Dyeing Silk Scarves

Had a lot of fun over the weekend dyeing two new scarves

 and over-dyeing two previously dyed ones.

 I was afraid that the darker colors would totally take over the lighter ones on this scarf below,

but that didn't happen. I enjoy working in this very free, abstract painting style. After squirting on the dyes, I gently lift the plastic a bit from each end to encourage mingling of the colors.

  Below is the finished washed and ironed scarf.

On the other new scarf  I used the arashi shibori technique, binding it to

a pvc pipe with rubber bands.  I used Lemon Yellow, Deep Orange, Turquoise and Terracotta.

 Here is the finished scarf.

The one below was previously dyed but came out very light. It was a chiffon silk, which takes the dye differently than the China silk ones above. I wanted to add more color to it.

The picture on the right shows it with all the wet dye and notice how dark it looks.

However, after curing, washing, drying, and ironing, 

it came out looking very soft and impressionistic. 

    

The scarf below was another one I tried to over-dye, but it didn't work out like I had hoped. I may try to do some stenciling with silk paints over it, to make it a little more exciting.

I'll be selling these scarves and more at the Studios on the Park in Paso Robles

 at their Handcrafted for the Holidays Show

 which opens November 21st and runs through December 28th. 

If you are local, check out their holiday show. 

Studios on the Park does a great job providing arts programming to the local schools.

 They serve over 100,00 students and visitors every year. 

They are located at 1130 Pine Street in Paso Robles, California. 

To find out more about them and their hours, etc., visit Studios on the Park

More Shibori Shenanigans

Dyed some more fabric in my blue and green series. I'm trying to get enough to create a new quilt. For that I need lots of different values of those colors.   Here's some of my new ones and a picture of my design wall with possibilities.

And last, but not least, a fun picture of my friend Phyllis and her granddaughter

having a great time dyeing shirts in my studio.

Shibori Dyeing with Friends

This is the beautiful view from my studio last night.

Below is an accordion folded Itajime piece, done on Essex Linen from Dharma Trading Co. I really like it and the hand of the fabric is perfect for showing the details.

Over the weekend, one of the members of my weekly quilting circle had her art-loving granddaughter and boyfriend visiting her. She asked if they could all come over and dye a shirt. So here they are below working on their projects.

Love the intense concentration from Cameron as she's applying the dyes. Her boyfriend seemed to have a good time dyeing his first shirt ever. He was glad to find out why those kind of designs on shirts are called '"Tie Dye."  It was quite the ah-ha moment for him.

Below is another picture of the cute couple.  

Can't wait to see how their shirts turned out.

New Itajime and Arashi Shibori Fabrics and Shirt

Here are some new dyed fabrics and a shirt I made 

 with a fun group of women, part of the Sew Whatz group,  in the studio barn on Saturday.

This is a T-Shirt I over-dyed using the Arashi Shibori technique. It had been previously ice-dyed but needed another layer of pattern to tie it all together into a more cohesive design.

This is an example of the honeycomb technique.

To learn more about that technique, see my post previous to this one. 

I like the water-like texture in these honeycomb pieces.

I used hexagon shaped tiles to create this clamped resist piece shown above.

I think it resembles glowing bugs with long antennae and legs.

Above is an example of stitched resist know as Komasu Shibori.

The one above is folded just like the stitched one above it, 

but you use only rubber bands

 to create the patterns.  I like it quite a bit and it's easier.

For the one above I used two balsa wood cut outs of a maple leaf  I bought at Michaels, clamped together with fabric in-between them. 

The piece above was accordion folded and held together with rubber bands. 

It's done on linen.

Honeycomb Shibori Technique Revisited

A couple days ago, I did some experimenting with variables
 in regards to the Honeycomb shibori technique. 

 I used three different cords with which to wrap the fabric. I also wrapped each one in three different ways. The one furthest on the left was folded in half and wrapped diagonally around a half inch nylon diameter cord, the middle one was wrapped around a 1/4 inch diameter cord and the one on the right was wrapped leaving about three inches on the outside. It was done on a pastel fabric,
using  a 1/2 inch jute diameter cord.

So yesterday was the big unveiling. I really love unwrapping 'batched' fabrics

 and seeing how the dyes and techniques turned out. It's almost like Christmas!

Below is the one furthest to the left in photo above.  I like how this one turned. out.
 I used Robin's Egg, Cerulean, Dragonfruit and Plum.

This is the middle one from the top photo. I'm pleased with this one too.

  I used Turquoise, Cobalt and Raven Black.

This is the one on the right in the top photo, done on a commercial pastel fabric, 

with some fabric hanging outside of the loop. It was

too pale for me. I had used Chartreuse and Emerald Green on it. I decided to re-dye it.

 So I re-tied it using the honeycomb method again and 

added some cerulean to it.  The picture below shows the improved one.

I had lots of fun experimenting with this technique, and it should be helpful

 in predicting outcomes in the future. 

Sun Printing Again

Did some sun printing a few days ago, using plant material from the yard, 

large washers, an electric stove element, etc.

Below is the reverse side of this blue piece. The foam core on which I pinned the fabric had wrinkled plastic affected the texture on the print. Can't decide which side I like best.

On the piece below I just spattered the paint and scrunched it up to get an over all design.

Wisconsin and Michigan Trip

     Just returned from a two week trip to Michigan and Wisconsin. It was really great to see family and friends. I flew into Detroit to see family there, then onto Bellevue to check out my brother's hydroelectric powered mill which generates electricity for about forty homes in town.

I visited the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, where my niece lives. I was pleasantly surprised at some of the world-class art they had on their walls for such a small town.

Above is one of Deborah Butterfield's Horse Sculptures from the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Her work is amazing to see in person. She builds these sculptures from branches, then takes them apart and casts them in bronze and reassembles them. 

Here's a quilt I liked from an exhibit there.

Above are two pictures of beautiful Lake Ishnala, where my sister and brother-in-law, who live in Madison, Wisconsin, took me for a scrumptious dinner at the supper club there. 

So green and peaceful.

Then it was on to Milwaukee, where I was born and raised.

Here I am with Carole, who has been my friend since 4th grade. We had a wonderful time going to all sorts of fun places in Milwaukee. The picture above and the two below were taken at the Boerner Botanical Gardens.

Here I am with Carole and my sister, Anne in the historic third ward neighborhood, which as been turned into a very hip, fun place go to eat or shop.

 We took the free 'Hop' streetcar from the east side of Milwaukee to there.

Above is the new Milwaukee Arena. It has helped to revitalize the downtown Milwaukee area.

It was great seeing all my friends and family, but it's also great to be back home.