10 000 T-shirts For Charities

We are doing a drive to collect 10000 T-shirts for charities in Gauteng.

While it is fairly difficult for one person or organisation to make a big difference in the lives of many orphans, it is fairly easy for many people to do one small thing, especially if they can have fun while doing it.

Visit one of the venues where we are having this drive and become part of this awesome charity drive. How it works...

Arrive at the venue with two white 100% cotton T-shirts. Pay a nominal fee of R30 for the materials that you will use. We will show you how to dye the T-shirts. Take one home for yourself and leave the other behind and we will donate it to an orphanage.

The children who benefit will not only receive a practical garment that they can wear, they also receive a unique gift that has been made with love by somebody especially for them.

Contact me today for more information so that you can find a venue that suits you at info@dyeandprints.co.za

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

0835689150

High Fashion In Milan

My signature South African flag dyed by hand on chiffon silk recently walked down the catwalk in Milan. Follow the link to see it!

http://http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Melanie-Brummer-Fan-Club/266623571663

I have been producing hand dyed fabrics for the fashion industry since 2002 and they have appeared in collections around the world from New York to Milan.

Because I work so far behind the scenes in manufacturing, very few people know about it since the fashion designer is normally credited for the work. What most people do not realise is that a fashion designer will use many service providers along the way to producing a garment. A single garment may involve a pattern-maker, textile designer, dyer, printer, CMT (cut make and trim), beader and finisher before it makes it onto the runway. Very often the fashion designer is only responsible for the conceptual design and co-ordination of service providers.

Next time you see a garment strutting down the catwalk, remember that it is the work of many hands and try to guess how many people might have been involved in bringing the creation to you.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

http://www.dyeandprints.co.za/

Shibori

Do a Google search for the word "Shibori" and you will find hundreds of thousands of references to sites with pictures and descriptions of a process that looks very much like the craft that we know in the West as "tie dye".

Although the Hippies adopted it as their own symbol of individuality, the craft is far more ancient and it predates them by centuries. Dyeing cloth with decorative finishes is a national artform in Japan and they have used it there from the beginning of time to embellish their kimonos.

There is an International Shibori Symposium that takes place every year where textile enthusiasts gather to compare notes and marvel at the range of finishes that are possible using these techniques.

It is the art of "shaped resist dyeing" where patterns are formed by excluding dye from certain parts of the cloth by creating pressure between the layers of the cloth and the bindings.

The most beautiful definition that I found in my research called it "Slow Fiber - a thoughtful approach to 'the making of things' - a philosophy that is most plainly explained as 'being bound by an integrity of product'"

You can learn more about this ancient craft on the World Shibori Network on Facebook or at http://shiboriorg.wordpress.com/projects/slow-fiber

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

+27835689150

Contemporary Dyecraft

Contemporary Dyecraft (Metz Press) is selling very well and the feedback that we are getting so far is very positive. Here are some of the comments that we have received...

"I started reading my treasure last night. It is just like being with you in a class. Reading your book has really got my juices going again." Michelle Russell.

"May I say that it was love at first read! Congratulations, I am blown away and very excited." Patsy Hamilton.

"Thank you for your book----it is absolutely awesome! Received it today and honsetly know that it will be hugely inspiring and informative!" Basil and Liz, Square Tomato

If you would like to order your copy online, you have a variety of options. You can read more about it on the publisher's website at www.metzpress.co.za

You can order from:

Leisure Books www.leisurebooks.com

Kalahari www.kalahari.net

Amazon www.amazon.com

Red Pepper Books www.redpepperbooks.co.za

It is also available in North America from the Canadian Publisher, Firefly Books at www.fireflybooks.com/bookdetail&ean=9781554077298

Order your copy today and join in the fun! The DVD to support the book with more techniques will be available very soon. I will keep you posted as soon as I have stock in hand.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

+2735689150

Squidoo - Another Free Resource

As an entrepreneur who started a business on a shoestring budget, I have explored almost every free resource for marketing available to man (and woman).

Squidoo is a fabulous place to begin with online content and a good training ground for those who want to learn the basics of building websites themselves. I have a couple of Squidoo pages that have served me well for some years now.

http://www.squidoo.com/TieDyeFabricsInFashion

This was my first Squidoo page where I wrote my first article about hand dyed fabrics in fashion, from my perspective. I have manufactured hand dyed fabrics for the South African fashion industry for some time and have always believed that the medium belongs to haute couture and not to the hippies, as is popularly believed.

http://www.squidoo.com/TheWowMoment

Every time I open a fresh tie dye, I experience a heart-stopping thrill to see the pattern unfold for the first time. I call it the Wow Moment. After 17 years of working with dye, the experience has not changed. The Wow Moment happens for me every time. Read more about it on this Squidoo page.

http://www.squidoo.com/KidsJustLoveTieDye

Of course, kids love the Wow Moment as well. Tie dye is also a valuable developmental tool for teaching kids. Learn some of the good reasons for teaching kids to tie dye on this Squidoo page.

