This week's session of the wild human free skool will focus on how to make things--make some of your own clothes, make simple clay pots and build your own earth oven/kiln, make candles, make jewelry with beads from scratch, make hippie art like window flowers and god's eyes and window splatter pictures. Enjoy, and happy wild human exploring...
*How to make some Wild Human Clothing:
The Sari is a wild human classic, great for roaming through gatherings or hanging out in your yard. It's made of a filmy cloth, white is my favorite, or it can have a fancy design on it or on one end. Start with one end by tying together two handfulls of cloth at your waist, folded over accordion style. Like, hold one end at your waist, bunch up the other end and bring it around you once. Then throw the long end up over your shoulder so it reached down to your feet. Catch the rest of it in your other hand (that's not holding the bunched up part).Pleat a bunch of it in front and tuck it in the front waist. Now take the long end that went up over your shoulder off. Bring this end once more around your waist and throw it over your shoulder again. I know this is almost impossible to figure out from reading it. but if you get a very long cloth with a print on one end to anchor your mind as to directions, you will be able to figure it out by experimenting. You can do the same thing with a smaller scarf and wrap it around your ta tas and tuck or attach it somehow.
The Drawstring Gown is another wild human classic. Take two identical sized pieces of cloth and make a hem at the top. The pieces should go from shoulder to ankle length, and be very wide for flowiness.Sew the sides together up to the bottom of where you want the armholes. Connect the hems at the top, and run a drawstring or elastic through to form a gathered neckline. Again, experiment with types of fabric (for flowiness) and design/size.
The Bermoose is another wild human classic, slightly more fitted due to tying a sash at your waist. Measure a length of fabric from your shoulder to your ankle. Then, double that length and use it for your dress. The width should be that of your hips or shoulders at the widest part, plus a few inches for comfort. Make a t-shaped slit for your neck in the center and trim a neckhole. Sew up the sides leaving arm holes. Tie at your waist and voila there you go.
The Wild Human Skirt is a classic for both men and women. I love seeing a sexy man at a Gathering with a nice wild human skirt on. So, a gathered skirt is simple, just fold over the top of the cylinder of flowy fabric you make by joining the two sides of a rectangle of cloth. And add a draw string of elastic. If you prefer a belt, add it the same way you would add cuffs to a sleeve, except you must leave an opening for a zipper or button. For a flowy A-line skirt, cut out a shape as wide at the top as you are at the widest part of your hips and as wide at the bottom as you want the hem to be. Then keep making little tucks (darts) all around with pins until it fits you. Add a facing at the waist or a cuff if you intend to wear a belt with it. I love to add lace at the bottom so its like a long petticoat, then wear a lacy lingerie top with a medicine bag, barefoot with tanned feet and natural toenails. Wild human sexiness.
Dont forget about wild human Hooded Robes, which are made from army blankets or other nice felty fabric. Fold a big piece of fabric and cut out pieces for the sleeves, hood, cowl, and body, so you have two identical pieces for each part, front and back. The length of the cowl is 2 or 3 inches less than the distance around your shoulders, but be sure it fits over your head. The body is the distance from your neck to your ankle is in length and of any width. The sleeves should measure from your armpit to your wrist with maybe a little extra. The hood can be any size and shape you like. I like a large hood that I can pull down over my eyes or around my face to block the wind or photographers. The lining can be made with an identical robe or an old shirt with patchwork additions to fit. Now, here's how you do it. Sew seams for the back on the body, cowl, and sleeves. the Hood seam is on the back of the head of it. Gather the body to the cowl, leaving slits on the sides for arm holes. Sew sleeves in the slits. Gather the hood to the cowl. Turn inside out and sew the lining at the seams. Voila, there you go, good luck.
There is lots more clothing than this that you can make yourself, like pants, mocassins, sandals, head bands. I don't have time to write it all right now, but just find something you like, observe how its made, deconstruct it in your mind, and then figure out how to copy it and do it!!!
