Homesteading

[Kev]

All things to do with traditional crafting & making things & the how-to..

Discussion

[Kev]

Overview of using Dandelion flower stems to make cordage.. Awesome!..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suuK4OEockY

[Jena]

socool…I find knitting and sewing (also designing) so relaxing and yet energizing….so meditative…love to knit in crystals or gem balls!

This Ukranian girl was so great to model my handknits here is an example of a scarf/wrap i knit in silk yarn with dozens of Swarovski crystals knitted in…one of my faves!

[Kev]

That is so beautiful.. I can imagine the whole outfit.. Sparkles!.. Knitting is one of the things on my list of 12,478 things I want to learn and cultivate.. Years & years ago when I first woke up to the desire for a homestead life, I knew I wanted to go all the way, as in provide entirely for ourselves.. This includes textiles, ultimately.. I’ve thought about Flax as being possibly the best crop to grow for the linen fibers.. After I upload the Dandelion cordage video, a Flax fiber video popped up.. Didn’t watch.. But that’s next!!.. And if the species of Flax that provides the super Omega seeds can also provide fiber, then win-win!.. (And don’t forget hemp!)..

(And hey, I just started a hummingbird painting, inspired by the encounter yesterday, when the hummer got all up in my grill.. Your crystal work reminds me that I want to get some sparkly costume beads from the art supply store and glue them to my paintings.. Might be perfect for a hummer up in my face.. Lol.. Maybe he’ll get sparkly purple eyes!).. 🕺

[Eliza]

Jena, you are blowing my mind. Your artistry turns her into a fairy!🧚 Kev, you really do plant such seeds of abundance here on AV.

[Jena]

PS…my son did the whole website himself and never taught me to upload pics…so this is thrilling that I figured it out!

[Kev]

Keep uploading!.. It’s addictive..

[Kev]

A pretty good video on homemade soap making — trying the use of store-bought lye, as well as wood ash lye, with deer tallow.. Insightful!..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3EBW0AYTTo

[Kev]

Finally came across a good video on how to grow Flax to produce linen fiber and fabric.. The best species for fiber is the same one grown for culinary seeds, so double duty.. 20-minute video plus two screenshots below..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JKhhtoe9v4

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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

[Kev]

A nice 15-minute video on natural fabric dyeing, something to whet your curiosity, if such things do.. Personally, always been a big interest, but have yet to do a full set-up, or make a proper effort, especially with using mordants (to fix dyes to fabrics, so they don’t fade or wash out).. On the list of 1287 skills and crafts to cultivate.. 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESsnU-ECYnw

[Eliza]

Edited: it’s fixed! 🙂

• This reply was modified 3 months ago by  Eliza.

[Kev]

Huh, dunno.. I can see you, and reply to you, and etc.. so.. funky site.. but maybe whatever you pressed on worked..

[Kev]

A video on using a specific species of Lichen to make purple fabric dye!.. Not sure I’ve ever seen lichen used for fabric dyeing, but not certain, though I have thought about it.. (I’ve macerated Usnea in ethyl alcohol, but that doesn’t produce a color or pull a pigment into solution, if there is one).. And not sure I’ve ever seen this specific species growing around here either (Punctelia rudecta), but we’ve got lots of other varieties.. Some grey’s and grey-blue’s that grow on rocks, to green ones, to some that have an electric acid yellow color (for lack of better words), a grey-blue one that looks like little mushrooms, and a really common light slate-blue lichen that grows everywhere on tree bark and downed tree branches & twigs.. Here he uses ammonia to extract the dye, but I’m also thinking of collecting various lichens and using ethyl alcohol (Everclear) and vinegar to start.. Have had a lot of success pulling flower pigments into solution with vinegar.. (ammonia would be the next experiment as I don’t particularly care to work with such a chemical).. And hey, methinks urine would be an excellent solvent as well.. 🙂 ..9-minute video.. anyone else here ever done any natural fabric dye production??.. would love to learn mordanting myself, which I’ve never done..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxi2Up7YhM4

[Author]

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