Indigo Dye Day: What We Made!

As you know if you're a blog reader, we experimented with our staff last month and dyed some cloth and yarn with natural indigo. It was a blast and everyone ended up with beautiful goods to work with.
We gave ourselves a month to whip up something special with our hand dyed goods! Check out our results!

I made a Camber Set top! I recently finished my Camber Set dress and I liked it so much, I thought I should try out the top version. I wanted a simple design to show off my fabric which is a shibori dyed cotton/silk blend. The silk is a protein fiber and it helped the fabric take the dye better so I got a beautiful hue of indigo on the exposed parts of the fabric. I accordion-folded and then tied my fabric to create this pattern. The silk also gives the top a bit more drape and flow than a 100% cotton would have which I love.

Allison made this adorable tank that she self-drafted the pattern for! It shows off her shibori dyed Kona great and we love the use of dark indigo thread and contrast stitching. Her shibori technique was to "crumple the fabric and then wrap it with string." It turned out great!

Katy makes project bags that we all use here at the shop and are available online here. She chose to dye up some cotton fabric to use for her project bags so they are extra-special. She dip-dyed them for a sweet ombré affect.

Nathalie dyed up some fingering weight yarn. She wound her yarn into a center pull ball, which made the yarn take on the outside of the call take more dye than the inside. The result is a beautiful yarn with an ombre effect in various shades of indigo. She already whipped up this Hitchhiker shawl - a great one-skein pattern for any sock yarn by Martina Behm.

Nathalie also dyed a t-shirt which turned out a perfect blue!

Jess chose to overdye some Nani Iro wata-gauze that was originally a pale, off-white. This flowy, lightweight double gauze is an even looser weave than traditional double gauze. The fabric took the dye great and she made a Nuance tee out of it - Nani Iro's pattern designed just for this fabric - so perfect!

Jess also dyed some Brown Sheep Burlyspun, super-bulky wool yarn and made a quick knitted cowl. She achieved this speckledy look by putting her yarn in the vat in a twisted skein!

Kiyomi made a quilt! They incorporated their indigo-dyed cotton fabric with other fabrics to piece together this awesome quilt top.

Kiyomi also dyed some rayon jersey, which was a real experiment as we didn't know how the rayon would take the dye. It did great! The color is muted because the vats were almost exhausted at this point, but they did get a subtle ombre effect which looks great in this simple tee.

Miranda was really experimental and dropped all sorts of things in the dye vat including ric rac and sheep locks. She used her indigo locks to make a magical blue unicorn with flowing mane...so cute!

Miranda also over-dyed some silk! As of now the hot fabric is being worn as a scarf, but soon it will hit the sewing machine! 

Sunne used shibori dyeing techniques to dye this beautiful piece of fabric. She hand stitched this scarf together and embroidered to embellish the lovely finish of this dye!  

Sunne is also working on her very own shawl pattern with the fingering weight yarn she dyed! 

Nice work everyone!

Fancy Cooper Bag-A-Thon is bringing you a load of CUTE!

Kiyomi here, I've been coveting the Cooper Bag by the Walden line of Colette patterns since it came into the shop last year. I had a trip to the northwestern coast planned and I needed something to carry the various layers required and all the fabric souvenirs I would be picking up along the way. Lucky for me Fancy Tiger had a Cooper Bag class that walked me through every step of making this cute backpack!  

The Cooper Bag comes in three versions. The class covers the backpack style but leaves you with the skills to be able to complete any version. As a novice sewer, I'm not sure if I ever would have pursued the pattern on my own. The class was a perfect way for me to pace myself and not get overwhelmed by all the pieces (there are so many pockets!) and gave me courage to tackle the various hardware required for the straps and detailing. 

The hardest part was probably picking out my fabrics. I constructed my bag using Etsuko Furuya's 2014 collection for Echino - it has a very clever "birds and bees" theme. The bag came together pretty easily once the millions of pieces were cut. It was fun adding cute details like the yellow straps and the fussy cut bird pieces. This bag was a great way to showcase this amazing fabric with all the strap details and pocket separators.

One bag wasn't enough though. My partner mentioned how cute it would be if we had matching bags for our trip, and of course I agreed with them! So one bag down, I made a second using a Muddy Works Japanese fabric by Tomotake, and Carolyn Friedlander's Botanics collection for Serina's bag. These bags were perfect for our trip and now continue to be our go to bags for everyday use. The pattern book is well written with tons of pictures, but if you're hesitant about doing a large project like this on your own then I highly recommend taking the summer class!