Squidoo is an amazing resource. It is free, and it has great traction with Google. If you are looking for a place to start building your online presence, I can recommend Squidoo highly.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

+27835689150

Slipstream On Facebook

Although a website is an essential tool for entrepreneurs, Facebook offers a convenient, free solution for getting your message out there. I also like the fact that it creates an interactive platform for my customers where we can chat and share experiences where a webpage is just a static brochure that shouts about what we do, but nobody can talk back. I prefer two-way communication and find myself working in Facebook far more often these days than on my website.

Facebook offers the opportunity to create a page for your business, much like a website. Take a look at mine at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Johannesburg-South-Africa/Slipstream-Fabric-Finishes/89726683342?ref=ts

I also have a Fan Page where my students get together to talk about what they have made and show off their latest pictures. You will find it at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melanie-Brummer-Fan-Club/266623571663?ref=ts

Finally, there is Colour SA, a group that I created for all colour enthusiasts who want to share their colourful experiences. You can find it at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6675658393

I would love to chat with you in one of these interactive places. If you have any colourful stories, experiences or pictures to share, please join us and help us to create a vibey, interesting space for everyone.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

+27835689150

That Dress!

Everybody loves that dress! Whenever I wear it somebody stops me to compliment me on it.

I made it for my book, Contemporary Dyecraft (Metz Press) and Ivan Naude (http://www.planetivan.com/) took this fabulous picture of it for me.

Do you know that it was dyed using only the three primary colours, yellow, magenta and turquoise? All the other colours that you see on the dress were blended on the cloth during the making. If you would like to make one for yourself, why not order your copy of Contemporary Dyecraft for the technique.

It is available through all the regualr channels, including Leisure Books, Kalahari and Amazon.

The dress was made for me by a talented young designer in Johannesburg called Yoriko Alty. Her label is Wild Fig. You can contact her on +27825652675 to order your designer garments or you can view the Facebook page under Wild Fig Clothing to see her latest collection.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

+27835689150

http://www.dyeandprints.co.za/

Colour Technicians Course

I taught this fabulous group of people this weekend at Oppi Stoep in Lyttleton, Pretoria.

We unpacked colour mixing with dye in great depth to build colour swatch charts that the students can use for their various activities.

The group was made up of clothing manufactureres, fashion designers, school teachers and craft enthusiasts who all wanted to learn how to mix their own colour rainbow.

While the methodology can be rather boring, the personalities in the group certainly were not, and we had a tremendous amount of fun. Just look at their hands! And the big smiles to go with them. It certainly looks as if everybody had fun.

Teaching is an amazing experience for me. I always leave a class feeling as if I have learned more than I have taught, and this class was no exception. This vibrant group of people are all so passionate about what they do, it excites me to think of what they are going to do with the tools that I gave them this past weekend.

Sunet Wagner (http://www.minimax.org.za/) is re-educating teachers in the Visual Arts so that they can teach kids about Dance, Drama, Singing and Crafts. She saw the colour wheel come alive this weekend and is taking her new knowledge to her holiday camp this week.

Bets and Cindy are school teachers and they are going to share their new rainbow experience with kids in their classes at school.

Elsa Young plans to empower rural women with what she learned.

Colleen Jack wants to build a Teambuilding experience that engages all five senses. Hopefully this class will help her with one of the elements that she needs.

Reiniette Katoff makes clothing and plans to use what she learned to batch dye garments and Wilco plans to add a fresh new twist to his underwear collection (Bone Wear).

Hanneke van Linge is re-inventing herself as a craft teacher. She is a serial entrepreneur who is looking for her next business.

Corrie van der Merwe came all the way from Lydenburg to have some fun. She is one of my most enthusiastic students and a gift in my life.

I cannot wait to see the ripples in the world that this weekend's activities are going to set off, and I am grateful to be part of such an amazing process.

Follow the link below to see the rest of the pictures on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melanie-Brummer-Fan-Club/266623571663?ref=ts

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

+27835689150

UFO's

UFO : Un Finished Object

Every crafter seems to have a few of them scattered around the house.

Human beings are full of ideas. We get caught up in a moment of inspiration and tear off to start a new project. It takes time to finish and we get bored. Then we are struck with a fresh idea and before we know it, the first project is forgotten and we are off at a tangent, making something else.

The worst thing a crafter can do is to actually count the UFO's. The list often gets so long that we become overwhelmed at the task of finishing all of them and we sink into depression at the thought of all the work we have to do to complete them!