*How to tie dye fabrics for tapestries, sheets, clothing, diapers, etc.:
If you want to use the hues of the forest, then you know the colors of the forest are ever changing. Collect bark, leaves, twigs, berries, tea leaves, coffee grounds, anything that has the colors you want. Dye cloth and your weaving yarns to their shades, for wild human color in your life. First, boil your fabric, like wool, silk, cotton, flax (manmade fibers are difficult to dye and require chemicals). Boil them in water (one gallon per pound of fabric) with alum (one or two ounces per pound). This will make the dyes set in permanently. Then, boil the vegetable matter for several hours, and strain out the vegetable matter and save the liquid for dying. Then, dip in the yarn or fabric, and stir it. Different soaking times bring about different shades of color. Also, different boiling times change the intensity, so you may get several shades of the same color.
Tie Dying is not difficult. Prepare the cloth with alum and prepare the tint. Let the cloth dry. Then bind it with string or rubber bands in various places to create a design, like a starburst. Dip the tightly tied cloth in dye and let it sit a few minutes in the dye. Then let it dry. When its dry, untie it, and tie in new places. You may dip only small places, like the ends of little sections, to give variation to the design. When its completed, and dry, iron out the wrinkles and hang it up, puff some and sit back and enjoy what you made!
*How to make candles: To make a large quantity of candles like I do, just melt all the beeswax you can get your hands on in a big drum or pot, really big if possible. Know that you may splatter wax on the oven or floor, so don't do it in the space of a neat freak or a control freak. Find or make a hoop slightly smaller than the circumference of the pot. Hang cotton wicks from it. Attach the hoop to an overhead pulleyor anchor so you can raise and lower the hoop each time you want to dip the wicks in wax. Cut off the ends when the candle gets big enough. To harden the wax, add 2 ounces of alum per pound of wax during the melting process. To prepare your wicks, use tightly braided string, dipped in vinegar and dried thoroughly. These handmade wicks actually work quite well, or buy some at the store. Candles burn brighter if you braid in some thin wire. For fancy candles, dip fresh flowers in clear wax and attach them to the wet candles. You can also braid pliable candles while the wax is still soft. Finally, you can pour wax into molds, but I don't know much about that.
For bayberry wax, just boil berries for 10 minutes. Strain them through cloth into a crock pot or something. Melt the wax in a coffee can and add the berry juice. Color it by melting in crayons of any color you like. Tie pieces of string on a branch and dip one by one until the candle looks thick enough. The candles can bend around while dipping--they dry hard, so it doesn't matter if the container isn't as tall as the candles. the cheapest wax is used candle butts from thrift stores. Use the heaviest string available.
*How to make Wild Human Candles:
To begin, melt some wax in a can over a high flame. For separate colors, use several cans and color them with wax crayons. Keep the wax liquid over a low flame. Scent with incense or essential oils.
For floating candles, pour wax on a flat surface. Form petals by pressing the flat wax up against a small candle, which is the center of the floating candle. Continue making petals until you have three or four rows.
For sand candles, form a mold by digging into wet sand. I like to fill a five gallon bucket with wet sand, and then dig a little hole in the size and shape I want. Press seashells, seaweed or whatever into the sides of the hole you dig. Tie the wick to a piece of coat hanger wire and bury the wire at the bottom of the mold. Hold the wick up with one hand and pour in the wax. Then let it dry and gently jiggle it out.
For carved candles, an old milk carton or paper cup with a hole in the bottom to drive through the wick is the mold. Seal the hole with wax before pouring in the alternate layers of colored wax. Allow each layer to dry before adding a new one. Tear off the mold when its dry, and carve with a knife. Finish the edges of carving by smoothing with a lighted match.
For agate candles, the mold is made from aluminum foil in a strange shape of your liking. Make a hole in the bottom for the wick. Seal with wax. Pour in alternate layers of colored was. Or suspend a wick like with sand candles and wait for it to harden.
For ice candles, a mold is a paper cup or milk carton. Add the wick as above. Fill with ice cubes and pour in hot wax. The ice melts and leaves cubic holes in the candle. This candle burns fast, but makes interesting shapes.
