Over-dyeing T-Shirts and Fabric

Here are  pictures of the two T-Shirts and one fabric that I over-dyed yesterday.

Here's the shirt after it's first shibori dyeing last February.  It definitely needed something more.

So I accordion folded it lengthwise (after soaking it in soda ash for 15 minutes), securing it with rubber bands and string wound tightly.  I then placed it in a plastic box and squirted black  dye on it. After it batched for 24 hours, rinsed it out and voila!  I think it looks a lot better. It's  a nice weight, not too thin, Hanes Extra Large shirt.  It's for sale for $20.  Let me know if you are interested.

Below is the before picture of this Lands End 2X shirt.

 Here's the shirt again with a closeup below, after doing arashi shibori using Cerulean Blue dye.  This one is more subtle, with some very nice nuances of colors.  It's also $20 and for sale.

The last piece I did yesterday was to over-dye an ice-dyed piece.

I accordion folded this piece, fitting it snugly into a box and used black mixed with some fuchsia squirted sparingly on it.  I think it's more exciting now, due to the  contrast, but I also liked the mood of it when it was quieter. 

Garden Update and Over-dyeing

This is my 101st post.  Can't believe it!  Seems like yesterday when I started this. Thank you to all my lovely readers.

Did some over-dyeing of T-shirts and fabric today, that needed an extra punch.  Will have pictures of them tomorrow after they batch for 24 hours.

Meanwhile, I've been very busy keeping up with all the vegetables in the garden.

Above are the beets, which taste great, especially with the lemon boy tomatoes and a little goat cheese.

 Here are the squash and cucumbers.  Today, I made Gerkensalat, a German cucumber salad my mom used to make with onion, vinegar, and a little sugar.  So refreshing!

The cute little pepper plant.

A variety of lettuce, rainbow chard, basil and mint for those mojitos

One of the Lemon Boy tomato plants with lots of tomatoes

Sunflower getting ready to bloom.  I really like how the light shines through the leaves and their wonderful edges.

Controlled Burn Accepted into San Luis Obispo's Dimensions Show

I received  news yesterday that "Controlled Burn" was accepted into the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art's  Dimensions Show,  which will feature a variety of mediums, including wood, glass, metals, clay, fiber, etc.  The show will run from September 5th through October 12th, with an opening reception September 5th.  I feel very honored and excited.  Here's a picture of "Controlled Burn."

This was a shibori piece that I felt turned out well.  I first dyed the center piece yellow green and then did the arashi shibori in red over it.  I love the little bits of turquoise that show through here and there.

Round Three: The Fabric That Wasn't Meant to Be

After  making a new silkscreen design that didn't work due to my thermofax machine not working  correctly, I've come to the conclusion that this fabric is  not to be.  I need to send my machine off to someone who knows how to fix them.  The heat is not consistent and the image is not getting burned all the way through.  So in screening, a little ink comes through here and there, like a dot to dot drawing.  Does anyone have any suggestions on who to send it to?

Yesterday I took the day off and went kayaking with friends in Morro Bay.  We had a great time and a lovely lunch spent catching up with each other.

After lunch I stopped at the Cotton Ball in Morro Bay and found a fabric pretty similar to the one I was trying to create. So, on with the quilt.  Will revisit my blue fabric at a later time and do something with it.

On the way home, I stopped to take pics of these very cool rusty trucks.  Rusty trucks seem to be featured in a lot of artwork these days.  There's just something about them.  Some rust designs have such beautiful metal patinas caused by the oxidation of the metal. It will be fun  to play around with these in photoshop and see what I can get.

Round Two: Discharging Design onto Fabric

I unwrapped the arashi shibori fabric yesterday and was surprised that it was all blue.  I believe I used too much dye.  One thing this did prove was that procion dyes can last over a year, as long as they are kept refrigerated and no soda ash has been added to it.  I had this dye in a small refrigerator in the barn for over a year and a half.

So I decided to wash it out thoroughly and try using discharge paste to create some white patterns.  I silk-screened a design onto the cerulean blue fabric.

Below is the discharged piece drying on the line yesterday evening.

Here is a closeup of the pattern.

Today I steam ironed the fabric, like you are suppose to do, and it turned a very light blue  where the discharge paste had been applied.  I had hope for it to be more white, but know you don't always get all the way back to white.  Next, I rinsed it in soapy water, and hung it to dry.  I was very disappointed to see that as it dried ALL the pattern disappeared.  I don't know why that happened.  I have used the paste before with great results.  I have emailed Jacquard Products to ask them 

what they think went wrong. 

Meanwhile, I am gearing up for Round Three to create pattern on this piece.  I am going to try blockprinting or silkscreening white paint  on it in some kind of wave design.  Wish me luck! 

A good day for Arashi Shibori

Our house is finally getting back to normal.  All the holes have been drywalled and all but one wall repainted.  Today I relaxed, sat around, read two Sunday newspapers cover to cover, always a delight, and found time to create two arashi shibori pieces.  I am making a quilt for my nephew and his new wife and thought some blue arashi shibori fabric would go well with the ocean themed quilt that I'm making for them.

Here is the quilt  on my design wall so far.

Here is the fabric, which has been pre-soaked and dried, 

then wrapped around a pvc pole, awaiting dye.

Here it is with the dye applied.  I made two 1/2 yard pieces, one where I applied the dye while fabric was wet, and the other one with dry fabric.  My dye was a bit old, so we'll find out tomorrow how they turned out.  Stayed tuned!

New Prayer Flag

Only had time this week to make a little prayer flag for yet another friend who's life has been changed by cancer.  It seems everywhere one turns someone is suffering from the insidious disease or their loved one is.

The center fabric is an ice-dyed one.  Then I stamped the dragonfly, swirls and stars on it.  Next, I sewed it to the background fabric using a star stitch found on my sewing machine that I didn't even realize I had.  I also didn't realize that it's not very straight on the right side. Guess, I'll call that my trail spirit.