I bought this cotton fabric years and years ago, and it was originally a pale blue-green. If I recall correctly, it was to be a poet-type shirt to go under a rose velvet t-tunic, a not particularly authentic but easy-to-sew and therefore popular SCA costume. From my point of view the big advantage was that the plain tayloring meant large expanses for embroidery.
pants
Since I [got] into SCA during the early 80s, that means the fabric is roughly a quarter century old. Never let it be said that I don't hang onto things while trying to figure out what to do with them. Having in the meantime given up the SCA and discovered that summer tops were easy to find at yard sales and thrift stores, but long lightweight pants (that fit) were more problematic, since I had enough yardage to make pants, I decided to re-purpose the fabric for that.
I used an old pair of pants that had worn out as the basis for my pattern, which wasn't altogether successful, as the fabric had become distorted with age. But I managed, however clumsily, to cobble a fairly comfortable pair of pants, and proceeded to decorate them. It's been months, but again, I think these were actually on of my earliest efforts (before the winter pants featured earlier) because the turquoise stamping didn't work out at all well, and henceforth I resolved to thicken the dye. (Obviously somewhere in there I overdyed ’em to a much more yellow green—perhaps that was the first step?)
pants –backside. The color wasn't very accurate in the original photo—so much for auto-color—so I had to adjust it significantly. However, I think the result is relatively true to life.
So after failing to dye the blue, I discharged them using a large, square, stylized floral: then trying stamping them black (*that* worked out real well—my best came out charcoal grey) and finally the purple curliQs, which means they were done the same time as the grey pants, below.
Despite my initial frustrations and terrible sewing, my only real complaint is that I didn't make the pocket deep enough. Must work on that.
UPDATE: I used too much bleach, or didn't rinse it quickly enough; the lightweight fabric developed a lot of holes, and rejoined my fabric stash, to be repurposed once again.
photo 19apr09, file 20apr09, edit & UPDATE para 05aug15
pink cotton work shirt {p}I usually have dye left over that I then use up on some less-valued object, as with this oversized pink shirt—seems only appropriate that I write about it now, as it's not quite on its last legs, four years later, from extensive use as a paint shirt: the extensive...
mustard, tan & black henna pants 13dec2023
my favourite dyed shirt from 2016. 25oct2017
Reworking a pair of dyed pants 24oct2017
documents some of my henna inspired dyeing on upcycled clothing. 29sep2020
``Quick'' bead embroidered pouch
Gear driven machine for producing textiles... 20apr2017
Piece of scrap dyed way back when. 2014, probably 10nov2015
arashi shibori, aka ``tie-dying'' on a pole 09nov2015
This pouch features glass beads, embroidery, fabric dying and sewing by me; its semiprecious accent beads co-ordinate with the rosary (restrung by me...) it's designed to hold. 24aug2015
my exchange bracelet 27sep2017
Summer-weight pants that I sewed and then dyed. This is a sub-index for my other posts on complex-cloth style dyed clothing. Originally posted 21apr09. 21apr2009
I modified these summer-weight grey cotton pants with overdying, stamping, and freestyle dying. Originally posted 20apr09. 20apr2009
Post about my adventures making my second pair of socks . Includes photos of my first overdyed pants as well. Originally posted 20feb09. 20feb2009
One of my experiments in complex cloth . Originally posted 28oct08. 28oct2008
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