*How to make Wild Human Jewelry:
Lots of things can be soaked overnight and pierced with a needle to be strung as jewelry, such as eucalyptus pods, cloves and whole allspice. Use your imagination. These make very fragrant necklaces, good for mixing with your wild human funk while camping. Pierce cloves through the stem. These can be as long as you like, doubled over or single string. They can even go down to your knees or waist or just your neck. Limpet shells, sections of bamboo, whittled knots of wood (pierce them with a very hot nail), stones or marbles can all be bound with thread. You can also make paper mache beads, by soaking shredded newspaper in flour and water, to form into balls around nails. When they are dry, remove the nail and paint. Make beautiful wild human beads! Clay beads are also simple to make. Form little balls and pierce them with a nail. Smooth them with water, dry and fire them, or just dry if its the right kind of clay. Instead of glazing them, you can mosaic them with tiny smooth pebbles from the seashore, using epoxy glue.
*How to make Wild Human Window Art:
Fold a paper towel in quarters and then into triangular eights, like you would to cut out a snowflake. Drop spots of food coloring on the towel. Then unfold it. The colors are brilliant and the translucent towel looks very pretty with sun shining through it. Make one for every window in your wild human abode!
For splatter prints, dip an old toothbrush in poster paint and rub in over a piece of screen. The paint spray splatters onto the page of paper below. When you put something like a leaf, for example, on the page, you get a white s[ace in a leaf shape with splatter around it. Try different colors and shapes together, hang and enjoy!
*How to make a Wild Human Gods Eye: Make a cross with two sticks of equal length. Tie them together in the center, so you have an "x" that is secure. Now, take yarn or fiber of interesting color and texture, secure it to the center, and begin weaving it around the x, over and under, around and around placing the threads right beside each other and not overlapping so you build up the space all the way to the outer edge. You can switch fibers or colors by tieing one string to the next at the back of the gods eye where it wont be seen. When done, knot it to the stick where the string ends, and tie on a hanger string and hang it and enjoy!!!
In tribal solidarity,
Manitou Magwa
*How to make some Wild Human Clothing:
The Sari is a wild human classic, great for roaming through gatherings or hanging out in your yard. It's made of a filmy cloth, white is my favorite, or it can have a fancy design on it or on one end. Start with one end by tying together two handfulls of cloth at your waist, folded over accordion style. Like, hold one end at your waist, bunch up the other end and bring it around you once. Then throw the long end up over your shoulder so it reached down to your feet. Catch the rest of it in your other hand (that's not holding the bunched up part).Pleat a bunch of it in front and tuck it in the front waist. Now take the long end that went up over your shoulder off. Bring this end once more around your waist and throw it over your shoulder again. I know this is almost impossible to figure out from reading it. but if you get a very long cloth with a print on one end to anchor your mind as to directions, you will be able to figure it out by experimenting. You can do the same thing with a smaller scarf and wrap it around your ta tas and tuck or attach it somehow.
The Drawstring Gown is another wild human classic. Take two identical sized pieces of cloth and make a hem at the top. The pieces should go from shoulder to ankle length, and be very wide for flowiness.Sew the sides together up to the bottom of where you want the armholes. Connect the hems at the top, and run a drawstring or elastic through to form a gathered neckline. Again, experiment with types of fabric (for flowiness) and design/size.
The Bermoose is another wild human classic, slightly more fitted due to tying a sash at your waist. Measure a length of fabric from your shoulder to your ankle. Then, double that length and use it for your dress. The width should be that of your hips or shoulders at the widest part, plus a few inches for comfort. Make a t-shaped slit for your neck in the center and trim a neckhole. Sew up the sides leaving arm holes. Tie at your waist and voila there you go.
