As promised, here’s the easy-peasy DIY tutorial on how to make your very own batik chic scarf using inexpensive materials from around the house.

Batik is a printing technique and type of textile popular in Asia and African countries. Different shapes are painted onto the fabric using liquid wax then dipped into dye. The wax is removed and you end up with some great handmade textiles.

If you draw repeating shapes like circles, squares and zig-zags, you can end up with some very contemporary fabric, like the patterns in the 2010 spring/summer collections of Dries Van Noten (especially the men’s accessories: pocket squares and bracelets) and the 2011 Max Azria women’s resort collection. Other inspirations include instructions found in a thrifted McCall’s craft magazine, the and posts around the web. We’ll list the web resources in another post this week.

The photos were taken at the Spins & Needles Pop-Up Batik Chic Picnic we held this past Sunday at park in downtown Ottawa. More photos can be found on the Spin Off Stuff Flickr page.

DIY Tutorial: How to Make a Batik Chic Scarf

Materials

* Wax paper or craft paper
* Cotton fabric (for scarf – we used 40″x10″ pieces of fabric)
* Pencil and paper
* Paintbrushes (varying sizes)
* Tealight candles (paraffin wax)
* Lighter/matches/firestarter
* Small aluminum pie tins
* Small fondue stand with candle base (optional)
* Paper towel
* Plastic tubs or buckets
* Water
* Salt/vinegar
* Dye (RIT-dye, Dylon or Procion MX)
* Rubber gloves
* Wooden spoons or barbecue tongs
* Iron
* Beeswax (optional)
* Apron (optional)
* Picnic lunch + picnic mat (optional!)

1. Prepare your pattern, working surface and fabric: Sketch your pattern on a piece of paper. Then place wax paper or craft paper on your working surface so wax doesn’t seep through. Place your scarf right side up on your wax paper.

Tip: Use natural materials (e.g. cotton, silk, burlap). Man made materials (e.g. polyester, rayon) are harder to dye.

2. To make your liquid wax: Remove the candle wick from several tealights. Then take one of the small aluminum pie tins and poke a couple holes on the side of the tin with a pencil. Next, light three tealight candles with a wick and place it into another aluminum pie tin. Place the tin with holes on top to cover the flames, then place another aluminium pie tin on top with the wick-less tealight. (In all you’ve used three aluminium pie tins). The wax should be completely liquid within 5-7 mins. Do not leave unattended or inhale the smoke!

Tips:

• If you’re going to batik outdoors and its a bit windy, better alternatives to the three aaluminum pie tin setup include placing an aluminium pie tin on top of a tealight candle holder or a larger fondue base/camp stove powered by fuel. (Here’s a video on how to DIY a camp stove.)
• Use beeswax for crisper, discrete lines. Use paraffin wax for wavier, less discrete lines. (Professional batik artists use a mix of the two.)
• Alternative to wax: white glue (or even glitter/coloured glue) Great for kids and washes out.

3. Start drawing: Dip your paintbrush into the melted liquid and draw directly onto your fabric. You can use varying brush sizes. Make sure wax line is thick so it will block the dye. After you’ve finished painting, look over and do touch-ups. Let wax harden.

Tips:

• Use shapes like end of spool, cookie cutter, etc.
• For a batik with more than one clour, paint more wax on top of the first colour and dye the piece again using a different colored dye. Or you can paint directly with the different colour dye instead of submerging the entire piece.

4. Prepare your dye: Prepare your dye in the plastic tub/bucket according to instructions. We used Rit-Dye which usually calls for hot water, but, because of the wax, we used regular room temperature water. You can also use Proxion or Dylon cold water dyes. For colorfastness, add a 1/2 cup salt or vinegar to the dye bath. Use a wooden spoon or barbecue tongs to mix the dye with the water and salt/vinegar.

