Spring projects

I'm really feeling Spring in the air now!  We had rain/snow yesterday, but today the sun is out, the snow is melting, and I'm really having fun with dyeing and bowl making!  I finished this bowl the other day:

What looks like pale green is really a blue/green, but the lights bled it out.  I love the circles as an alternate way to finish it... I tacked them on in several places to hold the shape.  I will be making more like this, I think.  And I just ordered another bowl book which should be here sometime next week... it shows how to make different shapes, and I'm anxious to dive into it!
Meanwhile, I have been ice cube dyeing.  I have a show coming up in April, and wanted to replenish my shirt inventory... here's a sample:

I'm trying to add different colors to the mix, including some that maybe would appeal to guys.  And I liked how these came out so well, I decided to try the fold on a rayon circular scarf:

I love how rayon takes the dyes!  You really don't get the full effect of the pattern when it's coiled like this, but I'm doing some shirts with the same color combo, so they should look more like the shirts above but really bright and vibrant!

By the way, I recently had the ice maker hooked up, which is really nice when I'm ice dyeing... but I used them all and had to go to the local mini-mart and buy some to finish today's dye project!  Guess I'll have to stock pile a little better for future sessions...

Lots of things in the works

Quite often, I tend to work on one project at a time... seems like it's more efficient and allows me to crank out things at a faster pace.  However, once I have done my last show for the year, with no shows coming up until the middle of next year, I like to spend time experimenting with new techniques, or trying new twists on old favorites.  So here are some shots of a few things I'm working on right now:

This is a lousy photo, but the best I could get... I have traced leaf shapes onto muslin in preparation for batiking them, then I will overdye with background colors.  After I batch the piece, I will wash out and hand paint the leaf shapes with dyes.  This is a variation on the normal method I use, and I decided it would be fun to see how it turns out this way.  I'll post more as I progress with this piece.

This is a 1/2 yard piece of muslin that I decided to try dyeing a little differently than I usually do.  I would normally pre-soda soak the fabric, scrunch it up and pour the dyes over, letting it batch for an hour before the rinse/launder step.  Today, I wanted to see what would happen if I put ice cubes over the scrunched and dyed piece, thinking that the ice cubes would serve to dilute the dyes as they slowly melted.  I see a little difference between this and regular scrunch dyeing, but not a whole lot.  No fear... I have several other ideas in mind that I plan to try over the coming months.  And in February, I plan to publish them on a blog where I am a Resident Artist... keep a look out!   

Here, I have created a basket weave on a dyed scarf using soy wax, and when my order comes, I plan to use Dy-Na-Flo to overdye the unwaxed area.  I have discovered that multiple dye baths don't work on silk like they do on cotton, so I am playing with fabric paints to see if I can get a good result without leaving the fabric stiff... more on this soon!

As you may have seen in recent posts, I'm also doing a lot of stamping with fabric paints and rubber stamps, and plan to do a lot more of that as soon as the Dy-Na-Flo arrives.  I'm probably going to need to order a lot more of that... poor planning on my part, but I didn't realize that the fabric paints available in today's market are far superior to any I tried 15-20 years ago!  Progress... anyway, I'll keep you posted on my progress!

More Ice-cube dyeing

Sooo.... I've been wanting to make a jacket with some rayon fabric I bought, but have been hesitant about how to dye the fabric, and whether to dye before or after I made the jacket. I decided to test ice-cube dyeing on a rayon poncho to see how I like the results, and I'm thrilled with how it came out!

Below is a picture of the poncho after I covered it with ice cubes and sprinkled dye powders over it.

And here is the final result... almost looks like I used water colors, doesn't it?

So I have decided to sew the jacket first, then dye... I'll post pictures when I have it done.