The Wild Human Skirt is a classic for both men and women. I love seeing a sexy man at a Gathering with a nice wild human skirt on. So, a gathered skirt is simple, just fold over the top of the cylinder of flowy fabric you make by joining the two sides of a rectangle of cloth. And add a draw string of elastic. If you prefer a belt, add it the same way you would add cuffs to a sleeve, except you must leave an opening for a zipper or button. For a flowy A-line skirt, cut out a shape as wide at the top as you are at the widest part of your hips and as wide at the bottom as you want the hem to be. Then keep making little tucks (darts) all around with pins until it fits you. Add a facing at the waist or a cuff if you intend to wear a belt with it. I love to add lace at the bottom so its like a long petticoat, then wear a lacy lingerie top with a medicine bag, barefoot with tanned feet and natural toenails. Wild human sexiness.
Dont forget about wild human Hooded Robes, which are made from army blankets or other nice felty fabric. Fold a big piece of fabric and cut out pieces for the sleeves, hood, cowl, and body, so you have two identical pieces for each part, front and back. The length of the cowl is 2 or 3 inches less than the distance around your shoulders, but be sure it fits over your head. The body is the distance from your neck to your ankle is in length and of any width. The sleeves should measure from your armpit to your wrist with maybe a little extra. The hood can be any size and shape you like. I like a large hood that I can pull down over my eyes or around my face to block the wind or photographers. The lining can be made with an identical robe or an old shirt with patchwork additions to fit. Now, here's how you do it. Sew seams for the back on the body, cowl, and sleeves. the Hood seam is on the back of the head of it. Gather the body to the cowl, leaving slits on the sides for arm holes. Sew sleeves in the slits. Gather the hood to the cowl. Turn inside out and sew the lining at the seams. Voila, there you go, good luck.
There is lots more clothing than this that you can make yourself, like pants, mocassins, sandals, head bands. I don't have time to write it all right now, but just find something you like, observe how its made, deconstruct it in your mind, and then figure out how to copy it and do it!!!
*How to tie dye fabrics for tapestries, sheets, clothing, diapers, etc.:
If you want to use the hues of the forest, then you know the colors of the forest are ever changing. Collect bark, leaves, twigs, berries, tea leaves, coffee grounds, anything that has the colors you want. Dye cloth and your weaving yarns to their shades, for wild human color in your life. First, boil your fabric, like wool, silk, cotton, flax (manmade fibers are difficult to dye and require chemicals). Boil them in water (one gallon per pound of fabric) with alum (one or two ounces per pound). This will make the dyes set in permanently. Then, boil the vegetable matter for several hours, and strain out the vegetable matter and save the liquid for dying. Then, dip in the yarn or fabric, and stir it. Different soaking times bring about different shades of color. Also, different boiling times change the intensity, so you may get several shades of the same color.
Tie Dying is not difficult. Prepare the cloth with alum and prepare the tint. Let the cloth dry. Then bind it with string or rubber bands in various places to create a design, like a starburst. Dip the tightly tied cloth in dye and let it sit a few minutes in the dye. Then let it dry. When its dry, untie it, and tie in new places. You may dip only small places, like the ends of little sections, to give variation to the design. When its completed, and dry, iron out the wrinkles and hang it up, puff some and sit back and enjoy what you made!
*How to make candles: To make a large quantity of candles like I do, just melt all the beeswax you can get your hands on in a big drum or pot, really big if possible. Know that you may splatter wax on the oven or floor, so don't do it in the space of a neat freak or a control freak. Find or make a hoop slightly smaller than the circumference of the pot. Hang cotton wicks from it. Attach the hoop to an overhead pulleyor anchor so you can raise and lower the hoop each time you want to dip the wicks in wax. Cut off the ends when the candle gets big enough. To harden the wax, add 2 ounces of alum per pound of wax during the melting process. To prepare your wicks, use tightly braided string, dipped in vinegar and dried thoroughly. These handmade wicks actually work quite well, or buy some at the store. Candles burn brighter if you braid in some thin wire. For fancy candles, dip fresh flowers in clear wax and attach them to the wet candles. You can also braid pliable candles while the wax is still soft. Finally, you can pour wax into molds, but I don't know much about that.
