Monday, July 23, 2007

Altering Fabric

Dscn2591 I dyed this sometime last month and it has been languishing on the balcony under steel wool pads and vinegar.  I was curious what dyed fabric would look like rusted. Now I'm just too lazy to undo the plastic wrap and fool with what I anticipate will stink and be a mess.  Maybe another 3 weeks...I wonder if I need to pour more vinegar on it to "refreshen" the rusting action.  I used nearly a whole quart.



Dscn2560 This was the dyed, discharged piece that I started exercise #1 with in the back of the book Complex Cloth which now has been overdyed and stamped and looks like the picture below:



Dscn2601 I'm going to screen print beetles on it using drawing fluid and filler fluid to make the screen.  The colour for the beetles will be a very pale green (sage) or a pale yellow. I hope to get to it sometime this weekend.



Other surface altering processes I've tried have been transfer paints on a poly blend and 100% polyester fabric.  I'm also going to dye over a sample piece that I used Shiva sticks on just to see what happens. 



Last Saturday I attended a 4 hour workshop sponsored by a local art supply store.  A Jacquard rep demo'ed and answered questions about their products and then the group of 30 turned loose and played with the products.  It wasn't a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  I was able to score a package of ExtraOrganza which I have trouble finding locally and hopefully now Preston will keep a few packages in stock.  I also picked up more Tee Juice Fine Liner markers in other colours.  By far it is the smoothest fabric marker I've ever used...with the slightest hesitation in my hands there is not any bleeding whatsoever! I'm also going to try an acid dye...I'm so haunted by the richness of colour in the quilt Carol Taylor had in Form, Not Function that I will not rest until I can duplicate that intense colour.  She will be the teacher in this years Design Retreat...I might just have crash the retreat just to find out.





4 comments:

  1. Love those experiments, what depth!
    It should be interesting to see what happens after they go through the washing machine.

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  2. love that leafy fabric. Am looking forward to the beetles.

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  3. Beautiful fabric experiments! Beetles will be excellent. Maybe I'll make beetle UTEE charms next.

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  4. the ferny fabric is really pretty!

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