Hand Dyeing - final lesson
Kathy
I'm assuming you remember all your basic dyeing techniques. If not,
please go back to the other lessons to review them. You can find this
lesson, and all the previous lessons, at
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/KayneyPaints/index.htm
We will be using one new ingredient - a liquid dye thickener. If you are
buying your ingredients from Dharma Trading Company (no affiliation,
yada yada yada), their name for it is "Superclear". If you are using
another supplier, ask them for their liquid dye thickener.
Superclear can be used any time you want to make your dye solution
thicker or to keep dye from spreading. To use liquid dye thickener, make
your chemical water as usual. When making one cup of dye solution, start
with anywhere from 4 tablespoons to 2/3 cup of Superclear. Add enough
chemical water to make one cup, and add your dye powder. Mix really well
-- the Superclear is very thick, and makes the dye harder to dissolve.
The more Superclear you add, the less the dye will spread on your
fabric. Less Superclear will give you more of a watercolor effect, which
you can enhance by spritzing your fabric with water after you've painted
it.
For your initial fabric paintings, try something very abstract like
stripes, zig zags, or polka dots. You're just trying to get the feel of
the product. Also try a lot of different brushes. For very thick
mixtures I like fabric brushes or dense foam brushes. For water color
effects I like chinese goat hair wash brushes, which are available very
inexpensively at art supply stores or at Dharma Trading Company. Also
try a few non-traditional brushes, like craft sticks or an old
toothbrush.
Let your fabric sit at least four hours after painting. I like to cover
it with plastic to keep it from drying out. Then rinse and wash as
usual. Enjoy!
--
Kathy Applebaum (Woodland, CA)
longarm machine quilting
mailto:Kayney...@compuserve.com