Hi, it's Nathalie! Like Kiyomi, I've also been dreaming about making up a Cooper bag ever since we got the pattern. I'm a grad student and I didn't have a good bag to haul around my books and my computer, so I knew I needed to make a backpack. I'm a huge fan of Colette patterns (I've made several of their dresses) and I was so excited to see that they are branching out with some cool men's and unisex patterns. This bag is perfect - I love the magnetic snaps on the flap that keep the bag closed without fussy clips or zippers, I love that I can adjust the straps based on how full I fill it, and I love that it's big enough to hold a lunch and my most recent knitting project!

The pieces were a little bit of a pain to cut out because there were so many of them, but once I started sewing it came together really quickly. I've sewn a lot of clothing but I've never sewn anything with hardware before, so I was glad that the instructions for the straps were clear and easy to follow. We sell kits here at the shop for all the hardware you need for each version of the bag , so don't worry about where you'll find the right rivets, magnetic snaps, and slides!

I wanted my bag to be sturdy, so I made the lining and the bottom out of duck cloth. I think if (or when) I make another backpack, I'll add stabilizer to the lining to make it even more robust. I loved the bee fabric from Etsuko Furuya, but I have a little more muted tastes than Kiyomi. Pairing it with black and grey duck cloth gave me the more subtle look I wanted while also highlighting the fun and colorful honeycomb. One of the great things about the pattern is that there are endless possibilities for fabric combinations! You can follow the pattern recommendations for which fabric to use for different parts of the bag, or you can mix it up and use a different fabric for every strap and pocket if you want.

What a perfect comfy and casual bag for bike rides and summer picnics!  

2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Fancy Staff Picks (Part 1)

Welcome to part one of our Fancy Staff Picks Gift Guide--where the crafty folks of Fancy Tiger share some their favorite gift ideas for holiday giving. If you are looking to find the perfect thing for the crocheter, sewist or knitter on your list, there is sure to be a great idea here!

Hi there! It's Caitlin, and at the top of my holiday wish list is Marion Madel's book The New Crochet. This book is beautifully photographed and is designed as a beginner's guide to learning crochet. It is jam-packed with modern designs so even a not-so-beginner will be excited by this gem! I'd love to stitch up the Hazelnut Scarf from Lesson 17, so some Chickadee yarn in Kittywake would be a great addition to the book.

Hello everyone! It's Erikia. One of my favorite things at the store right now is the book Clothing for Everyday Wear: Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori. The book is full of simple and beautiful dress patterns. It' also includes a full set of patterns and instructions in English so it's super easy. To go along with this, I'd pair some Japanese fabrics from Nani Iro or Kokka. I feel like I could makeover my entire wardrobe armed with these two things!

Jaime here: I love the new Rhinebeck Sweater book from Ysolda Teague! The book contains 12 beautiful sweater patterns that feature many of the "farmy" yarns that we here at Fancy Tiger Crafts love so much. My ideal gift would be the book plus the yarn for one of the sweaters: Aunt Fred in Jill Draper's Mohonk yarn in the colors Greige and Terracotta

Kiyomi here--I'm super obsessed with all the amazing knit fabrics that are in the store. Not only do we have a range of designs and colors, but they're great for making something I call "The 30 Second Scarf" which are perfect for those last minute gifts. I would love this lush gray geo sweatshirt fleece to sewn up into Colette's new pattern, Walden. Natural antler toggle buttons would add a great detail to this coat. And, while I'm not a huge fan of the winter weather, this unisex coat will be perfect to snuggle into while waiting for the bus.

Hello! Fancy Katy here! I've been in love with Jane Richmond's Island collection since it first came out last year. The patterns are simple, yet refined, and work great for both solid and variegated yarns. I find the Renfrew Hat and Arbutus Cowl make awesome quick gifts! I have spent this year knitting several things out of the book, but I have yet to make Grace, the very lovely cardigan. One of my favorite yarns in the world is Madelinetosh Tosh Sock, and they just came out with a beautiful mint green colorway called Courbet's Green, so my perfect holiday gift this year would be enough skeins of that to make the cardigan!

Check back tomorrow for five more great gift ideas from the Fancy Tiger staff!