5. Start dyeing your fabric: With rubber gloves on (required or you’ll dye your hands) and an apron (optional if you don’t want the clothes you’re wearing a different colour), place your piece of fabric in the dye bath. Use the spoon or tongs to move fabric around and try not to splash yourself. Leave the fabric in depending on how intense you want the colour to be: shorter for less intense, longer for more intense. Note that some of the dye will wash out after washing.

7. Letting the fabric dry: Take your piece out, wringing out any dye. Place on your wax or craft paper and let the piece dry.

Tip:

• Try not to leave it in the sun to avoid fading.

8. Setting the fabric: When your fabric is dry, place a fresh piece of wax or craft paper on top. Iron on top of the paper to heat wax, then let cool. The wax should adhere to the paper and off of the fabric. Repeat on areas where you still see wax. Put in washer or run under sink to wash out excess dye then put in dryer to set print.

Now wear in style for cool fall nights!

Last Sunday’s Pop-Up Workshop was a blast – I am totally itching to get out there again and craft more in public and outdoors. We revealed our secret location late last week : Minto Park, a little bit of greenspace in downtown Ottawa which turned out to be an ideal setting (except for the gusts of the wind that kept blowing our candle out to burn the batik wax.) I guess crafting in public does have some challenges.

Here`s some photos from the workshop. We spread out our blankets, laid out our materials, nibbled on some munchies (including animal crackers and gummy berries) and whipped up some batik scarves for late summer/early fall cool nights.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the workshop! Watch out for tomorow’s post featuring a tutorial on how to batik on the cheap and make your own scarf using materials from around the house.

Spins & Needles Pop-Up Workshop! (Ottawa)
Theme: DIY Batik Chic Picnic
Date: Sunday August 29, 2-5 p.m.
Secret location: TBC (it’ll be outdoors)
Small materials fee: $15

It’s supposed to be a beautiful sunny weekend so we’re hosting another secret special Spins & Needles Pop-Up workshop this Sunday. And we’re taking it outdoors!

POP-UP PROJECT
You’ll learn the easy way to batik (a print/dye method) to create a fab scarf for those cooler summer/fall nights. Plus since we’re outdoors, feel free to bring a blanket/chair/cooler of food and drinks to picnic about.

Space is limited and is first come, first served. There’s still a few spots left. E-mail spinsandneedles@gmail.com to register.

Flickr photo via akula

Hey all! Spin Off Stuff will now be featuring music picks from Spins and Needles resident DJ Jason Pelletier each month. Check out his new blog and MySpace page for upcoming events, info and to download funky/jackin’ house mixes.

Enjoy!

–

Here’s this month’s funky/jackin’ house music picks:

Top 10 – Aug. 2010

1. Sonny Fodera & Inland Knights – Typewriter (Inland Knights Remix) / Drop Music
2. Freaky Behaviour – World Famous / Ficus Tree
3. Funk Mediterraneo – Mr. Pull / Mighty Perverts
4. Isaac Fresco – Foxtrot / Guesthouse
5. Dave Allison – Trade Off / Kinjo
6. Ugur Project – Locked Grooves / Smoke City
7. Erik Bo – New Jacker / Funk Mansion
8. The House Inspectors – A-Town Jazz / Guesthouse
9. The Jackeens – Plastic Bert / Flatpack Traxx
10. Giom – In Love (Pete Dafeet) / Lost My Dog

The last city on our three day va-cay was Washington, DC. We felt a little guilty having swept through the other two cities so we made a point to spend our last day flaneuring about the city and actually have one relaxing day.

Our day in Washington actually started at a no cover Sunday night at Eighteen Street Lounge on 18th St. It’s home to Thievery Corporation and other music acts.  I loved this space. It had multiple rooms with different styles of house music (deep and funky) playing. Plus everyone was dancing. And there were some sick (I don’t use that word often) moves on the floor. And the vibe was probably the best I had experienced in years. Did I say it was a Sunday? And this is a government town? (Obviously throughout the whole trip J and I drew many comparisons between Ottawa and Washington as capital cities). The photo above doesn’t do the vibe justice – it’s actually with the lights on at the end of the night.

