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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sailing on a green sea

While I haven't been busy posting, I have been busy creating.  We moved this spring and immediately started remodeling.  That is my excuse.  Not that I couldn't have gotten out my stuff to take pics of finished work.

When waxing something I like to use a flexible cutting board to keep the wax from getting all over the table.  It is easy to clean off but the wax doesn't smear on the next scarf or shirt so I don't have to clean it every time.  And I prefer a colored cutting board as it makes it easier to see the wax I've put down.  Which helps so I don't miss any spots.  You can see in the pictures how the color of the board shows when the wax is applied.

Folds

I tried out a different way to fold this scarf before wrapping it around the pole Arashi style.  I hope the pictures make it clear, it's a bit awkward to describe.

I folded it in half the long way, than overlapping folds facing the same way to shorten it up.  The first picture is when it was folded and ironed.  The second one is when I was trying to get it to stay on the pole long enough to wrap it with string.  That was the biggest challenge.  And, of course, the finished product in the third picture partially folded like it was when I dyed it.

Burgundy

I've been busy in the basement.  These two are Arashi Shibori scarves.  Where I wrap them around a pole like a candy cane, wrap string around to hold in place, scrunch it down to the end of the pole and dye.  The string both holds it in place and creates the pattern.

These were wrapped the same and in the same dye bath.  The one on the right is a soft, looser weave, rayon scarf.  It compresses more so has wider stripes of white.  The one on the left is silk crepe de chine, which doesn't compress as much so the amount of white is smaller.  And the color is a bit different because one is silk and one rayon.

Frozen or ice dyed

It isn't a technique I invented, but I modified one I saw mentioned elsewhere.  Someone had described snow dyeing where you scrunch up your soda ash soaked item, put a layer of snow on it, pour on the dye and wait for the snow to melt and the dye to color the fabric.  The dye doesn't react with the fiber until it gets warm enough.  And when it is all scrunched up the insides of the shirt don't get dye as fast as the outsides.  So by the time the snow has all melted there isn't any dye left to color the inside.  Except this doesn't work as well in the summer or if I don't feel like digging snow up out in my yard.

So instead of snow I freeze the shirts in my basement freezer.  I've written up a step by step description of how I do it. Since I use the standup freezer in my basement I have quite a bit of room and can do several shirts at a time.

Some dye is highly likely to land on the table and/or floor so chose your location carefully. I work in the basement on a concrete floor near a floor drain. My basement isn’t really finished so it doesn’t matter to me. Plastic on the floor can be slippery so use with caution.

The instructions are for fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX. This isn’t for RIT or other all purpose dye.

 · Dissolve soda ash in a bucket at one cup soda ash per gallon of water. Make sure to wear your dust mask when measuring out the soda ash. While it is pretty mild, it can’t be good to inhale the powder. The bucket needs to be large enough to fully submerse the shirt. If you’re doing more than one at a time they don’t need to all be in there at the same time but it makes it easier.

· Soak the item in soda ash for at least 10 minutes to make sure it is completely wet. It can be a day or more if that works better.

· Prepare a flat work surface. I use a plastic tray to protect my work table and contain any drips. (See here for info)

· Squeeze out the excess water. You don’t need to really wring it out, but you don’t want it sopping wet. The more water left in it, the less dye that will get to the backside. Not a problem when doing fabric or a scarf since that is a single layer. But a t-shirt is 2 layers and the other side won’t have as much color. So it depends on the look you’re going for.

· Lay it out flat on your work surface then bunch it up. Try not to get parts folded under when bunching it up. You want to create high and low spots but not more layers. How tightly packed it is will affect how much dye gets into the fabric and to the back since the dye is applied to the tops of the ‘hills’ and won’t run down to the ‘valleys’ easily if it is tightly packed. 

 · I normally put the shirt into a one gallon bucket to keep it compact and to make it easy to handle. But for larger shirts I’ve used a plastic tray or plastic sheeting in a cardboard box.  A larger plastic tray can hold more than one shirt or scarf at a time.  5 quart ice cream buckets would work well and have the added bonus of 'requiring' someone to eat the ice cream.

