Whiffle Balls Meet Indigo!

I'm having fun with whiffle balls again... this time I dipped the whole mass into the indigo vat! Gotta love this fun design and color! 

Just for fun I wrapped a piece of cotton around an old pool hose in the below picture. There seem to be separate strips of colors and designs. I'll add another type of surface design because it doesn't feel finished yet but it's off to a fun start!

Have you tried dyeing or painting with whiffle balls yet?! 

Whiffle Balls + Fabric Paint + Dye!

Do you remember playing with a bat and whiffle ball as a kid? It's a light weight plastic ball with holes in it. The original design was created by a Dad in Shelton, Ct - where I happen to live! I'm sure he had no idea the balls were also perfect for creating fun designs and textures on fabric! 

I began by randomly placing the whiffle balls in the damp cotton fabric 
and securing them with rubber bands.

For this piece I painted with dyes. Dyes can be applied with a brush just like fabric paint so why not go for it! The colors collect and mingle in the folds of the fabric creating those darker colors.  

This piece was painted with fabric paint and left to dry in the sun. Be sure the fabric is damp to encourage the paints to spread into all the folds. 

Here is a detail of a painted piece. You can see how the paint dries at intermittent times creating fun wiggly lines! 

As I recall the balls in this piece were spaced a little further apart than the ones in the first picture. This created more individual shapes.. give the technique a try and let me know how your whiffle ball piece comes out!