Rain with a hint of Firefly

As well as my regular range of fabrics, I'm always open to special requests. This piece was requested by a customer who was ordering a piece of Rain on which she wanted to stitch Firefly Faeries by Lavender & Lace. She asked for a lighter area in the middle of the fabric to be the 'firefly'. The original chart includes instructions on how to create the lighter area using bleach, but most stitchers I know would balk at the idea of using bleach on their fabric.

This is how it came out:

Side 1:


Side 2:

Click for bigger images

As you can see the two sides of the fabric are quite different, this is quite common and depends on the method of dyeing. This paticular colour is dyed flat on a board, using objects under the fabric to give the pattern, and to get the 'firefly' area in the middle I used a small bowl under the fabric to lift it out of the dye.

I haven't heard back from the customer as to whether she likes it or not, but I have to hope that she'd let me know if she wasn't happy with it.