· Put the items in the freezer. If they’re only in there an hour or two they’ll have a different end pattern than if they’re in there for at least a day and are frozen solid. Since I’m in Minnesota I could put them out in the garage come January. See here for a comparison

· For the dye, I mix it fairly strong since I want it to be a good contrast to the white of the fabric. Again, it depends on how you want it to look. I use two or three colors. They may intermix so choose colors that will blend nicely. I mix at one tablespoon dye powder to one quart water and can cover 4-6 shirts with this amount. Make sure to wear your dust mask and gloves when working with dye powder. Wet some newspaper and lay it on the table before mixing the powder. It will help capture powder and make it easily visible and cleanable. I don’t add urea or anything else. Only dye powder and warm water. If you want more info and hints on how to mix up the dye powder, Dharma Trading has good detail.

· You can put the dye liquid into squirt bottles or measuring cups with spouts. Once you’ve used a cup or spoon for dye don't use it for food again. Use some cheapo or disposable cups and spoons. Check out Goodwill or the dollar store.

· Apply the colors in patches. You’ll have to experiment to see what you like best. I tend to cover the surface with dye. Usually, I use 2 colors in about equal amounts then add a third color in a smaller amount.

· Let sit for at least one day for it to thaw and react completely. The dye won’t react with the fabric until it gets up to room temp. If the area you’re storing the container in is colder, you’ll want to leave it for a couple days. It won’t hurt it any to leave it for several days until you’re ready to wash it out. The top might dry out a bit, but it won't hurt it if it does. And after a couple days it doesn’t really matter since all the dye that was going to react already has.

· Rinse well in cold water then wash by itself in warm or hot until the water is clear. Once the extra dye is thoroughly washed out it can be washed normally.

· Enjoy.

Wine

Another scarf where the dye didn't move the way I expected.  Although this one was wetter than normal since the dye wasn't wicking across the scarf the way I wanted so I misted it with a bit more water. 

The edge isn't blurry because of the photo, that is the way the pattern worked out.  It really gives it nice visual texture with the contrast of the sharpness and the diffuseness. 

It looks like a nice wine, to go with the chocolate one I posted yesterday.

Chocolate

I really like the pattern that resulted on this silk scarf.  I stretched it on the frame, painted on the dye and sprinkled rock salt all over.  Salt attracts moisture and so the color can move along with the water it is dissolved in.  The more dye collected in one spot, the darker it is.  But different colors of dye react in a variety of ways.  Blue moves a lot more than red, for example. 

It also makes a difference how wet the scarf is or how large the salt crystals are.  If the salt just dissolves then it won't pull the dye around.

The chocolate brown dye I used for this one didn't move in the same way as the blue one in the post here.  It did give a really neat texture though.  Kind of like miniature leopard spots.  It looks like it should have a pebbly texture, but doesn't. 

See, chemistry matters.  And is fun.

Pirate vs. Pirate

Sometimes, even when you use the same color dye it comes out differently. Both of these pirate shirts were dyed with black dye and were in one photo, I didn't modify the colors at all.

The one on the right has more of a purple cast to it. Black dye isn’t normally a ‘pure’ dye. It is made up of different colors of dye powder. So a weaker solution, or around the edges when tie-dyeing, won’t necessarily be gray. It might have a different color cast. Dharma describes the color cast each of their 4 black fiber reactive dyes has on the Description tab.

What can also happen is the color won’t be the same if the water used to dissolve the dye wasn’t warm enough. Some of the colors need hotter water to dissolve well. Fuchsia and turquoise both seem to dissolve better in warmer water. So some of one color’s particles might dissolve better than another color’s giving you something different than what you expected. That may not be a problem, it depends on what you want.

Canvas

Not too exciting, just a piece of canvas.  But it is pretty.  And interesting how the patten came out different on each side.  The orientation is the same in both photos. 

