Second Thursday Tutorial: more shibori dyeing

I'm back again with more shibori dyeing.  I had originally intended to create a different tutorial this month, but time doesn't appear to be on my side.  I wanted to create some more of these folded fabrics using different techniques and different folds.

Last month I showed you the two basic folds in this tutorial.  I won't take time to show that again.  If you are interested or forgot how the folds work, please see last month's tutorial.

This month, I thought I would experiment with fasteners, rather than the wax linen thread I used last month.

From back left clockwise, 1) a fan fold turned into an accordion fold and held together with clothes pins, 2) a flag fold with large paper clips, 3) another flag fold with binder clips, and 4) a fan fold rolled up like a jelly roll and secured with a thick rubber band.

I used these greens for both flag folded fabrics.

I changed to pinks and lavenders

with the accordion fold.

This one is still wet.  I wish you could see the shimmer I got.  Even though it was quite warm in my craft room, it took these three an entire day and night to completely dry.  I fear I got a bit more overenthusiastic with the sprays this month, although I once again used a small brush to add the sprays (which never want to spray).

For the first flag fold, 

I got this.  The paper clips didn't leave the marks on the edges that I expected.

Next were the binder clips.

They also didn't leave many marks, although there is evidence of them in the folds in the center.

This is the accordion fold

that produced this.  I fear I got overenthusiastic with the mists. 

Here are the three together.  I believe they may look better once I iron them.  Hopefully, they will make great backgrounds on various art quilts.

I have to admit, this one is my favorite.

Ruminations:
1. Please remember, these cannot be washed, or the spray mists will bleed. 
2. I tried to tear these into squares, but they still didn't come out exactly square as I'd hoped when they were folded.
3. I can't decide how I'll get the spray mists into the "jelly roll."  I may color one side, then the other using low immersion dyeing in my basement studio microwave.

Thanks so very much for joining me today.  I am grateful for your continued support of these monthly projects. When this post goes live, you will find it on my Tutorials page under Faux Shibori, a follow-up.

Saying goodbye

Before it's too late, I want to let everyone know that the blog known as "And Then We Set It On Fire" will stop posting new content the last of this month.   Thankfully, they are leaving the blog intact so you can peruse it at your own leisure.  They are a fabric blog that deals mostly in surface design and fabric dyeing.

How they got the name of the blog:

A TECHNIQUE DRIVEN Blog dedicated to mastery of surface design techniques. First we dye, overdye, paint, stitch, resist, tie, fold, silk screen, stamp, thermofax, batik, bejewel, stretch, shrink, sprinkle, Smooch, fuse, slice, dice, AND then we set it on fire using a variety of heat tools.

Some of the topics they have covered include:

Rust

As many of you frequent visitors to my blog know, I love rocking horses and I love rust.
 One lady who taught about rust was very informative.  I don't usually say that about people who rust fabric,

because they often forget the safety issues involved with rust.  This woman knew her stuff, and I was quite grateful.

I have experimented with rust on fabric

and on paper.  Both require special handling.

Eco Dyeing 

Along the lines of rust dyeing is Eco dyeing.    I've had ho-hum success,

marginal success

decent success,

and phenomenal success with this technique.  I started using an alum mordant shortly after I made these pieces.  Somehow, I don't see much difference using versus not using mordants.

Shibori Dyeing

Although there were many examples of shibori dyeing on the Fire blog, no one seemed to create shibori discharge dyeing.  I wrapped the fabric, then discharged it (removed the color) using bleach.

Sadly this fabric was in bleach less than a minute.  Even so, it turned a rust brown nearly as soon as it hit the bleach water.  Just goes to show that black can turn gray, brown, rust, or gold, depending on the fibers used in the weave of the fabric.

These were created using fabric spray paint I won in exchange for a tutorial showing various shibori folds.

Most of the dyeing on the Fire blog dealt with permanent dyes you had to mix with harsh chemicals.  I used Staz-on reinkers and got these.  No, the color didn't wash out when I laundered the fabric.

Snow Dyeing

Again, I don't believe in harsh chemicals to dye my fabrics.

Rather than use chemicals, I turned to food coloring

and dye inks.

They turned out better than I anticipated.  While they were melting, I thought they looked like snow cones in which all the syrup was being sucked out.

Corn Syrup Resist

This is a horribly sticky technique, but instead of harsh dyes advocated by the Fire blog, I used Staz-on along with my corn syrup.

One thing I can say about this technique is, you can do it in the winter.  Unlike flour, oatmeal, and other kitchen products you use as a resist, which must be removed outside, this washes out easily in your sink and doesn't clog your drain.  It's like washing a dish that had syrup left on it.  These two fabrics have been washed and ironed.  I think they turned out super, even if I didn't get the freezer paper ironed on as well as I had hoped.

Flour and Oatmeal Resist

Again, I called on my Staz-on to provide the color for these.

After these were rinsed (outside) and laundered, but prior to ironing, I hung them on my rail for a photo of the various resists.  They are from left to right: flour, oatmeal, oatmeal, flour, flour.

Another flour resist, it was my favorite and I used it as soon as it was dry.

Turmeric Dyeing

Another kitchen item I experimented with was turmeric.  I was so proud of these pieces, even though I used far too much turmeric and alum (the mordant) in the dye bath.

Sun Dyeing

For years I believed the hype that you had to buy a special dye in order to sun dye.  It seems the ONLY place you can buy it is on the internet.  I decided to see if I could use my fluid acrylics to sun dye fabric.

Even though I rushed the process and removed the rocking horses too soon (something I didn't do the first time I sun dyed fabric), I was still quite pleased with how this second journal cover came out.