The only cure for the growing pile of UFO's is to sit down and systematically tackle them one at a time. You will feel a small flash of victory as you complete each one, and that will fuel your energy to finish the next one.

This leaves you with the question, what does one do with all the fresh ideas that you get as you sit in that zen space working on the UFO's? The answer is simple. Go off and create! Yes, you are just making another UFO, to be added to the growing pile and finished at a later date. The point is, if you do not begin to act on a bright idea it is very often lost completely. We forget so easily.

All great work is created in chaos. Life is chaos, and, much like life, the creative process begins with wonder, then a period of tedium and routine follows, and then it ends with a great deal of satisfaction as you sit back and admire the beautiful thing that you have made of it.

If you are feeling inspired, start something new. If you have no new ideas, go and finish a UFO. Trust the process and have fun.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

+27835689150

Never Give Up!

I have been an Entrepreneur for most of my adult life. My businesses have not always been successful, which got me thinking...

When does a business end? Whe does it shut down?

Is it when it is in a financially stretched state the the Entrepreneur cannot get out of? Is it at the point of liquidation? Is it when the business owes a whole lot of money to a whole lot of people?

If those were the criteria, I could have closed my company down many times. There were periods when I could have shut down every month at month end. Many entrepreneurs will beg, borrow, co-erce and convince whoever they need to to pull their business through such times. Those who survive to thrive will find any means to pull their "child" through the difficult times.

This said, when does a business end?

I believe that it happens in a moment, and there is only one cause. It happens in the moment when the Entrepreneur gives up, and says "I cannot do this anymore." The single biggest cause of businesses failing is that people give up.

It is tough. I cannot kid anybody and claim that it is easy to perservere. I do not blame people for giving up.

If you are an Entrepreneur and you want to build a successful business, the best piece of advice I can give you is to never give up. If you never give up, you will surely get there. Don't shut down the dream, look for another way, even if it does not seem that there can be a solution. Look for another way.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

0835689150

Metz Press

Metz Press is an independent publisher of high quality information books and illustrated non-fiction for the South African market as well as the international co-edition market. Their focus remains on crafts, gardening, parenting and life (which includes several self-hep titles). One of a small number of independent South African publishers to have successfully penetrated the international co-edition market, Metz has sold rights to their books in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Portugal, Spain, France, Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey and Russia. After many years of hard work and a consistent presence at the Frankfurt International Book Fair, Metz has convinced international companies that they can meet their high standards of quality content, production and delivery. Most of their overseas editions reprint regularly and the list is growing.

Metz Press continues to attract the best craft authors for our project-based craft books. Their creativity, combined with a practical, hands-on approach and the service of top photographers in this genre all contribute to a range that simply stands out from the rest. Last year's success with embroidery doyenne Di van Niekerk's ribbon embroidery and stumpwork designs for a selection of Cecily Mary Barker's exquisite Flower Fairies TM is bound to be equalled by her recently released Monograms and words in ribbon embroidery. Fabric enthusiasts are sure to be thrilled by Simply Fabulous Fabric, as well as the forthcoming Contemporary Dyecraft (by Melanie Brummer). Their well-known and growing parenting list has also been boosted by the addition of BabyGym, MindMoves and a new edition of their top seller Baby Sense. In Adjusting The Boundaries, the fourth book in her boundaries series, Anne Cawood offers parents wise and sympathetic cousel to help children and teens cope with separation and divorce.

You will know a Metz Press book when you hold it in your hands. It has a very special look and feel that is quite distinctive. Read more at

http://www.metzpress.co.za/

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

JJ Schoeman

I produced this custom-dyed twill for JJ Schoeman for SA Fashion Week 2005. This particular garment went with him all the way to New York Fashion Week in the same year.

JJ supplied me with plain white twill and a brief for "something African." I began by planning the layout in dressmakers chalk on the fabric to make sure that the shapes were evenly spaced and proportionately sized. It was a tedious job stitching in each shield shape by hand. Each one had to be individually stitched and shaped.

First, I crush dyed the fabric in golden yellow. Then, I added another layer of brown dye. After rinsing all the excess away thoroughly with lots of clean water (I would hate to dye the model too!) the stitching was unpicked to reveal the pattern.

JJ turned it into this stunning catwalk creation!

See how he has cleverly added beadwork to compliment the dyed shapes. The natural wooden beads were a good choice to add authentic detailing in keeping with the natural look and feel of the cloth. Central Africa has a rich culture of tie dye and I often look to the textiles from Kenya and Ghana for inspiration.

This beautiful picture was taken by Ivan Naude for SA Fashion Week. Ivan has tracked my work through his lens for some time now and most recently he took the pictures for my book, Contemporary Dyecraft (Metz Press). Find out more about this amazing photographer at http://www.planetivan.com

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie