We have had two new projects held up by the color pick of gray hues dilemma.  How hard can it be to find seven shades of gray that gradate, comes in a fabric that works, and is available in the quantity that we need?  Turns out it is quite a feat!  And I thought red was bad!

I am letting you into our process just a bit.  First of all, the design has to be drawn.  Then colors are assigned and piece sizes are checked.  (We can only cut fabric so small before the piece turns into a pile of thread.)  Then cut lines are adjusted to compensate for the lost fabric from the laser and we are ready to choose the fabrics to cut. 

We have two new kits all designed and ready to start cutting… but the fabric!  I have personally driven many miles, ordered bolts of fabric from my swatch books that the color hue turned out to be too blue or too green.  Then I thought I had what I needed only to find out two of the fabrics are discontinued, and developed a headache.  

Another factor we consider is lighting.  The finished kits will be in people’s homes.  LED?  Natural sunlight?  Do they still have incandescent?  The color hues can change a lot with the bulb choice as well.

For one of the kits I think I am good to do a sample cut.  The other?  Not so much.  That one needs the seven gradients, and a blue tone will be okay.  The color pick is going to have to continue for that. 

Here I what I need for that one and what I have.

 

Notice the “black” (at least that is what I was going for) to the right?  It is actually very dark green color hue.  And the pewter beside it?   Also very green.  A couple of those others I need to find a currently available suitable replacement for.  

So… Be on the watch for a new kit in the next couple of weeks, and send good thoughts and prayers for the other one!   In spite of all this, I still love doing this!   And I love to see what people do with the kits!

I hope your creative day today is something YOU love!

I am adding a note well after this article was published…  September 24, 2023 to be exact.  One of those kits was the Llama kit.  The color hue is still a bit blue in places, but I had a teacher with blue hair, so I can live with that!  I have just found a line of grays that will work for the project that I showed the above chart  of.