To top it off, we were serenaded after we left the club. It couldn’t get better than this.

The hotel we stayed at – Hotel Helix- was a winner, definitely in our top five hotels/hostels.  Greetings and acknowledgements every time you were in the lobby, friendly smiles (and not those fake hello how are you smiles), carrying your luggage up the steps, free wi-fi, great location off Logan Circle. Think of a super nice modern hostel with impeccable service. Note that instead of chocolates they leave politicians on your pillow (no not really, these were greeting cards J scored in Baltimore at the American Visionary Art Museum gift shop). It would be a pretty cool pillow topper though.

Breakfast the day before was from Whole Foods (again, love their breakfast bar) in a cardboard container but still delicious for a takeaway meal. So for breakfast that day we headed around the corner on P street to the neighbourhood bar The Commissary where there’s “honest pricing”. Good prices indeed but the food wasn’t too honest and Whole Foods breakfast in a box still won out. (Unfortunately no photo was taken of this moment as we enjoyed conversation instead of documenting breakfast).

The area around 14th and U Streets was our first and only neighbourhood stop. I found out that most of the stores we wanted to check out were closed on Monday. I had been looking forward to Miss Pixies and Ruff and Ready to fill my need for a vintage find during the trip. Sadly I snapped some shots through the window.

We did happen upon a red brick walk-up that housed Som Records, which J checked out, while I headed up the steps to Treasury (1843 14th St. NW, second floor), a cute little vintage clothing shop with some really nice pieces. Seamstress Kristen (who is also opening her own store on U street in the coming weeks) was kind enough to give myself and another shopper from Australia some info on other places to check out in the area. Here she is looking busy and some trinkets from the store.

As per my urban aesthetic festish, there were some pretty neat eccentricities we bumped into:

One of the higlights of my trip was heading over to Busboys and Poets, which is a restaurant/bookstore/fair trade market/gathering place/my dream space. J had been raving about this place ever since he came here last winter. It did not disappoint. The food was amazing. I love this place. I wish I could put it in my suitcase and take it home with me. One day…

And so it wouldn’t be Washington without a trip to at least one touristy part. So we walked all the way from Capitol Hill to Washington Monument. More tourist photos on my Flickr page, but two things we did/encountered to liven things up:

To mimic the Knit It series I participated in five years ago in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, I brought the project I was working on (a penguin for a colleague) and posed with it and took photos of it in front of Capitol Hill. It’s actually the beginnings of a larger installation project – more info in a future post.

Second, isn’t this a great idea? Screening films on the green space in front of the Hill. Ottawa should look into doing something like that, perhaps through the Centretown Movies group.

And even though I don’t have a photo of this because I had checked my camera, it’s worth mentioning. In my top 5 experiences during this trip: security guards at the Senate asked a very large group of Amish people to hand over any cellphones/cameras/electronic devices in their possession.

And that was that, short and sweet, we headed to the airport in our rental car for the flight home.

Some stuff we learned during our three day trip:

• You may able to get a lower price (or even a great package deal like we did) by flying into a city that’s close to your preferred destination. We scored an awesome deal on Expedia for three-day trip. We initially wanted to fly into Baltimore or Philly since they were cities we had never visited before but there weren’t any direct flights available. So we flew into Washington instead which is a 1 hour drive from Baltimore and a 2.5 hour drive from Philly.
• Avoid renting a car at DCA on a Saturday (at least from Budget). Even though we had made a reservation, we waited over two hours before we finally got our car and hit the road. Also, like most rental car places even though you may have booked an economy or compact-sized car, you will likely end up with a Cadillac or an SUV. So if you want to book a large car, I say try booking the lower priced smaller car so that you pay less but likely end up with a bigger car.
• If you want to go DC –> Baltimore, better to go by car than train during the weekends. Apparently the commuter train between both cities doesn’t run frequently on Saturdays and Sundays. You could try a bus company, like Greyhound or Chinatown Bus but the hours and stops respectively weren’t that great, at least not for us..

