This is another piece in the group of birds I'm going to be
working on. I seriously love how my hand-dyes look with these birds even if I
do say so myself (this one is a disperse dye).
I was planning on talking about how the greater woodpecker
piece I'm currently working on (it's in a state of flux currently because as I add
more and more hand stitch I'm realizing that it's beginning to overwhelm the
bird – which is the focus after all!) So I'm going to remove a lot of what I've
done and pare back the stitching to something that's more subtle. But I need to have a think about it first.
And
that's all I've got to say about that, really. lol
So let's talk about dyeing.
Over the years, I have done a LOT of dyeing, manipulation
with paint and other forms of surface design. I've done shibori dyeing, tie dyeing, ice
dyeing, rust dyeing, snow dyeing, shaving cream dyeing, marbling, acrylic inks, ice cube dyeing, smoking fabric, burning fabric, eco print, procion MX dyeing (I used Melody Johnson's "lazy dyer method"
after trying some others), screen printing, thermofax; I used resists, transfers, wax, oh, I don't know
what all. I was both a contributor and followed "And Then We Set It On
Fire", so I tried a LOT of stuff. Like every textile artist, I'm all about the textiles, and as I'm hands on, I collected books, magazines, blog posts and tutorials about surface design, and I tried almost all of it. lol
But the fabric I use almost exclusively, is one of three
things.
- 1 Fabric that I have hand painted;
- 2 Fabric that I have disperse dyed; and
- 3 "Wiping cloth" fabric.
In these bird pieces it's all disperse dyed. I have
discovered that I like the control of disperse dyeing and the lack of mess,
it's much more economical than procion MX dyeing, and I think (although I have no
proof) that it's better for the environment. It uses about 99% less water, I
can use the papers over and over again – sometimes even years later, and virtually
none of the chemicals in the dyes will get into our groundwater. Note: although everyone says to use disperse dyes on polyester only (and it's true that that's how you get that wondrous glow); I use it mostly on cotton, rayon and silk.
If you've been with
me for a long time, you may remember my painted papers (which I continue to use
in a lot of my art – ten years on, it seems my concerns about colour fastness
were unwarranted!). If you're relatively new, long ago in a land far away, when
I was painting my fabrics, I wiped my brushes on paper towels. At some point, I actually looked at the paper
towel and discovered that it had made the paper towel quite beautiful. I did
some further experiments and discovered that if I dampened or even wet the
paper towel as I was wiping, it made it even more beautiful! (See example below)
(I can't remember what I called this one and I sold it a few years back. But I made it between 2010 and 2012 I think, this was one of the original wiping paper towels, on which I had wiped my paint brushes as I painted my fabric and dabbed up messes/puddles on my table)
Although I did that for a couple of years (and consequently
still have hundreds of painted paper towels in my stash) I decided at some
point to just wipe the paint on plain unbleached cotton muslin (I always have a
bolt or two of that in my studio); or on scraps of white cloth.
These are some
of my favourite "dyed" cloths to work with now. I like them because
like the paper towels it uses up paint whose chemicals would otherwise
eventually get into our groundwater, but unlike the paper towels, doesn't
require cutting down trees. Producing the fabric of course effects other ills
on our environment, but you all know how I feel about TREES. (<3 all the
hearts.<3)
Anyway, I don't think I'll ever use the procion MX dyes
again, and I have quite a bit left. Eventually, I'll destash them.
So, in conclusion: DIPSERSE DYEING.
YAY!
Lol
Kit
Posts
Such great information in this post. Yes, I raised my eyebrows when you mentioned disperse dyeing because about all I know about it is its use on polyester and I really don't go there with my textile art. Good to know it WILL work on other fabric, even if not with exactly the same result. Kinda like dyeing silk in procion dyes instead of the recommended silk dyes followed by steaming. I can't be bothered with the later process even though you don't get the same bright rich colors the "quicker" way.
ReplyDeleteI was trying to remember why I'd started following your blog and with your mention of the Then We Set It On Fire blog, I'm guessing that may be where I discovered you. I'd say you've pretty much tried it all! And as soon as I say that, you may discover something else untried to play with. ;-)