I’ve been doing some trials of shibori dyeing with Procion dyes, prior to doing some indigo dyeing with Ann. I have also been researching methods of dyeing before my trip to Japan next month when I intend going to Arimatsu.
Being (t)here with India Flint
At the end of August I had the wonderful experience of attending a workshop with India Flint at “les Soeurs Anglaises” (lots more photos on their site) in France.
Experiments with disperse dyes
I’ve been doing some experiments with disperse dyes after seeing a video from Linda Kemshall. I have previously used clingfilm on wet painted paper to get wonderful crinkly patterns, but Linda wanted to take this on to fabric by using the same technique with disperse dyes, pushing it further by using eucalyptus leaves laid on top of the wet paper before covering with cling film.
Leaf prints
I’ve been struggling to get really good leaf prints on fabric and have done a lot more reading on the web. My latest experiments have been on cloth I soaked overnight in ash water and with leaves I have placed into a weak solution of ferrous sulphate. This has worked well in getting good prints, but usually destroys whatever colour was in the leaves themselves.
Eco book
I had another session steam printing paper with plant material and decided to make a book from them. First I followed a suggestion by the author of the website dipandstain.blogspot to dip my sheets in a bath of washing soda – one cup hot water in which to disolve one teaspoon of soda, plus one cup of cold water. This brightens the colour a little. When they were dry I determined the order, glued each pair of pages together using a narrow piece of thin khadi paper along the spines and PVA glue. In my second dyeing session I had folded a couple of A4 sheets rather than tear them to fit in my steamer, so these obviously needed no further treatment. I used each pair as a separate signature and stitched them to form the book. I glued a strip of abaca paper along the spines and then glued on the cover. This had been pounded with flowers – dahlias, tagetes, using the stems as well from the miniature ones, cosmos. (You use a soft mallet, protecting the surface with another piece of paper over your work). I used the same method on some of the pages where I felt it enhanced the page. I am not sure how long the colour will last, but the effect is lovely. Finally I added a coat of acrylic wax to give some protection.