Here’s the city + DIY resources we consulted:

• Washington City Paper - the city’s free weekly with listings. Check out the section with the Crafty Bastards up-to-date-blog with useful listings (the city’s most prolific DIY crew who hold annual craft sales) and their Best Of section.
• DC Craft Mafia - part of the Craft Mafia group, another DC craft collective with a blog for finding out local events.
• Design*Sponge Washington DC Design Guide – Great guide on Washington by neighbourhood on the city broken down by neighbourhood including eating, seeing and shopping.
• Wooster Collective’s Street Art City Guide to Washington DC: from the prolific Brooklyn-based street art site, this “oldie but goodie” post from 2004 gives pointers on graffiti sites, graffiti supplies, food and booze. We weren’t able to check it out so not sure if some of the graf is still up…
• New York Times: 36 Hours in Washington: a few key spots to check out in the city
• National Geographic’s U Street Walking Tour: historic street in Washington with one of the largest black populations in the U.S. (Duke Ellington used to live there).  Lots of new shops, restaurants and music venues to check out
• USA Today’s District of Cool: Have a hip time in Washington: This article from 2009 lays out gems on U Street, 14th Street, and some restaurants.
• The Guardian’s Top 10 Alternative Sights in Washington DC: Places to check out instead of the usual touristy stuff like the Congress, the Lincoln Memorial and the White House
• Cultural Tourism DC: Audio Journeys:  I’ve been trying to get into travel podcasts more. This installment is part of a freeseries offered by Audissey Guides you can download onto your iPod. Info on U Street and downtown DC

Next city on our three-day, three-city itinerary was Philly. Home of cheesesteaks and the Liberty Bell. We got caught in traffic (a normally 2.5 hour drive  took us 4 hours plus $15 in tolls) and got caught in rain as we strolled the streets. But the short time we were there we spotted some fantastic murals, some fantastic artwork and a happening street festival.

During the drive in from the south part of the city, we were pleasantly surprised to see amazing grandiose murals on the side of large buildings. I would love to see more of that in Ottawa to brighten up the brick and concrete. Luckily we caught some of the 2nd Street Festival before the rain started to come down. We rushed for cover to Art Star Gallery & Boutique where lots of great crafty handmade items are sold (thanks ladies for letting us snap photos of the store!). There were some awesome pieces in the gallery section by Kate Durkin, Maggy Rozycki Hiltner and Abby Glassenberg. We took a quick drive along the waterfront and after the rain cleared, reverted back to tourist mode and checked out the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross’ house and had some cheesesteaks.

More Flickr photos here.

For more Philadelphia DIY + city resources I clicked here:

• Design*Sponge Guide Philadelphia City Guide – The city broken down by neighbourhood with links plus exact addresses
• Philadelphia Weekly – The city’s free weekly paper with listings.

If there are any other Philly resources you know please pass on. We know we hardly covered the city (we wanted to explore the southern part more), so Philly is definitely on our list of places to visit again.

After scoring an amazing package deal, J and I flew down to North America’s other capital city and met up with my Dutch friend Mirte for the start of a three city, three day vacation. First stop was Baltimore. They don’t call it Charm City for nothing. Crabcakes, a huge anime convention and visionary art, oh my.

With only a few hours, we spent most of our short time around the touristy area, Inner Harbor. Was hoping to come across a John Waters museum of some kind but unfortunately no. But be sure to check out the American Visionary Art Museum which has some pretty spectacular pieces from self-taught artists.

More photos on my Flickr page.