For bayberry wax, just boil berries for 10 minutes. Strain them through cloth into a crock pot or something. Melt the wax in a coffee can and add the berry juice. Color it by melting in crayons of any color you like. Tie pieces of string on a branch and dip one by one until the candle looks thick enough. The candles can bend around while dipping--they dry hard, so it doesn't matter if the container isn't as tall as the candles. the cheapest wax is used candle butts from thrift stores. Use the heaviest string available.
*How to make Wild Human Candles:
To begin, melt some wax in a can over a high flame. For separate colors, use several cans and color them with wax crayons. Keep the wax liquid over a low flame. Scent with incense or essential oils.
For floating candles, pour wax on a flat surface. Form petals by pressing the flat wax up against a small candle, which is the center of the floating candle. Continue making petals until you have three or four rows.
For sand candles, form a mold by digging into wet sand. I like to fill a five gallon bucket with wet sand, and then dig a little hole in the size and shape I want. Press seashells, seaweed or whatever into the sides of the hole you dig. Tie the wick to a piece of coat hanger wire and bury the wire at the bottom of the mold. Hold the wick up with one hand and pour in the wax. Then let it dry and gently jiggle it out.
For carved candles, an old milk carton or paper cup with a hole in the bottom to drive through the wick is the mold. Seal the hole with wax before pouring in the alternate layers of colored wax. Allow each layer to dry before adding a new one. Tear off the mold when its dry, and carve with a knife. Finish the edges of carving by smoothing with a lighted match.
For agate candles, the mold is made from aluminum foil in a strange shape of your liking. Make a hole in the bottom for the wick. Seal with wax. Pour in alternate layers of colored was. Or suspend a wick like with sand candles and wait for it to harden.
For ice candles, a mold is a paper cup or milk carton. Add the wick as above. Fill with ice cubes and pour in hot wax. The ice melts and leaves cubic holes in the candle. This candle burns fast, but makes interesting shapes.
*How to make Wild Human Jewelry:
Lots of things can be soaked overnight and pierced with a needle to be strung as jewelry, such as eucalyptus pods, cloves and whole allspice. Use your imagination. These make very fragrant necklaces, good for mixing with your wild human funk while camping. Pierce cloves through the stem. These can be as long as you like, doubled over or single string. They can even go down to your knees or waist or just your neck. Limpet shells, sections of bamboo, whittled knots of wood (pierce them with a very hot nail), stones or marbles can all be bound with thread. You can also make paper mache beads, by soaking shredded newspaper in flour and water, to form into balls around nails. When they are dry, remove the nail and paint. Make beautiful wild human beads! Clay beads are also simple to make. Form little balls and pierce them with a nail. Smooth them with water, dry and fire them, or just dry if its the right kind of clay. Instead of glazing them, you can mosaic them with tiny smooth pebbles from the seashore, using epoxy glue.
*How to make Wild Human Window Art:
Fold a paper towel in quarters and then into triangular eights, like you would to cut out a snowflake. Drop spots of food coloring on the towel. Then unfold it. The colors are brilliant and the translucent towel looks very pretty with sun shining through it. Make one for every window in your wild human abode!
For splatter prints, dip an old toothbrush in poster paint and rub in over a piece of screen. The paint spray splatters onto the page of paper below. When you put something like a leaf, for example, on the page, you get a white s[ace in a leaf shape with splatter around it. Try different colors and shapes together, hang and enjoy!
*How to make a Wild Human Gods Eye: Make a cross with two sticks of equal length. Tie them together in the center, so you have an "x" that is secure. Now, take yarn or fiber of interesting color and texture, secure it to the center, and begin weaving it around the x, over and under, around and around placing the threads right beside each other and not overlapping so you build up the space all the way to the outer edge. You can switch fibers or colors by tieing one string to the next at the back of the gods eye where it wont be seen. When done, knot it to the stick where the string ends, and tie on a hanger string and hang it and enjoy!!!
In tribal solidarity,
Manitou Magwa
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North Carolina
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