Chad Alice Hagen's Bark Scarf

Dyes and table preparation.

 

Some of Chad's sample scarves in different colourways.

 

'Our' dyepot. :)

 

Stitching the 'once dyed' scarf.

 

Pulling the strings tight.

 

After overdyeing and removing the strings...

 

...the finished scarf...

 

...both visually and texturally bark-like!

 

At the Creative Felt Gathering this year...

...I was lucky enough to take two dyeing classes with the amazing Chad Alice Hagen.

In this class, we made one of her famous bark scarves...

...using Japanese shaped resist dyeing techniques (Shibori).

Our group used chestnut dye for our first 'dip'...

...a notorious 'splitter' which, interestingly, turned into many colors after dyeing.

Then, after an afternoon of quite daunting hand-stitching...

...we were ready for the second dye pot.

As you can see...

...I used a lovely red for my second 'dip'.

The fun thing about this scarf is that it both looks and feels like bark when you're through...

...making it a special addition to any fall or winter wardrobe!

Winter Wonderland!

 

 

 

 

Having grown up in Cleveland, I know a little bit about snow...

...I can drive in it, and I've shoveled more than my fair share over the years.

This Philadelphia snow, however, is something to be reckoned with!

With fewer occasions to use them, the townships buy fewer plows and use less salt than in the Midwest.

Suffice it to say, it's been a loooooong week of much fancy manuvering in my car...

...and lots of shoveling.

It is gorgeous, though, especially with the sun shining on it today.

This project is a nuno scarf, made with custom-blended wool.

I made some pretty teal batts, applied them to a silk scarf blank...

...and felted it in the usual manner...

...(lots and lots of rolling!) Grin.

It's a thank you gift (along with the synthetic one from the other day) for a
teal-loving blogger friend...

...but more about that later.

Hope you are all safe and warm and dry today...

...the girls and I are done shoveling (for now, anyway!) and back inside, making dried cherry and almond cookies and homemade macaroni and cheese! Yum!

Modified Bark Scarf

 
 
 
 


This project was a lengthy one. I first made a large rectangle of felt using inclusions in white roving. As you can see in the last two photos...it was rather blah.

I was inspired to try a project of Chad Alice Hagen's from the book Fabulous Felted Scarves by CAH and
Jorie Johnson...a book well worth purchasing!

In it, she describes how to make a bark design using parallel stitching with strong thread (I used thick, coated thread for sewing on coat buttons from a huge, ancient wooden spool of 'John C. Meyer Thread-Lowell Mass' that has been in my possession for at least 30 years.)

The wool fabric is first sewn, then the threads are pulled tightly and tied off prior to dyeing.

Of course, it's supposed to be bark, but I really wanted to try Kool-Aid dyeing and only had a few colors-so I decided to match the inclusions already in the scarf and dyed it purple!

...Hmmm...perhaps not the look I was going for...but the dyeing was a lot of fun!
You immerse the fabric in a packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid plus boiling water and vinegar...and the color actually migrates into the wool fabric. When the process is complete, you have a dyed scarf floating in clear water! "The magic of science!"
Very Cool!