Just used the normal tray, swished it a few times and turned it over once or twice.  Since the canvas is so thick the dye doesn't soak through, it just sits on the surface.  It unravelled on the edges a bit while in the washer and the threads are still white on the side that was 'inside' of the weave.


It is going to become a tote bag for my display brackets.  Hmmm, I think the only other tote bag that doesn't have a logo of some sort on it is another one I made out of a lighter weight canvas I was testing.

Faded photos

This reminds me of old, faded sepia photos. Both the color and the variation of it. The technique is Katano Shibori. It is done by carefully fan or accordion folding the fabric, ironing it and stitching through all of the layers. Think of a sandwich and you spear it with a bunch of toothpicks. The stitching needs to be done from top to bottom one stitch at a time. You can’t do like you’re quilting it and trying to get a lot of stitches on the needle before pulling the thread through. I also needed to have the pattern marked on both sides so I could get the lines sewn properly. For me, it worked better to do some tacking at the corners and edges to keep the stack in place until I got some rows sewn.

When planning the layout you aren’t supposed to have any areas that are completely enclosed. The dye needs to enter the sandwich from the sides. The thickness of the stack won’t allow it to soak through all of the layers. And it needs to be swished around in the bucket more. Although mine are still kind of mottled because I like that better. Looks more hand dyed instead of factory printed. Depends on what look you prefer.

Both pieces are about 14” wide. I just kept folding them in half so I wouldn’t have short lengths of fabric left at the end since I didn’t want to cut and hem when I was done. By looking at just one of the sections you can tell how I stitched it. The set of three lines on the fold were where I wrapped the thread right on the fold. The scattered dots are single stitches.

The first one is a piece of cotton hemp cloth to practice and work out the technique. I didn’t put any waste or extra fabric on the top and bottom - like the bread for the sandwich – so the end got a lot more dye than the parts in the middle. Since it was a practice piece I didn’t feel like it. And I think it looks striking this way. It’s odd how much darker it is but the pattern of the lines is the same.

The second picture is a silk scarf and the cotton fabric to protect the ends. I think it is neat how color reactive dye will work on both cotton and silk, but be slightly different colors. These were done in chocolate brown. The silk is more rosy.

Again, the technique is well described in the book Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing by Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada.

I have got to figure out something useful to do with my practice pieces. I’ve done a few zippered bags, but how many does a person need? Especially lighter weight fabric or the silk hankies I like to practice on. And the design on some would look odd. Although I know I shouldn’t care since it is a practical item, I still want them to look right.

Leaves

A small practice piece trying out some different shapes and ways of stitching. This is some rayon made out of bamboo rather than the normal wood pulp or cotton. Although rayon is semi-synthetic, it dyes with the same dye that is used for cotton. It’s nice to work with and the fabric can be pulled up tightly so the marks are quite clear.

The leaf on the left was stitched around the outside and one row down the middle.

The center one was sewn in a set of arcs. You can see the dots along the top curves where the thread knots were. I didn’t use pieces of fabric to prevent like I frequently do.

The right hand one was 4 rows of arcs with the center left open.

Folds

This is my second try at this design. The first one is here. When done well, it looks like a 2nd layer of fabric over the top. When I’m happy with how I figured out how to do it, I want to do a larger panel to use as a curtain. I didn’t make up the design. It is one I saw in the book Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing by Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada showing some of Nancy Marchant’s work. You have to figure out what happens when you do something to figure out how to work it so it looks like what you have in mind. I really recommend the book. It has very good instructions on how to do the techniques, as well as history and development.

The shape of the curves look more natural on this one. Although I dyed some spots I shouldn't. I need to mark where the dye needs to go. Perhaps some thread loops. Kind of like dye-by-number. I think I'll have the bottom different also. Not have the pointed part in the middle. Extend the undyed part to the bottom so it looks like the overlay goes all the way to the bottom.

Again, I used thickened dye to keep it from spreading. But I think I’ll need to put it up on a screen rather than flat on plastic so it doesn’t wick along on the plastic. I’ll probably do something like I use in my sink for rinsing out. I have to apply the dye to both sides since the thickener doesn’t allow it to soak through very well.