Dots and dots

I've been playing with dots lately.  How the silk is prepared makes a difference in the resulting pattern. Both scarves were stretched on a frame first and I used Jacquard Red Label steam set dye.

The nice, round dots are from when the silk is dampened evenly first.  The dye spreads evenly into a circle.  Since I didn't let the fabric and dye dry between colors the dots blend together.

The one with the irregular dots I treated with spray starch first and waited for it to dry.  I let the dots dry between colors so they wouldn't blend.  You can see how the dye wicked along the fibers in a much different way.  It also has a more defined line around the outside of the dot.  This is related to when you spill something on fabric you should wet it (depending on the fabric) so it doesn't have such a defined line.

Salt spots

This is a scarf that has the salt still on it.  Before I remove it from the frame and steam it.  You can really see how it makes the pattern.  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of it after it is steamed.  This will be a really dark blue after steaming and washing out the extra dye.

Ruby red

Another scarf, this one rayon in ruby red with leaves.  The leaves are batik meaning I put wax on the scarf before dyeing.  So the pattern is on both sides, it is reversible.  It also means it doesn't change the texture of the scarf and they won't wear off.
I like the fabric of these scarves.  They're a soft, lightweight rayon.  More drapey than crisp.  And they feel really nice against the skin.

Blue salt

A scarf using salt to create the design. I've shown my frame in a previous post, but here is another example of the pattern that is produced by sprinkling rack salt on the wet dye.  As the salt attracts the moisture, the color moves with it. And the blue looks so nice, very rich.  It looks like it should have texture just from the color pattern.  Since it is a steam set dye it is washable also.