Dropouts and Glass Slumping

 

This week I spent a day at Warm Glass, near Bristol.

As their name implies if you need anything for fusing glass, these are the people to speak to.

 

I've bought lots of materials from them and attended a couple of their online courses, but they've just started to run in-person sessions again and when I saw they were doing one on dropouts I had to sign up.

When fusing glass you can get different effects depending on the temperature you set your kiln to.  You can do a full fuse which will make everything melt down into a flat sheet.  You can do a tack fuse so that things stick to each other but don't loose their shape.  And you can slump your glass, by putting a sheet into a mould and heating it just enough that it slumps into the mould and takes its shape. 

 

With dropouts your mould has a hole in which the glass can melt through, giving all sorts of effects and creating vases and bowls.

On the day we actually did the process backwards.  We started with a dropout which had already been made, so we could practice cutting it and then coldworking the cut edge.  You can do this by hand or with a machine, so it was great to have a go at a few different techniques.

 

 The glass is also quite fragile.  So while I started with a tall vase, while cold working it, cracks appeared and so it got shorter.  I'm still very happy with it though.

Next we designed our slabs for dropping.  They need to be a certain size to fit the mould and at least 12mm of glass in the middle.  These were later fired for us and posted to use ready to try dropping in our own kilns.

 

While all this was happening the big kiln had been heating up in the other room.  This already had 4 slabs set up and as the afternoon progressed we got to watch as the glass melted and dropped.  This gave us a really good understanding of what we should be looking out for when dropping our own slabs. 

 

We also had one of these posted out to use, so we could practice cutting and cold working at home.

I really enjoyed this course.  It's one of those things that isn't quite as difficult as you fear it might be.  And it was lovely to spend time with other like-minded people.  I learnt lots from them too.

 

And I love the fact that you can used off cuts to make your slab.  Another way to save waste in the studio.  I'm looking forward to playing with this technique. 

 

Hollow Glass Bead Necklace - Teal

 

 I attended my little sisters wedding this year, and made and wore a beautiful hollow glass bead necklace from rose glass.

But before I made the rose necklace, I'd started with the aim to make a similar necklace in teal glass.  It was only when I changed my mind about my outfit earlier this year, that the glass also changed, from teal to rose.

 

Back in the UK after the wedding, I realised there was no reason why I couldn't still make the teal necklace, and so I went about putting it together.

I had plenty of hollow beads to choose from.

I'd also been playing with some silver clay to make spacer beads.  I'm sure I did a workshop on silver clay years ago, and I don't remember it being this tricky!  The clay was sticky and kept sticking to the tools I was using.  And it was really hard to make it smooth.  But I put them all in my baby kiln anyway and they didn't come out too bad, although I did have to do some work to polish them up to a shine.

 

Lastly I made a clasp out of silver wire, then put the whole thing together with a pale green ribbon.

Not bad.  The spacers do make it a little heavier than the rose necklace, but it's still pretty comfortable to wear.  

So there you go, two necklaces for the price of one!  Think I might take a break from hollow beads for a bit though.

 

The Poppy Pin

 I have to come out and say this straight away.  This has been one of the hardest projects I've completed in a while.  But now it's done I am pretty happy with how it came out.

So I found the pattern for The Poppy Pin from Lemon Pepper Studio right at the beginning of the year.  It looked like a lovely project and I'm aways looking for something better than the paper poppies you get at this time of year.  (10% of each pattern sold goes to Help for Heros.)

So I bought the pattern - all 42 pages! And checked the material list - some of which I had at home and some of which I had to purchase.  It's a very detailed pattern with lots of photos.

 

Then I made my first attempt.  From this I learnt you need really good light for a project this detailed, which made it a day time only project.  This restricted when I could work on it quite a lot and it got put to one side.

At some point I had a second attempt and realised I'm getting old and my eyes just can't deal with this fine detail.  A trip to Boots and some reading glasses (+1.50) sorted that issue.  Wow what a difference they made!  This isn't the only project they will be useful on.

So now I could see what I was doing I needed to work on my techniques.  This and getting my colour combination right took several more attempts (I've never been the best at sewing) and if I was going to have the pin ready to wear for Rememberance 2025, I would need to get a move on. 

 

So I got on with it and while I think I could still improve my technique, I think it's actually come out pretty well, although it really was only as I finished sewing it together that I decided this.  Right up to the last stitch it was 50/50 whether I'd be wearing it or not. 

If I could bring myself to try this again, I think the pattern could be modified to make some cheerful winter pansy pins.  Thinking yellow and purple.  But with many other things on my list, I'm not in any rush to try this out just yet. 

Slippers - Fixed

 I bought my first pair of these slippers years ago.  While we were in the flat I think.  From Next - I liked them, light weight, flexible but good for keeping my feet warm.

After a while I noticed that I’d worn a hole through on both slippers under my big toe.  I had a look on the Next website and they still sold them so I got a new pair.

