Friday, July 23, 2010

WELCOME TO THE DRAGON'S LAIR STUDIO

This is my secondary blog, the first being Mountain Top Farm which is primarily a general overview of things and interests in my life. The purpose of this secondary blog is to show items that I have for sale.

Sale items are normally fiber related... althought other art work might be offered from time to time.  The items I offer may be paid for with a check or a money order but not Pay Pal or charge cards.  Of course cash is acceptable if it is not a mail order transaction.  Shipping costs will be extra for the buyer, and all shipping will be made through the post office.  I will use priority mail, and flat rate boxes and envelopes or I can send parcel post which is sometimes cheaper, but usually a tad bit slower.  This will be discussed on an individual basis, and the customer will decide on the best shipping method for them.

We are also not fast around here...so if speed is the essence for you then you will not be compatable with us.  We normally go to town  and do all errands once a week and that is when orders will be shipped.  Checks will have to clear before shipping occurs unless you have a buying history from us.
Photos will be removed as soon an confirmation of an order is received  so that hopefully everything that you see will be up to date as far as availability is concerned.

What I am offereing first for sale is hand dyed wool fabric.  I have been dyeing wool in  fleeces, yarns, and rovings for roughly 10 years, and in the last five or so years, since becoming involved in rug hooking, I have started dyeing on wool fabric.  First for my own rug making, and now I've decided to make some  for others as well.  Mostly the fabrics offered will be mottled, but some will be fairly one color with minor variability.  Normally a yard of wool fabric is 36" by 58-60" until it is quartered to make "Fat Quarters."  This is the size of fabric before any processing occurs.  Normally before hooking wool the fabric is submitted to the "fulling" process where the fabric is washed and dried and has shrunk a bit or "fulled."  From there the dyeing process takes place and during that some extra fulling could occur.  However, it will not have reached the "felt" stage.  The result of this is that the wool fabric has shrunk compared to what it measured as it was sold from the mill or fabric shop.  For this reason I am going to be selling it by the cubic inch instead of a standard price for a standard fat quater which can vary considerably from start to finish.  This I think if a fair process, and it allows me some flexability in the sizes of dyed fabrics being offered.  Sometimes the oddball small size comes in handy to spark up a hooked  rug.
I hope  you enjoy them; I enjoyed making them.
Barbara Peters