Cut and Dye

I found a roll of fantastic wool fabric in small store in Astoria and bought it for less than a $1 a yard!!!!  It is cream and has a modern circular pattern woven into it.  The creme color doesn't fit into my overall scheme right now so I dyed it grey.  For added texture I cut and applied navy wool squares.

Springing into a new direction

Time to take charge and start growing for myself.

Utilizing the fire escape for herbs, plenty of basil for tomatoes grown in the front of the apartment.

This half of the steps are not used so I made heavy canvas bags with a screened bottom,

to grow tomatoes, snap peas, lettuce and whatever else I can fit.

Nowe Buty - that's Polish for new shoes!

This is something I always wanted to do. You know when you see shoes that are funky but really, they just look like someone glued cute stuff all over them. To top it off, they can sell for up to $300. That's when I say, "I can do that". Finally, I had a pair of shoes that I loved so much because they were comfortable and made my leg look great.
I could walk 30 blocks in these! But look at them, they got so scuffed and battered. Of course these were too good to let go, so.....I glued some cute stuff on them.

I covered the heels in black leather, the body in a khaki twill cotton and edged it all with a metallic blue leather I recovered from a vintage leather coat. As a matter of face ALL materials were re-claimed from something else.

The toggle buttons happened to match the body color and was a perfect way to top them off.

Tie Dye Lives! This texture is back to enjoy.

This was a basic hoodie which was

never worn but now, after wrapping

a few rubber band around it and

putting it into a black dye bath,

it has a fantastic new look.

Next was to try other techniques. I wanted to put a pattern in specific, controlled spots. I was always mesmerized by the pebble method where fabric is gathered around a pebble or bead, wrapped to secure it and resist the dye to get these great circles.