Kate Themel and my Iced Dyed Fabric!

Kate Themel

Kate Themel is a fiber artist whose work I love and admire. Her designs are distinctive and breath taking! I am SO excited that she's incorporating a piece of my iced dyed fabric into her latest work. It's such a thrill to see how another artist will use the fabric and I can't wait to see how her piece comes together. If you aren't familiar with Kate's work please be sure check out  her blog, website or Facebook page!

Painting on Fabric - Under the Sea Series

I've switched gears from paint and wax to paint and whatever else I can find! My son's friend, Sarah, is having a once in a lifetime experience off the coast of Colombia. You can follow her adventures at Wool Gathering By Day. The photos Sarah has been sharing of her dives is a real treat and I'd love to create a series of fabric inspired by the marvelous colors, shapes and shadows of life under the sea!

I have two one yard pieces completed just to get the create energy flowing. There is soooo much more going on in my head and as fate would have it my next roll of 30+ yards of PFD fabric is scheduled to be delivered today - just in time for the weekend!

 

The color combinations may not "read" under the sea to everyone but it's what I was feeling at the time and I find the combination soothing.

Hand painted using translucent Setacolor paints
and salt for movement

Detail

Hand painted using translucent Setacolor paints.
Once the paint dried I crinkled the fabric, misted with water
and using a 2" brush I hit the tops of the crinkles with additional paint

Detail

Brick Fabric

Last weekend I had an opportunity to visit with my nephew and his girlfriend who live in DC. We had wonderful warm sunshine for exploring the city! I typically spend the majority of my time in more rural settings so I was fastened with the urban vibe and feel of the city. I took a gazillion photos of ivy, gates, sidewalks and doorways! I particularly loved the patterns in the brick walks in front of the homes. When I came home I created some fabric keeping the brick in mind.

I started by painting some PFD cotton using varies reds, browns and a few bits of green and white. Next I cut sponges to emulate two sizes of bricks. Using melted soy wax I sponged a brick pattern across the fabric. Next I mixed some screen inks to resemble the color of mortar and applied to the fabric. I left the piece alone for 24 hours and came back to iron off the wax. I washed the fabric, gave it a final iron and here are the results. I started another piece and will try to focus on a more specific pattern in the bricks... it's fun to try to emulate a texture!

Exploring Found Objects for Snow Dyeing!

I'm on the hunt for found objects I can tie into fabric to create unusual designs. I want to keep snow dyeing because it's easier to cover the lumpy fabric with snow than ice cubes and I just love... love the unexpected results that occur with melting.

 

I have many smooth stones around that could be interesting...

Maybe bottle tops?



 

 

 Smokey... nooooo... just kidding... she hates being cold and wet!

 

I went with another attempt using recycled containers. I discovered that I enjoy working with 2 yard pieces of fabric verse my typical 1 yard and the larger containers lend itself to a quick design. I wasn't excited about the placement of the circles in this finished piece. I've got something in my head I'm trying to create so it's back to the snow pile for another attempt! I'm going for a meandering look and this one reads more uniform.

I added some whiffle balls along with the containers to fill in some "empty" spots.

As a reminder I used recycled yogurt and cottage cheese containers to create the circles.

 

 

 

 

 

Snow Dyeing with Found Objects - Round 2!

In my house we eat an enormous amount of yogurt and cottage cheese. I'm never quite ready to toss the containers into the recycle bin thinking they would be great vessels for all kinds of projects... but what projects?!

Since I'm in my snow dyeing craze I thought I'd incorporate the containers to help manipulate the dye as the snow melted. Because the containers were on the large size I used a 2 yard piece of cotton for the experiment. As always I started by soaking the fabric in a solution of soda ash and water before beginning the dye process. This helps the dye to effectively adhere to the cotton.

Tying off the fabric with rubber bands

 

The containers were quite tall so I needed a tub big enough to cover the fabric with snow and deep enough to catch the liquid once the snow melted.

 

 

 It's not a pretty sight right now but I have faith in the process... and my fingers are crossed! Can you see the containers peeking out near the bottom?

 

 Here is the end result. It's difficult to tell in this photo but with such a large piece of fabric the circles are 20" in diameter. It's quite striking when hanging on my design wall. I may have found a new love and will create larger pieces of fabric moving forward.

 

I'm defiantly going to give this experiment some more attention. For a smaller version using individual sized yogurt containers might create a nice effect.

Snow Dyeing with Found Objects!

I'm now in a panic as the temperatures start to reach the 40's  because the snow banks are getting smaller. I need to utilize the snow while it's here to have a big 'ole stash of snow dyed fabrics to get me through the warmer seasons!

I had some questions from my last post on exactly what a whiffle ball is! The best way to describe it is a plastic ball with open slots that allows the air to rush through when it's hit or thrown. It comes with a whiffle bat which is also made of plastic and can be played in a small space. My boys had a bunch laying around from days gone by and dyeing gives them new life! I should contact the company to tell them what wacky thing is going on with their product!

 In a quest for unusual dyeing practices I looked around for other found objects to dye with and came up with some winners! I used three or four unusual objects and will post the results over the next few days.

First up are thin bottles more typically used with a tip

to squeeze or squirt dye onto fabric!

The fabric was pre-soaked in a soda ash and water solution before

tying off the bottles with rubber bands.

 

Next I found a pail that would accommodate the height of the bottles

and still hold the snow.   

 

 

 I covered the bottles with fresh snow and sprinkled dye powder across the surface. I let the pail sit for 24 hours before rinsing and washing the fabric.

 

 

Here are the results!

An interesting mix of colors for sure - now that I have a better understanding for how the bottles and snow react I'll try it again with different color combinations!

 

 

Detail