Saturday, February 27, 2010

More shibori experiments

Here is a sampler I finished this morning testing stitched designs on silk broadcloth:

there are 4 stitch designs here - 2 that I have used in my tie-dye clothing, the other 2 are new or variations on one I have used before. Silk is thinner than cotton, and there is a little adjustment needed to take that into consideration. But I am glad I am breaking into silk... I can see a lot of potential for making some yummy scarves soon!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Fabric Dyeing

I have a friend who sews professionally, and she recently started making 'Eye Bags', which are filled with flax seed and are designed to be used to releive headaches by freezing the bag and placing over the eyes. She has several massage and physical therapists who are ordering them from her, and she wanted to have me dye some fabric for her to use. Her request was that the fabric be in soft, muted colors that would be relaxing to look at. I dyed 5 yards up yesterday, using Orchid, Lilac and Sage Green in a scrunch pattern. Here is a picture of part of the fabric:

This is more muted than I would normally do for my own use, but I sent her a picture and she loves it! Another satisfied customer...

Monday, February 22, 2010

Cotton shibori experiment


I decided to try what I have learned so far from Glennis Dolce's shibori class on cotton, which is the fabric I usually dye. And I used some procion mx dyes I had mixed up from a previous project. I used 2 pieces of lightweight plywood that are approximately 3" x 7", a metal 'c' clamp, and a spring clamp to ceate the dye resist. I know... should have taken pictures! I promise to do that next time. I used Robin's Egg blue, Orchid, and I think Lilac, to dye the design. The process involves folding a square into a triangle shape, then positioning the resists on the top and bottom parallel to each other, then clamping to form a snug resist. I presoaked the folded piece in soda ash, pressed out the excess solution with my hands, then positioned the resist. I first used the Robin's Egg blue, then pressed out the excess, removed and repositioned the resist boards and clamps, then overdyed with Orchid, then repeated the process for the Lilac. Then I removed the resists and 'batched in a covered container overnight. This morning I rinsed/washed using cold water and a drop of synthrapol for the initial rinse, then washed with hot water and synthrapol. I think I will try colors with more contrast next time to see if I can get a crisper design, but I'm pleased at how this came out. I have not tried repositioning the resists in this way before, and it does add a lot to the overall design. I would like to be able to accomplish this on shirts, but I can see that I will need to use super thin fabric and really think through the process if I want to have it come out well.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

On-line Shibori class

Wow! I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since my last blog post! Time has been flying lately! I finished up a wholesale tie-dye order and got it in the mail last week, then cleaned house (at last!), then started a new class on joggles.com. Glennis Dolce is teaching shibori techniques on silk using Colorhue dyes. I have never used these dyes before, and they are very user friendly. And although I have dabbled in shibori techniques over the past several years, I am looking forward to learning better ways to create beautiful designs using Glennis' methods. Here are pictures of a few pieces I did today:

The first photo above is of 3 inch strips of silk noil, which is a thick, nubby silk. The other two are 12 inch squares of silk habotai. As for the Colorhue dyes, they are liquid concentrates, and you add to water by dropping several drops in and stirring, then either use on undyed silks as a dye bath to add some color, or in the case of the folded squares, I swished the exposed, unclamped areas in dye, then unclamped, repositioned the resist items, reclamped, then swished in another color to create the design. I have used tin can lids before, and one time I tried the wood pieces, but I really like the 'mandala' effect I got when I changed the position of the squares and overdyed with another color. I have ordered some laser cut plexiglass shapes from a shop on etsy: http://etsy.com/shop/r0ssie. She markets them as itajime supplies, and I think they are quite reasonably priced. I can't wait to get them so I can really get into more of this! Meanwhile, I just have to experiment with my regular procion mx dyes and cotton or silk soon, just to see how they come out. I'll post more pictures as I go along.