Monday, June 28, 2010

More class pictures

I just received photos from one of the students who took the class on Saturday.
This is Sylvia's "Happy Accident", where she chose a resist method and used up her leftover dyes from the previous exercises.
This picture shows Yewah's results from all 4 exercises: Top is the solid color, Second row left is the 2-color crossover, middle is the 3-layer parfait, and right is the "Happy Accidents".
We asked the participants to complete a post-class survey, and so far the results are very positive, and I'm pretty sure we will be doing this class again, along with some others we are thinking of! Considering I have never thought of teaching as something I would be interested in doing, I did enjoy watching the students get their first exposure to dyeing, and I am glad to have finally given this a try!
Stay tuned for more pix as they come in...

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Dyeing class

Today was the Dyeing class that I taught with my friend Wendy. We had 11 students, and we taught them the basics of dyeing with procion mx dyes on cotton fabric. The first exercise was simply to mix dye in one of the 3 primary colors and dye a 1/2 yard piece of fabric a solid color.

Here are the dyed, bagged fabrics batching in the sun.

Next was the parfait dyeing, where we created a series of 3 pieces of fabric in dark, medium and light values of one color.

Wendy is showing off two 3-color parfait dyes she did last summer.
Next, we did a 2-color crossover with 5 1/2-yard pieces of fabric.

Foreground is one of the student's crossover fabrics, going from yellow to fuchsia.
Finally, I got a shot of the class holding up their fabrics from the first exercise:

Hopefully, I will get pix from the students that I can post to show you how their other exercises turned out.
The last exercise was called 'happy accidents' and I gave them samples of several tied, folded or scrunched patterns to try so they could use up their leftover dyes... can't wait to see how they turned out! Stay tuned...

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Samples for next week's class

I think I've mentioned before that I am teaching a class in gradation dyeing on the 26th, with my pal Wendy, Art Quilter extraordinaire. We have about 10 students signed up, mostly from our Quilters' Guild. The first 3 exercises we will be teaching are solid color dyeing, one color gradation, then two color gradation. Since there is almost always leftover dye, the fourth exercise will be 'Happy Accidents', where the students will be using up the leftovers with no clear idea of what the result will be. Our first thought was to just have them pour the dyes over a 'scrunched' piece of fabric, but then we decided to offer instruction on one of a few 'tied' samples, so I dyed 4 samples today to show them. All but one can be accomplished with just rubber bands... the first uses can lids as well. Here they are:



Now I'm all hot to do these same things on clothing... of course, the designs won't be as crisp on jersey as they are on woven cotton, but they still come out looking pretty neat... sometimes I get so caught up in one particular technique that I forget there are others!!! Anyway, stay tuned, 'cause I will be posting pix of the class and the student pieces after next Saturday's class... can't wait!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Two more ponchos

I finished another two today! The first is made of fabric I recently acquired that had a white background and a screened design in black. I overdyed with Hot Pink:





I love the combination of the Hot Pink with the design... the only 'drawback' with this one is the fabric is a little stiffer than the rayon or crinkle cloth, but I think it's still a winner!


The other one is made of cotton gauze crinkle cloth I have had for awhile. I ended up putting this through 3 dye batches: hot pink in a scrunch, then tied the 'Novas' design and overdyed with Bubble gum pink, Light Fuchsia and Claret, then tied again in new spots and overdyed with Maroon and Burgundy. I'm pleased with the results:

The crinkle cloth is a soft, loose-woven fabric which drapes really well. Both of these are available at my online store www.tiedyejudy.artfire.com.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Another Poncho

I recently added a Rayon Fringed poncho to my product line. I really like the item, but the undyed blank is a little pricey. I'm always looking for ways to keep my costs down, and when I looked at this item, I decided it would be worth trying to make them myself. I am not a super-duper seamstress, but simple patterns are something I can do. So.... I had some cotton crinkle cloth in my stash and decided to try my hand at making these ponchos. No, I didn't fringe it, but I don't really think it needs fringe to be attractive. Here's a look:

I posted a picture on my facebook group and I already have inquiries about them! Guess this could prove to be a winner!



Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Overdyed printed fabric

Last week, our Quilters' Guild had a supply sale and live auction to raise funds for the guild. For $10.00, we got a grocery bag and got to fill it with whatever would fit in it... not bad! The first thing that caught my eye was a 4 yard piece of cotton with a design printed on it in black. My first thought was: "wow! I could dye that!". And so I stuffed it into my bag, and yesterday decided to test a fat quarter to see how it would look. Here is the 'before/after' shot:

Needless to say, I plan to make something really yummy out of this fabric! Just wish I could get my hands on more, but there is no maker label on the selvedge, so I'm going to have to be satisfied with what I got. On the other hand, I could do some screens and make my own for future projects... Yeah!