Colors and colors

I was thinking of titling this, what a mess.  But considering how much I have stuffed into a small place it isn't bad.  This is just (most of) my dye.  I won't show you where I stash my stencils and other items.  And that shelf over there and....

For one of the art fairs I applied to they wanted a picture of your work area.  I assume it was to make sure you actually made the art yourself rather then buying and reselling.  Everything I offer started out plain white and I turned it colors.

Roar

 Careful, or I'll bite your tail.  Not like I can grab it, darn these short arms....

Black and brown

I'm not going to make a comment about shades of gray.  Black is a tough color to dye.  You have to use a lot of dye to get it dark, but it still frequently will not be pure black.  The scarf is just two colors, black and brown.  But because I clamped it so the dye couldn't get to part of it the dye separated some giving shades to it.  And the brown looks almost metallic.  Steam set dye on silk

Meow

After a while it is hard to remember what you've posted about.  But I like my leopard design so I'm not worried if I've posted it before.

Colored salt

I had a picture in a post long ago how the salt used to make patterns in the dye holds on to the color, giving me colored salt.  Rather than throwing it away every time I reuse it, keeping the colors in separate bowls.  I wanted to see if I could have the color on the salt go back on to a scarf.

First is a pic of the dry salt in a bowl and some of it sprinkled on a scarf

After sprinkling the rest of the salt on the scarf I misted it thoroughly to rinse the dye onto the scarf.  Here you can see the color did migrate onto the scarf.  The salt didn't have much color left on it.

And here are two finished scarves after being steamed and ironed.  Very pretty, I think.  The one on the left I used both blue and purple salt so the colors are mixed.

But now I can't do it again until I do more 'regular' salted ones since I don't have precolored salt.  Hmmm, I wonder how colorful cake sugar sprinkles would work....  But those are such small bits.

More dye powder oddness.

Similar to a previous post, this dye powder doesn't look much like the final color.  Forest Green this time.  The blue powder in it will normally be the last to dissolve.  And the last picture a finished product.

What color is it really?

It is interesting how some dye powders look in jar are very different from how they look on fabric since they're made up of a mix of different colors.  All of the pictures below are of Palamino Gold. 

The first one is the dye powder right out of the jar, the second with a little water starting to dissolve it. 

The third one is of the dregs after most of the powder has dissolved and been poured off.  Fuchsia can be a bit of a challenge to get properly dissolved.  Warmer water helps.  But then you have to let the dye mix cool some or it will soften the soy wax on the shirt.

The last pic is of a finished shirt.  I have no idea why it is upside down. I even tried to turn the pic.  Oh well.

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.

Mother Earth and Green Man

The counterpart to Mother Earth is the Green Man.  The embodiment of nature as sentient beings.  These are both redesigns of ones I had done previously.  I wanted a couple that are more similar and complement the style of each other better.  The smile of the Green Man makes him look like he has a secret.

Waxing

When waxing an item I like to use a colored, flexible cutting board to keep the wax from getting all over the table or the other side of a shirt.  These two pictures show how the color will show through differently after the wax is applied.  It makes it easier for me to tell where I've put the wax already as well as if it soaked in properly.  If the wax is too cold it will look different.

Mask

Another new design.  This one is an angular mask.  I know, I'm stating the obvious.  But it seems odd not to describe it some.

It is kind of a cross between (or interpretation of) a few different tribal masks.  My grandparents were in Niger in around 1970 for work and brought back several masks.  It is also influenced by Native American masks and totem poles.  Some of the other new disigns I worked on this summer had a lot of flowing hair so this was a good way to balance it out.

Now that we have our kitchen remodel done enough that I can start cooking in it (and the dishwasher is hooked up and works!) I promise I'll do more blog posts.  I've been busy doing new designs, I just have been bad about sharing them.  Someday, I'll even take the stove off its wheeled cart.

Well, that isn't what I expected

Some days things just don't turn out the way you expect.  Both shirts were dyed in chocolate brown dye.  The pirate one is what I would expect.  The ninja one is a nice olive green.  The dye was from the same container.  I thought maybe the mixed up dye solution had sat too long, but I had a problem with the fuchsia not taking in batch of black and purple at the same time.  The black was a greenish gray and the purple was blue.  All looked good, but weren't what I was trying for.

The best guess I have is that it is related to the water softener and how long between recharging and dyeing.  We moved in April and there is hard water here.  The softener recharges based on the date rather than volume of water used.  But I'd dyed since we moved and it turned out so I didn't think much of it.

I think the next time I'm going to do a batch of shirts I'm going to have to either manually recharge the softener or order some add in softener.

Fire truck

This is a stencil I designed a couple months ago.  It is in the style of fire trucks from the 40s-50s.  The advantage of using stencils is that I can get sharper lines than if I was applying the was freehand.  The stencil both masks the areas so I don't put was on them, but also seems to help keep it from wicking into the fabric as much.  Also, it makes a design more repeatable.  I cut this stencil at 3 different sizes so it would scale to a toddler's shirt as well as an adult's.

In looking up pictures of fire helmets I learned that firefighters have the nickname Leatherhead since the helmets were traditionally made of leather.  The leather is being replaced with polymers and other plastics.  The back brim is wider so it helps the water run down the back rather than inside the collar.

Blue

Like the previous post, an example of color differences on cotton vs. silk and from previous batches.

The silk scarf on the right and the guy in the middle were in the same batch.  The hooded tshirt, done with the Mokume Shibori technique, on the left is the same color but from a previous batch.  I know the guy and scarf the dye was stronger.  This is Dharma Trading's Lapis.

Green

Another example of the different color on silk and cotton.  As well as in different batches.

The silk scarf on the right was in the same container, at the same time, as the flower shirt in the middle.  Although fiber reactive dye will work on silk, the colors shift a bit so it will be different.  The tiger on the left was dyed with the same color, forest green from Dharma Trading, but in a different batch.  It shows that there are differences from batch to batch.

There are several possibilities:  I may have mixed it with hotter or cooler water, it may have been a different strength, the water hardness at the new house might have made a difference, the moon wasn't full.

Find your child from a distance

A couple of really bright children's sets.  In case your toddler tries to escape, you should put them in something really bright to make it easier to spot them.  Plus, these are really cute with the safari animals on them.

Wildness

This is one of my interpretations of a Green Man or wild man to go with Mother Nature or Earth Mother.

When I did a sample and held it up I asked my husband if it reminded him of my Dad.  He said "I wasn't going to say that."