Sunday 9 June 2013

Dyeing to decolour

Over the Open Studios weekend I used Procion MX Aubergine on PFD (prepared for dyeing) white cotton (220 thread count) and left the eight pieces in the the dye bath for the day. Later,  I mixed another teaspoon of the dye  with a little chemical water and dribbled it into the dye bucket. This last addition was not mixed very well - I was hoping to create a stellar like impact where undissolved dye made contact with the fabric pieces.

Day 2 afternoon and the fabrics were washed then "batched" before washing, drying and finally ironing / pressing.


This weekend, I've used the silky oak leaf( previously used for printing) and gently painted it with de-colourant. Once printed onto the fabric the piece was left to dry before steam pressing. The leaf appears to float over the  fabric. The finished piece is being free motion quilted using Bottom Line (grey) both top and bottom!



4 comments:

Judy George said...

wow squared

Margaret said...

"Wow" indeed...and what, pray tell, is "A little chemical water"? ;-)

Unknown said...

Margaret - it's a solution of water, soda ash and salt - and I soak the fabric to be dyed in it for a minimum time (counted in hours)- the soda ash helps the dye attach to the fabric if we're talking at the molecular level - there is a limit to how much dye will be taken up but I wasn't in a hurry last week ...

chris said...

Looks great Ali - glad to see you in the studio & at the sewing machine!