Whatcha Working on Wednesday

I finished the Bareroots penny rug candle mat. I used 100% wool for this one, and backed it with a black & green print cotton fabric. This one is smaller (about 7 1/2" across), and will only hold a votive, unless the stitching is covered up. Because the pieces are so small, I was unable to blanket stitch around the pieces. I followed the directions, and whipped stitched them together. I did blanket stitch the edges, though. I really like the effect of blanket stitching, so I'm thinking of enlarging the pattern and making it twice as big.


I tried hand dying some more floss. I wanted to achieve a black and brown variegated look, similar to the Valdani that I purchased a while ago. I started with some 838 DMC floss. Instead of knotting it in the center, I held onto the bunch of skeins and dipped them into the black dye. I only dipped them approx 1/2-3/4 of the way, leaving the end I was holding undyed. I swirled them around, until the dye had soaked them, then left them to dry. They don't look that great , so I took one and wound it in a ball to see how it would look.


The Valdani is on the left and my hand dyed is on the right. They are different shades of brown, but I'm hoping it will punch up nicely. Once I finish the next penny rug (the chicks from Bareroots), I have a punch piece drawn out to try the hand dyed floss on. Since there's no school Thursday or Friday, I'm hoping to get some more projects done.

Now to figure out how to overdye some wood fabric. I was able to dye some tan into a light coco, and a white into yellow. But, now to lighten some colors to over dye it a lighter color. Gotta love learning new things! :)