, and adhere each to background paper, using pencil lines on grid as guides. Using a clean eraser, remove any visible lines. Let dry. Insert finished work in frame.

Lisa, her quilt, me and my mother

This is the Hawaiian quilt featured in this months Martha Stewart Living. In preparation for the story I had to find a traditional Hawaiian Quilt, I wanted to show the inspiration for all of the quilt inspired projects we feature in the magazine. After a few e-mails I found out my mother's freind Lisa received a quilt as a wedding gift. Her aunt, Avies Corpuz, made it with the help of friends over many many many months. On a trip home I met Lisa and saw the quilt, it was perfect. She was kind enough to let me ship it to Manhattan and borrow it for a few weeks! I was nervous about having it for such a long time but it all worked out and the quilt is back in Hawaii. Thanks Lisa!

See the full quilt and get links to more projects here.

Hawaiian Feather Lei

While I was in Hawaii I visited my favorite bookstore, Native Books Na Mea Hawaii, in Hololulu. They also sell clothing, art and crafts all made by people in Hawaii. I found a great book The Art of Featherwork in Old Hawaii. The image above is a feather lei from the 19th century. Feathers from native birds were fashioned into lengths that were worn on the head or around the neck. Feather decorations were generally reserved for royalty and these objects were very precious. Feathers were also fashioned into capes and helmets and other ceremonial decorations. I am always amazed with the time and skill it must have taken to create these objects. There are also books on how to make them yourself with modern materials. I think I might give it a try.

I'm traveling to Hawaii this week to visit family. My mom usually greets me with a lei of plumeria flowers from our back yard (if they are in bloom). Lei making is one of my earliest crafting memories, they can be really simple or very elaborate and made from a wide range of materials; flowers, shells, feathers, ribbon, even candy. They are given and received at weddings, graduations, birthdays, or any day.

I found these great photos of lei sellers near the turn of the century and a great history of lei selling here. Have you ever made a lei?