However, I didn’t throw out the old ones.  Except for that small hole there was nothing wrong with them.  I think I imagined swapping between the new pair and old pair to make them last longer.  But that didn’t happen.  The old pair got put at the back of a cupboard and the new pair got worn a lot.

This summer I finally admitted that they probably needed replacing again.  But Next aren’t selling them anymore!!  No!

What to do?  The slippers themselves are fine, it’s just the sole that’s seen better days.  Not being one to just throw stuff away when it’s not totally broken I had a look online and came across Joe’s Toes.  

These guys are all about the slipper; they have kits so you could make your own from scratch, or they had a nice selection of soles for fixing old slippers, and much more.

Choosing new soles was a hard choice if I’m honest.  Felt might be a bit thicker but hard wearing, rubber would mean I wouldn’t need to worry about dog drips or a quick dash into the garden, but in the end the suede soles did it for me.

Following their size guide I ordered a size smaller than I thought I would need and waited for them to arrive.

I was very happy when they came.  The suede was soft and flexible, not too thick, but thick enough.  And they came ready perforated, making them even easier to use.

 

I washed the oldest pair of slippers and patched the small holes with cardboard, then sewed the soles on.  Absolutely perfect.  The right size, they looked great and felt great when I started wearing them again.

The second pair of slippers needed more work.  First I washed them, which showed up just how worn they were.  I used interfacing on the soles to give me something to work with and sewed up the worst of the edges, then added the new soles.  What a difference!

 

Two pairs of brand new slippers with just a little effort.  Nothing thrown away and I’m happy cos I didn’t like the look of any of the slippers on the websites I’d looked at.  I look forward to seeing how long these soles last, especially if I stick to the original plan of alternating between them. 

And once they do wear out, I think it will be really easy to cut off the odd soles and add new ones, as long as I don't leave it too late!

Wedding Plates

 

Have I mentioned that my little sister got married this autumn?

It look place on the Greek island of Santorini and was a beautiful event.

 

I wanted to gift her something beautiful and meaningful to celebrate her big day, but at the same time this is a lady who had pretty much everything she could wish for and a very particular style.

 

 

Inspired by the fact I was doing pottery classes at the time, I decided to make her a/some plates as these could actually be useful but also a nice reminder of that special day.

 

I did some research into what I could do and the island itself and after a lot of thinking decided on an island theme.

 

I spent one class making four different plates, with the idea that at least one should come out well.  Once the plates were dry, but before they were fired for the first time I wrote the date and destination on the bottom.

 

 

Once fired I waxed the bottom of each plate so it wouldn’t stick to the shelf in the kiln once glazed then dipped them.

 

Several were dipped to represent the beach and sea, while the last was dipped to represent one of the famous white buildings against the blue sky.

 

 The blue wasn’t as strong as I hoped and having been there now, the blue really doesn’t do the real thing justice.  But I think it still gives a good representation of the island.

 

 

I was really pleased with how they all came out.  But two were my favourites and these were the ones I finally gave to my sister a couple of weeks after the big event once we were back in the UK.  There was no way I was taking them in my suitcase!!

 

She seemed pleased, but the real test is if I spot them out when I visit next, maybe holding a cake or some sandwiches... 

Hollow Glass Bead Necklace

My little sister got engaged 2 years ago, after being with her partner 20 years!
Because she had some very particular ideas of what she wanted for the wedding it was this autumn before she finally said ‘I do’ in the Santorini sunshine.

So 2 years to prepare.  At first I had no idea where the wedding would take place, but I expected it to be pretty special.

I bought a dress that could do summer heat, or cooler weather.  And I started playing with ideas of what jewellery I could make to wear with it.

First was a long glass sliding necklace, which is lovely and worked with the neckline of the dress.

But I couldn’t help thinking about a necklaces I saw someone wearing on TV years ago and if I could replicate something like it.  So I started trying to make hollow glass beads in teal, to match the dress.

I made many beads.  Practice makes perfect right?

But then at the beginning of this year, finally knowing the destination for the wedding – the Greek island of Santorini, I changed my mind about the dress.  Now we were looking at white linen trousers and a pink top.  The new neckline wouldn’t work with the sliding necklace and the teal wouldn’t work with the pink.

But I still really liked the hollow bead idea so I switched from teal to rose.

I also wanted some spacer beads.  As I was taking pottery classes at this time, I ended up making some tiny ceramic beads which Jack kindly fired in his kiln for me.

With a week to go before the wedding, as I started to put the necklace together I realised that one of the beads was a different colour from the rest!  I’m sure no one else would have noticed, but I would know, so I went back into the studio and made 5 more beads in the hope one would be the right size and shape.

Luckly one was and I was able to put the necklace together, along with a clasp I made from silver wire, just in time to pack and jet off.

Can you tell which one doesn't match?