For Baltimore city + DIY resources I clicked here:

• Baltimore City Paper – The city’s free weekly paper with listings. Check out the excellent Baltimanual which includes recommended places and Bests Of.
• What Weekly – a free multimedia magazine dedicated to Baltimore’s art, culture and people. Check out their Calendar of Events.
• Design*Sponge Baltimore City Guide – Great guide on CharmCityInfo on the city broken down by neighbourhood and by eating, seeing and shopping. Includes Google Map with shops.
• TripAdvisor’s Baltimore for Hipsters – yes they use the term hipster but lots of good local recommendations.
• Baltimore Etsy Street Team blog – Info on goods sold by the Etsy team in the city and some info on local happenings.

Here’s a project if you’re heading back to school this fall or want to spruce up your workspace. You can post inspirational photos, notes, magazine clippings, etc.

The inspiration for this was super unexpected. While surfing the UsedOttawa.com website (a site similar to craigslist) for furniture last year, I came across the photo above which was in an ad for a work table/desk. But it wasn’t just the table I was interested in – I was interested in how the seller made the “Make” Corkboard Wall.  She was kind enough to send me easy-peasy instructions which I’ve modified to use the words “MAKE STUFF”.

Materials
Roll of cork sheeting (from an office supplies store or craft store)
Scissors
Stanley knife
Thick cardboard (e.g. from furniture boxes)
Pencil
White glue

Instructions
1. Measure the wall space where you want to place your corkboard.
2. Cut out a piece (or pieces if it is a large wall) of cork that match your measurements. Cut out a piece of thick cardboard this size that also match your measurements.
3. Glue the cork sheeting to the cardboard.
4. Print the “make” lettering. I’ve included a template below for “make stuff” and also on my Flickr page. You can use different words if you want (e.g. DIY). You can get other free fonts at dafont.com.
5. Cut out the letters and trace them onto the cork and thick cardboard. Cut out with scissors or a Stanley knife.
6. Glue the cork letters to the corresponding cardboard letters. Then glue to the main large piece.
THE END! Now tack above your desk or anywhere else in your house where you want to post project ideas and other stuff.

Thanks to Rilla for the instructions who moved back to Copenhagen last year (and who was coincidentally also a fan of S&N!)

In case you missed the cool ladies of summer in this month’s edition of The 613 Style File, go on over to Apartment 613 and check it out. What do you think? What would you like to see more of? Is there anyone you want to see featured?

Larger photos of the ladies on my Flickr page.

There’s still time left to apply – deadline is Sunday, August 1st. From the Puces Pop 2010 crew:

Our 6th edition of Puces POP is coming up and it’s time to send in those applications! Puces POP returns along with Fashion POP, the Record Fair and Gear Swap, Lil’Biz and the newest addition to the family, Vintage POP! This year, the Puces POP weekend of crafty madness, kids workshops and DIY frenzy goes down on October 2nd & 3rd.

You know the drill!

• Send over 3-5 good, clear pictures with your application.
• If you have an Etsy site, a facebook group, a website or online store please send us a link.
• Make sure you’ve filled out all the requirements of the application and make it good!

Tables are 6 feet for $100+ tx. and spaces are limited!
Sound good? We look forward to receiving your applications! Send them over to puces.pop@gmail.com subject PUCES POP APPLICATION 2010 by August 1st with the following info. Please do not hit reply to this email, but rather send us the application in another email. Thanks!

YOUR NAME & BUSINESS NAME
WHAT DO YOU MAKE?
WHAT FAIRS HAVE YOU DONE BEFORE/ PRESS?
DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL REQUESTS?
WHY DO YOU WANT TO SELL AT PUCES POP & HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT US?

We look forward to seeing your new work!

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Notre 6e édition de Puces POP est de retour et il est temps de nous envoyer vos applications! Puces POP nous revient avec Fashion POP, la vente de disque et échange d’équipement, Lil’Biz et la dernière addition à la famille, Vintage POP! Cette année, la fin de semaine de frénésie DIY, d’artisanat et d’ateliers pour enfants se déroulera les 2&3 octobre.

Vous connaissez la chanson!