Going Natural.

You have made me so happy this past week. Your comments, tweets and emails were so kind and thoughtful and they've cheered me up no end. It reminded me of what I love about blogging and this lovely knitting/sewing/crafting community that we're a part of. Thanks! XXX

My urge to sew has been bubbling up, much like the sour dough starter on my bench. Another week and I might have something useful for my first gluten free, dairy free loaf. It looks like I'm intolerant to a bunch of food; gluten and dairy protein mostly. It's quite a bit to take in.

Anyway, although I am finally thinking about sewing and thought I might do some on Saturday, I ended up spending the best part of the day experimenting in the kitchen. I enjoy baking and keeping the tins full, and am keen to find recipes that Mr Myrtle and the kids will like, and that I can eat. All and any suggestions very welcome! (I've started a Pinterest board to collect ideas).

In the meantime I've had an idea about sewing. It all starts with this very lovely, old linen sheet that I bought in France a couple of years ago.

I thought it would be perfect to use for a practice run for my Kelly skirt for Outfit 5. It's a similar weight to my proper fabric and I want to fiddle about with the fit for my waist and hips before I cut into the good stuff.

But it's white. And, a white skirt won't work for five minutes with kids and their grubby hands (or my inability to keep food from spilling down my front ...). So, I thought I'd dye it.

What do you think? Tea? Red onion? White onion? Coffee? Something else?

I have been hankering to play around with natural dyes and rather fancy a natural shade of something. But I'm not certain what. Have you got any suggestions? 

Because I have so much fabric, I thought I'd make the skirt first and dye it when it's sewn. And, so I don't end up with white stitches, I'll use 100% cotton thread for my seams so they dye too. I'm anticipating that it'll all look a bit rustic, but with the right buttons, some lovely sandals and a top (as yet un-made), hopefully I'll be able to pull it off.

I'll start as soon as I can drag myself out of the kitchen :)