At the same time I also made myself some beady earrings.  I was very happy with the first pair I made, however, I then worried I’d used the wrong colour again (it's very hard to tell colours apart when I wear my safety glasses as they have a pink tint) so I made another set of beads.

I was expecting the earrings to be exactly the same, but when I put them together, rather than the biggest bead being at the bottom as in the first pair, I had it at the top!  Oops.

 

Having decided that they were all the right colour, I now had the issue of deciding which I liked best!  I ended up with the pair with the biggest bead being at the top.

With glass wrapped up very carefully we made our way to Greece, where we got off the plane to 31c!  But the wind soon came back and cooled things down a bit, and so the wedding itself wasn’t too bad at all.

The glass survived the travel and the wearing and I was very happy with the finished item.
I still need to practice my hollow beads.  They are not an easy thing to make.  But I’ve got a beautiful necklace that I’m looking forward to wearing again in the future.

 

Experimental Cyanotypes

 

Following on from last weeks blue post, more blue!  This time cyanotypes rather than indigo.

Most people will recognise cyanotypes as a dry process where the light reactive solution is painted on the paper and left to dry before objects are placed on top in the sunshine to leave marks and then the paper is rinsed leaving a (hopefully) pretty blue and white print.

Starting the reaction

So this summer I have been having a bit of a play with this.  But I also signed up for Natalie Day's online Experimental Cyanotypes course which showed me how to play with cyanotype wet.

In this instance you apply the solution to the paper and add things like salt, lemon juice or vingar straight away and stick it outside to see what happens.

After a couple of hours

 

In this case the paper doesn't get rinsed as this would remove the salt etc and stop the reactions.  So you have to keep an eye on it as it changes.  If there are any bits you like it's best to take a photo there and then as it will keep changing.  It was quite remarkable seeing it change.  Even days later the colours were still changing.

After a couple of days

 

Once again (like the eco printing and indigo dyeing) this is a process where you really have no idea what might happen.  You just have to put it out there and be open to what happens.  I loved watching it as it changed and the colours that came through were brilliant, but with all these processes I think I will struggle a little to decide what to do with them as, hard as I try I do tend to be quite outcomes led.  I will need to leave myself time to play, rather than worry about what comes out I think.

If you're interested it's a great little course, giving you all the information you need to have a go and some ideas of what you might do with it too.  I'm glad I signed up.

Natural Dyeing with Indigo

 

What better way to end the summer than to learn how to use indigo for dyeing!

It was a damp grey day at the end of August, but it wasn't raining yet when I arrived at Farnham Museum and their lovely garden room, to learn more about natural dyeing with indigo.

The workshop was run by Ginny Farquhar and Sam Jones and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Woad

 

We started by learning a bit of the history of indigo and the fact that there are quite a few plants around the world that produce blue dye.  Then we went outside into the museum garden to meet the plants we'd be working with - namely Woad and Japanese Indigo.

Two types of Japanese Indigo

 

Here we picked some of the leaves of both and Ginny and Sam showed us how to get colour from the plants straight away without a vat.  While not as intense as the colours we'd be using later, they were still a very beautiful blue.

 

They then showed us how to set up a vat for dyeing.  Vats require 3 things.  A source of indigo, something to create an alkaline environment and something to remove the oxygen from the mix.  The last thing you need is patience.  You need time to leave the vat to settle.  Then when you start dyeing you need time for your fabric to oxidise between dipping - more dips gives you a deeper colour.  This is not a fast process, but it is very satisfying.

 

After lunch we learnt how to do shibori to make patterns on our fabric before starting to dye them.  Using a selection of glass beads, threads, rubber bands and clips we were able to create different patterns as the indigo only sits on top of the fabric, rather than being absorbed into it.

 

This was great fun and with a bit more experience you'd be able to have a fair idea of the outcome I think.

We each had three cotton squares to work with, which each needed two dips into the vat, with time to oxidise between.

 

While we did this Ginny was dipping sample squares to show the build up of colour and how intense it gets.  By the end of the day we all had a sample sheet showing all the different colours we'd achieved. 

 

We also had the option to dip some of our own material if we'd bought any along.  My neighbour June had been having a sort out earlier in the year and gave me some silk, which I'd bought along.  So one piece went into the indigo vat scrunched up to create a cloud pattern which I adore and the other two went into the woad vat to see what would happen.  They came out a really beautiful pale blue, although I do wish I'd been able to use the vat earlier when it was making a more purple colour.

 

But that's the point of natural dyeing.  You never know what you might end up with.  You can do everything the very same, but if you do things at differnt times in the season, the plants will act in a different way.  The fact we had a very dry summer probably has something to do with the colours we got too.

 

I very much enjoyed this workshop.  Ginny and Sam were so generous with their knowledge.  I really want to know more about natural dyeing in general and following on from the Eco Print course I'm thinking about where in the garden I can include more dyeing plants.