Color experiments

Anyone who knows me (even slightly) probably knows I'm crazy for color!  Been that way as far back as I can remember!  And the brighter the better... pastels just don't do it for me!  So it should be no surprise that the experiment I did in the picture below made my pulse quicken the minute I checked on it:

I'm experimenting on cotton muslin to test some fold and dye methods, but was also trying to simulate some colors I have seen on "mudmee" tie-dyed garments, which have unusual shades of color.  My theory is that the "mudmee" colors are a result of overdyeing garments that started out black, then were discharged with a bleaching agent then overdyed.  But I have also seen some "mudmee" items that don't seem to have any black in them at all.  Today, I was experimenting with using a syringe to create lines in a circular fan-fold, and also decided to fan-fold a section, dye one side with a couple of colors, and dye the other side with other colors.  I am using a combination of Dharma Trading's Hot Pink, Lemon Yellow, and a Teal Green that I created with Turquoise and lemon yellow.  At any rate, after I had 'batched' the circular fold with just black dye, and had applied some dyes to the regular fan fold, I cut open the circular shape and just drizzled some of each color in a circular pattern and let the piece 'batch' on a rack for awhile, then opened it up.... woof!  I have only come close to the effect I got on the circular area using sharpie pens and alcohol before.  Now I know I can get similar results with dyes, and I'm excited about trying this on clothing pieces! 

I do love experimenting on fabric scraps, but the true test is how it works on shirts, so tomorrow will be my 'Dress Rehearsal'... stay tuned!

OMG!!!! Color!!!!

Have I ever mentioned how much I loved to finger paint when I was a kid? It was too exciting! Well... I never felt the same about any other art form until I started dyeing back 12+ years ago. And you would think by now that the excitement would have worn off, right? NOT! As I mentioned in a recent post, I bought a book about dye recipes, which I thought would be a nice reference in case I ever want to create a specific color. But tucked in the back of the book is examples of several dyeing techniques... most of them I have tried already in one fom or another, but today I tried one I have been wanting to experiment with for quite awhile. I laid heavy plastic on a table, then took a yard of soda-soaked fabric and flattened it over the plastic. Then I used the primary colors - Lemon Yellow, fuchsia red and Turquoise - and squirte them out randomly on the fabric. Then, being careful to rinse my gloves frequently, I smooshed the colors together to blend them. Then - and this was a sudden inspiration - I kind of crunched the fabric up and swirled it a little:

Then I added some rock salt to see if I could get any salt markings on it. I was also interested in whether the crunching/swirling would add markings. I waited about an hour, then rinsed/laundered and dried. Here is the result:

And a closeup of some of the salt markings:

I am really jazzed with the results! Needless to say, I plan to try this on clothing, and with other colors on both fabric and clothing! What a rush!