Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Natural Dye Journal
Found this blog in my web-wanderings todayNatural Dye Journal. Check out her studio!!
They worked!!!!!!!!!
These are the scarves that I worked on on the weekend. A good result at last!!
And my theory that I mentioned yesterday worked! The two on the bottom row, on the left, are the ones that I put into a turquoise dye yesterday. The middle bottom one, really proves my theory. The pink spots in the middle were dyed in the first dyeing, and have kept their colour. They weren't masked at all, so the only answer is that the fibres can't react with anymore dye and thus keep their colour. The one on the left (bottom) had some lighter pink/purple sections, and those took a bit more dye, making them more purple, which still looks fine.
At last something worked as planned!!
And my theory that I mentioned yesterday worked! The two on the bottom row, on the left, are the ones that I put into a turquoise dye yesterday. The middle bottom one, really proves my theory. The pink spots in the middle were dyed in the first dyeing, and have kept their colour. They weren't masked at all, so the only answer is that the fibres can't react with anymore dye and thus keep their colour. The one on the left (bottom) had some lighter pink/purple sections, and those took a bit more dye, making them more purple, which still looks fine.
At last something worked as planned!!
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Sorry, no pics yet...
But I have put two of the scarves that had too much white into a turquoise dye this morning. I'm working on the theory of my unsuccessful dye day - that the fine silk can only react with so much dye.
I figure that the coloured areas should be fully (or mostly) reacted, and that only the white or lighter areas will take the dye. We'll see how it goes.... If that's not the case, it really won't matter, because I've already used turquoise in the original dyeing, and it goes with all the colours already on the cloth. So the worst that could happen is a pretty purple (blue + pink = purple).
I won't know till I get home from work, so I'll update you all tomorrow.
I figure that the coloured areas should be fully (or mostly) reacted, and that only the white or lighter areas will take the dye. We'll see how it goes.... If that's not the case, it really won't matter, because I've already used turquoise in the original dyeing, and it goes with all the colours already on the cloth. So the worst that could happen is a pretty purple (blue + pink = purple).
I won't know till I get home from work, so I'll update you all tomorrow.
Monday, April 11, 2005
A successful dyeing day again!!!!!!!!!
After the previous weekend's disaster, I had another go at dyeing this weekend just gone. My batik peices are still sitting there half finished, and will do so until I work out how I can get them to work.
In the meantime however, I did a bit of tying and dyeing and was very pleased. I used 4 colours, Turquoise, Magenta, Aqua, and Purple, and not have 6 scarves which IMHO are all great!! There is one (maybe 2) that I am considering overdying with turquoise to fill in some of the white spaces, but that's it. I'll take pics tomorrow when I've ironed, washed, and ironed them again (don't want them leaching any colour out on their new owners)
In other news, I have been knitting. I know, not the most interesting of past-times, but I have a market for knitted scarves, so I'm catering for it. I sent off 4 last week, and have made 3 and 1/2 over the weekend. Will try and finish the 1/2 and get another done and send this batch, and some of the dyed scarves by Wednesday.
In the meantime however, I did a bit of tying and dyeing and was very pleased. I used 4 colours, Turquoise, Magenta, Aqua, and Purple, and not have 6 scarves which IMHO are all great!! There is one (maybe 2) that I am considering overdying with turquoise to fill in some of the white spaces, but that's it. I'll take pics tomorrow when I've ironed, washed, and ironed them again (don't want them leaching any colour out on their new owners)
In other news, I have been knitting. I know, not the most interesting of past-times, but I have a market for knitted scarves, so I'm catering for it. I sent off 4 last week, and have made 3 and 1/2 over the weekend. Will try and finish the 1/2 and get another done and send this batch, and some of the dyed scarves by Wednesday.
Monday, April 04, 2005
An unsuccessful dyeing day
I had anticipated finishing my latest batch of batik scarves over the weekend, however of the dozen that I dyed, I'm happy with only 2!
The second colour didn't take over any of the other colours, except the yellow. I tried to do a dark black/navy over some blue/red colours, and a brown/olive over the greenish colours, but alas I still have the original colours.
Perhaps its an issue with the dyes I'm using. I use Procion MX dyes which are fibre reactive. Maybe the problem is that the fibres have reacted with the dye during the first dipping, and then are resistant to colour after that?
When I did the batik workshop last year, I used Napthol dyes, but have been hesitant about purchasing a whole new batch of dye stuffs, and they were a little more complicated - but gave some fabulous colours.
I've been pouring over Ruth Issett's book, Colour on Cloth lately, which has some great techniques which I've been having a go at. I might give some of her suggestions for resist dyeing a go. The other thing that I might try is painting/printing rather than resists.
Of course all of this will have to wait until payday so that I can purchase some more scarves. Although, maybe I might try some of these ideas on calico (Muslin) first - however calico does seem to react differently.
The second colour didn't take over any of the other colours, except the yellow. I tried to do a dark black/navy over some blue/red colours, and a brown/olive over the greenish colours, but alas I still have the original colours.
Perhaps its an issue with the dyes I'm using. I use Procion MX dyes which are fibre reactive. Maybe the problem is that the fibres have reacted with the dye during the first dipping, and then are resistant to colour after that?
When I did the batik workshop last year, I used Napthol dyes, but have been hesitant about purchasing a whole new batch of dye stuffs, and they were a little more complicated - but gave some fabulous colours.
I've been pouring over Ruth Issett's book, Colour on Cloth lately, which has some great techniques which I've been having a go at. I might give some of her suggestions for resist dyeing a go. The other thing that I might try is painting/printing rather than resists.
Of course all of this will have to wait until payday so that I can purchase some more scarves. Although, maybe I might try some of these ideas on calico (Muslin) first - however calico does seem to react differently.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Close up
This is a better pic of the one in the bottom left hand corner. It has a chenille thread through it that give the scarf a crumpled look. You can iron it flat, but I quite like it this way
rust selection 1
These are my rust scarves all finished and layed out. The ones that I've crossed out are unavailabe. The rest however are all for sale. The bottom line are $35AU and the rest are $25AU.
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