This week found me playing around with the possibilities of spinning dead leaves. Yes, dead leaves! (Dead Day Lilly leaves to be exact.) It all began when I was drooling over the beautiful yarns at Habu Textiles, admiring some of the unusual fibers used, and wondering, "what if?..." as I am prone to do.
Now, I am no expert in spinning, (I only tried it once briefly, twenty years ago in an attempt to spin wool) and I imagine my dead leaf string may appear pitiful to a true spinner, but in my novice and humble opinion, I think the results are lovely!
The spinning was done on a drop spindle, which I bought for under six bucks all those years ago for that one brief attempt that ended in total confusion, as I had no idea how a drop spindle worked. Ah, but now we have the internet, and information on anything and everything is only a click away. After a few google searches and you-tube videos on paper spinning, (yes, you can spin paper how about that?!) I felt ready to give my leaf experiment a try.
And here are the results. The con's to my attempts were that the leaves broke easily, and I was never able to get more then a satisfactory yard or so. The pro's to my attempts was that it was fun, expanded my creativity, and increased my curiosity! Along with those benefits, I now have some unique, jute like string which I can use for decoration, weaving, stitching... who knows. For now I just like how it looks wrapped around the rock and shells!
And on another note...
I am happy to report that I am staying on task with my "Rimmed in Red" series. (And that's a big YAY! for my generally ADD self.)
This one is the 6th in the series, and numbers 7 and 8 are just waiting to be mounted and photographed.
If interested in learning more about this work, please see here.
Have a happy weekend, everyone!
13 comments:
I love the rimmed in red works :-)
This dead leaf spinning is beautiful... what a wonderful idea.
Your hand made twine would look beautiful woven through your hand made paper. It's fun to watch your
exploration of textiles.
Lovely work Victoria :0)
Happy sewing
i've just attempted using a drop spindle and haven't been too successful. i'm going to a 2 hour spin express class on saturday and am very excited. have you seen the book 'Intertwined by Lexi Boeger'. it is magnificent if you like the chunky, colorful, yarns with all kinds of embellishments added in. i got it at the library this morning and after seeing it i had to order it.
i love what you did with the paper and the rock. great idea.
maybe you needed to soak the dried leaves in water to make them more malleable? then squeegee a leaf with your finger before spinning. you put the tiny tip into the fat end to "splice" the next bit in. but you did get the spinning part just right,
This is such a wonderful post. I just had to comment.
I really love the rocks wrapped in the fiber. What a great idea.
You know, I love Habu Textiles and when I visit the store in NYC I feel as if I had died and gone to heaven. I surely do hope it is.
The Rimmed in Red series is such a natural transition work. Love it.
Are you doing the sketchbook project?
Thanks to each of you!
Deanna, no I have not seen the book, but will keep an eye out for it. :0
Faun, what a wonderful idea! Thank you for the tip, I will try that.
Filamental, I haven't yet had a chance to go in person, but it does sound like a slice of heaven! And no, I am not doing the sketchbook project, as I am horrible at keeping one!
You do so many things with such flourish, Victoria -- what discoveries you make along your journeys. And you gain so much from working in a series -- each one is still its own personality. Lovely!
Diane
What a great idea! I never would have thought you could spin dead leaves. The texture of the result is amazing!
I love this stitching xx
Victoria, what a neat idea to spin the leaves - the results are so beautiful.
I love the way you always push into new creative areas. Your ropes are beautiful, and your red series is stunning.
I'm afraid I've been a bit of a lurked, but I just had to comment this tome ... Wow! Spinning dead leaves, it's Amazing. You inspire me and I love how your mind works.
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