Today I’m writing on fabric and not doing a real good job of it!
Several years ago, early on my blogging journey, one of my local readers ran into me at the local Joann’s. She came up to me and asked if I was the one who wrote this blog. I guess I really looked like my picture.
She complimented me on my art and mentioned how it all looked great. I told her that it all wasn’t. There were lots of ugly work that I don’t post. “Why don’t you post those so readers know it takes mistakes to get to the finished piece?” Great question!
So today you will see a couple not so good pieces!
I’ve been wanting to write on fabric with thickened dyes. I could write with fabric paint, but I wanted the hand (feel) of the fabric to stay soft. If you’re not familiar with thickened dyes, it takes a little prep. You have to first make chemical water by mixing warm water with urea. Then you mix the chemical water and sodium alginate and you get print paste which you add dye to make the thickened dye. It’s not difficult, but just takes a little time.
The dry fabric which has been soda soaked the day before is pinned to a padded surface. Then the fun begins. I rarely use black so I chose to use Raven and a Cardinal Red for this experiment. The first piece I wrote on the fabric with large words and then wrote over again and again.
One of the tricks is to make sure the bottle tip is touching the fabric. Otherwise you get big globs. I set it aside to dry and worked on another piece.
Looking back now, I really liked how this piece turned out. If I would have just left it alone but, no, I had to add more. So I set it aside and after it was dry added red dye and some circles. I don’t like it at all now!! Often when something gets this far it’s time to push through it, but I don’t see how anything would make this piece look better.
Meanwhile, after the first piece dried I added red to it.
That turned out okay, but again something I wouldn’t reproduce. It will probably be okay cut in small pieces. We’ll see.
So now you see some of the dreadful stuff I create! Reminds me of the saying, “You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince.” I think I have lots of frog kissing before I get this writing on fabric blog worthy!
In other art news, my Icy Delights is now $10 off. The sale lasts until December 20 at 11:45 pm CST and then the registration will be closed until February 1. If you would like to take the class, make sure and use this link before that date. Once you register, you can access the classroom whenever it fits your schedule. All of the pdfs can be downloaded to your computer if you wish, and the videos are in the classroom available when you have a break from you busy schedule. So if you have been wanting to take the class, this is the last opportunity until February.
If you are already a student, nothing will change for you. You will still be able to access the classroom and the Facebook page.
Thanks for dropping by today to see my “mistakes.” Hope you are having a creative day. I’d love to hear about your adventures in writing on fabric.
Hi, Lynda, Thanks for posting this. We learn from the “mistakes” of others though they do not always look like mistakes in the eyes of others. What bottle did you use to write with the thickened dyes? I have the chemicals but have not used them yet to make thickened dyes.
Hi Jane, I used these bottles. They were a bit big and will try smaller ones next time. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009LS62L8/ I have much smaller ones but I was having trouble with them so I think something in between, which I have, would be better.
Lynda: thank you for the post. It is always good to see creative work in process. It reminds us all that perfection is not attained on the first try. We need to work at our art. Due to nerve issues in my hand I have all but given up trying to write small on fabric. I find more success with larger, generic and organic shapes using the hair dye application bottles from Sally beauty supply. When I want something smaller and more personal, I write on white paper and photocopy it in reverse. From that, I make a Thermofax screen. It is nice for capturing very personal feelings, and I can get 200 to 300 applications using thickened dyes. Your stack of icy dyed fabrics looks so lovely. I have some Seaglass to make a queen size quilt back. Looking for something in the blue family to add some dark color. How do you like adding lighter hues of parent colors with the mixed ones? Thanks again for sharing your experiments with us. Wishing you a Merry Christmas
Hi Linda!
That is really interesting and so creative. If you don’t like it maybe you could overdye it? I wonder what it would look like scrunch/iced dyed or just scrunched and over dyed or…… hmmmmm I’m going to have to try this! : )
Hi Pat, Thanks! Yes, I may overdye or over ice dye it. I think cutting it up will help too! Thanks for dropping by and I hope you do try it!!
JoAnna, Yes, I think a lot of people don’t realize that most things don’t turn out right the first time. I have seen those bottles and have meant to order some. Thanks for the reminder. I love thermofax screens and have had several designs made over the years but never my writing. I don’t do alot of mixing the pures with mixed but the ones I have worked fine. Merry Christmas to you too and thanks for dropping by.