New week, new project!

Hi Everyone! I sent away the banners to their new home and because I temporarily misplaced the cable for the camera, I didn't get to blog what happened at the end of last week. We'll do a little back tracking and catch you up to date on what's happening.
Above you see the banners in the box.

Here's the box ready for the Post Office. Big box. Heavy box. Done and done. I'm kind of sad to see them go but I need to get on with the next project.

When I get pictures of them in place, I'll let you see how they look.

The next project is to custom dye 100+ yards of silk velvet (silk backing with rayon pile) which I will then transform into acoustical panels for a church in Tennessee.
Before committing to the purchase of 4 racks of velvet, they requested a prototype to make sure that they like the fabric and the color and the effect it will have when suspended from the ceiling. In order to do this accurately, I knew that I shouldn't dye just one panel (3+ yards) because as my dyeing students know, there is a huge difference between what happens in a dye bath when 3 yards are submerged in the dye as opposed to what happens when 9 yards are in the same mix. Well...I did dye one panel and then decided to test my recipe know-how by dyeing 3 panels to see: a) if I could do it accurately, and b) so that when and if I need to increase the fabric, how will the recipe hold up when that much more yardage is present. It worked beautifully and I am feeling very smart indeed. Badda-bing!
You may wonder what will happen if the church decides they do not want the silk velvet? I wondered that as well but I love dyeing this stuff so much that even if I get stuck with all of it, I will undoubtedly use it somewhere along the line. I mean look at that color!!!! If it doesn't become a fiber art piece, I'll wrap myself up in it and make a turban and high heels to match.
Here is a picture of the 3 panels hanging to dry in the California sunshine before the heavens opened and began to deliver.
The custom color matches a swatch of upholstery fabric sent for me to work with which was helpful. I think of grape soda when I work with this stuff. I can feel the fizz.



Here's the stuff waiting for me to sew them into panels. Each panel will be 45" x 120". Making a sample that was just 1 yard long showed me how much to expect it to shrink. Making the prototype also showed me even more accurately how much 1 panel will shrink and how long I will have to cut each before dyeing.
I do not plan on dyeing all 100+ yards at the same time or even dyeing the full 30 yards that come on each rack. I will certainly wash the 30 yard sections all in one piece and then dry it in one big hunk. It's at that point that I will then cut it to the size it needs to be to dye. Once it has gone through the process of dyeing, I then do one final trimming because it does shrink a bit more.
Next step is to sew the sides back on themselves; put the hem in the top and bottom and that's it. 28 times. 27 times actually.
Want to come along for the ride?