Sun Dyeing

When a friend wrote and asked which products I had used for sun dyeing, I didn't know. I'm not very good at recording my experiments. (note to self, remember that when it comes time for New Year resolutions) So I decided to try out some sun dyeing and take photos of what I use.

These are the three paints (two paints, one dye, all acrylics) I used on some plain white cotton. They are all very old fabric paints/dye, probably from the early 90's. I diluted them and spread them around my fabric. Then I spilled my water container all over the table and fabric, so the fabric was super wet.

I scrunched the fabric in a few places, and laid pine needles, and various leaves on its surface. After just over an hour in the afternoon sun it was dry. I carefully pulled the leaves off, unscrunched it, and gave it a press. I was pleased with the results. The photos are taken from the same angle so you can see what made which design.

The very clear leaf designs came from fresh camomile leaves that adhered very securely to the wet fabric. The more blurry designs came from dried leaves that simply sat on top of the fabric. The pine needles also gave a similar print. I was very happy with the valley and ridges created by scrunching the fabric.

Sun dyeing is so easy and fun, if you haven't tried it what are you waiting for?!

Colours from Horseshoe Bay

Fine Craft Exhibit Closing Reception August 25th

Many thanks to LeeAnna Yater for this beautiful fine craft exhibition!

Trunks ....

... and some seaweed!

Treat that Fabric Before Printing, or ....

this is what you may get after you wash it ......



I had printed some photos onto white cotton that I had not taken the time to pre-treat. I was in a hurry plus I didn't expect to ever wash the fabric as it was for use in my challenge quilt over at Tangled Textiles. So I started with these printed fabrics .....

I then added some fabric borders around them, thinking I'd work them somehow into a mini quilt.

However I wasn't happy with them as they were quite washed out looking and the theme was Celebrate! So I decided I'd simply wash the blocks and have them ready for dyeing. And this is what happened to the centers that had previously had a photo printed on them .....

I am actually very happy about this white square as I wasn't happy with the photos at all. I am wondering though if the photos were dull out because I had not increased the intensity of the colors (which I did do for the photos that I ended up using in my challenge quilt) or if it was due to the quality of the printer or ink I used or if it was because I had not treated the fabric? I had thought that the treating of fabric for printing was simply to help make it more colorfast so it doesn't wash away. Do you know?

Tangled Textiles Reveal Day

is today! This is our second challenge and the theme is Celebrate. Head on over to Tangled Textiles and see what each of us has been celebrating.

Celebrate!

Summer has become my time to visit friends and family in Canada. Lucky me, that means flying up to British Columbia, possibly my favorite place in the world. This year is the first time I've had a time commitment, that of creating an art quilt with a deadline of August 18th, while I'm still away. The theme is 'Celebrate' which seemed perfect for summer holidays but being away from home and my studio it is presenting a true challenge. I have a couple days to overcome the obstacles and get something together so I am optimistic but realistic. This will not be my star composition although it may have a little star quality in perhaps shapes? If you'd like to see what everyone is up in the Tangled Textiles group head over to http://tangledtextiles.blogspot.com/