Other dyeing projects I have completed include grape juice, onion skins, blackberries, tea, and coffee.  I look forward to continuing my unique way of dyeing, because I get good results and don't use harsh chemicals that must be mixed, then removed into the environment.

Although I love the Fire blog, it is painfully obvious I didn't learn much from their blog posts, and am not the surface designer or dyer their design team members are.  I did want to pay tribute to them, though.  And I will miss checking the blog every few months to see what is new.  So, good bye Fire blog.  Your new posts will be sorely missed by many who want to learn about surface design and "real" dyeing practices. 

Moo Mania and More: Recycle something (Shibori Dyeing Experiment)

Once again I'm joining Moo Mania and More, where this fortnight's theme is Recycle.  For my second entry I got it in my head to try a new shibori experiment.  Shibori dyeing is a way to fold, shape, and secure the fabric prior to dyeing it.  In the past, I've used plastic poles and PVC pipes to wrap the fabric that I dyed using various inks, sprays, and dyes.  Incidentally, tie-dyeing is considered a form of shibori dyeing.

For this experiment, I replaced my plastic poles with my large rusty container I found a couple of years ago in my neighbor's dumpster, and replaced my dyes with vinegar.  Additional supplies include a long strip of recycled bed sheet, a plastic bag, and disposable gloves I wear anytime I'm working with rust.

TIP: Always wear gloves (preferably disposable) when working with anything rusty.  Never touch the rusted piece with bare hands because the rust will enter your skin and mess with the hemoglobin in your blood.  Leave the gloves on through the entire process.

Like my regular shibori projects, I wrapped the fabric around the rusty part,

saturated the fabric with vinegar, then placed the entire assembly inside a plastic bag

that I tied tight,

and stored it upside down in the sun.

Four days later I opened the bag and removed my rusted shibori dyed fabric.  Those are rusty leaves that were inside the metal disk that I didn't notice till I removed the fabric. 

Be sure you continue wearing disposable gloves

while you unwind the fabric.  Isn't it lovely?  Much more subtle than I had hoped, but better than I expected.  I'm so glad I tried this, because it gives me another tool in my rusting arsenal. 

Take the fabric (this is a thin cotton/poly blend) to your favorite sink, add warm water and baking soda (I use about 1/2 cup to a half filled sink, but this isn't rocket science, so more or less of either shouldn't hurt), swish the fabric around in the water/soda mix, then allow the fabric to soak in the mixture for a few minutes, at which time you can remove your disposable gloves.  The rusted fabric is now safe to touch.  Rinse completely, then hang to dry, or dry in your dryer.

This project was completed over four days.  This is not a quick project, since rust dyeing depends on the heat and humidity levels of your area.  It's not a project you can start and complete in a day.  I hope you enjoyed this experiment.  I hope to have a few more before summer runs its course.

It's now time to make something using this recycled fabric.  Of course, we have to go back a few days and see

the front of the completed quiltlet I started for my first Moo-Mania and More project.  Recall the front of this quiltlet was made using onion skin dyed bed sheets and parts of a man's tie.  The only thing not recycled in this project is the thread.  Even the batting is recycled.  Although I had planned to add some buttons, which would also have been recycled, the ones I had planned to use were an acceptable shape, but they were too bright for the rather vintage-y retro feel of this piece.

But I realize you now want to see how I used some of the rusty fabric,

so here it is, the back of the quiltlet.  I simply couldn't cover up all that rusty goodness.  Now I'm off to iron my new quiltlet before I find a place to hang it.

I hope you like my latest Moo Mania and More entry.  And I hope you find something to rust, because yours can turn out as lovely as my shibori rusted fabric did.

                                                                                        

Shibori fabric dyeing

I'm having a terrible time with this new blogger interface that I've been warned was going to happen soon and now has.  I've been resistant to the change because I used an offsite (and password protected) storage system up until now.  Now I must revert to using strictly Blogger's way of doing things, which means I have to share all my photos on Picasa.  I'm considering finding another way of blogging, although I will keep the AB lessons here.

Since I've spent so much time trying to straighten out this blog, I'm going to bring back a post I created awhile back.  Unfortunately, I think I spent as much time reworking this post as I would have making an entirely new one!

I'm also having trouble with the photos.  Even though they appeared in the center of the post, when I previewed the page, they were on the left.  I have no idea why, but I had that problem before when I used the "new" blogger a few times.  I decided to enlarge them to their original size, and that made them oversize due to the width of my blog post area.  The two sidebars are the reason I have less room, but that is a moot point.  The point I'm trying to make is, if you want to see the photo in its entirety, you will have to click on the image.

Last week (see Lesson 16 of my AB lessons) I showed how to use Staz-on re-inkers which are solvent based, and 91% Isopropyl Alcohol to dye fabric, as shown above.  I explained if you were using Dye or Distress reinkers, you would use water with your reinkers, and never alcohol.  I thought I would reiterate that with this post in which I use dye ink and water.  Although this was not created for an altered book page, the same technique could be applied using your favorite no-sew iron on adhesive.  There are many brands, but Wonder Under is probably the most popular.

Now on to some shibori dyeing.

I began by placing a 10" X 18" (25.4 cm X 45.72 cm) piece of white cotton fabric (from an old sheet) that I smoothed out and wrapped at an angle to a 2 inch (5.08 cm) PVC pipe.  Smaller pieces of fabric are easier to handle, really large ones can be doubled. Begin by placing your fabric at an angle to the pipe of your choice.



Wrap the fabric at least once around the pipe. At this point, you can add your first string (or as shown in this photo, a rubber band).



As you continue to role your fabric on the PVC pipe, you will want to scrunch it toward one end.



If it's a really large piece, you can scrunch both ends toward the middle by pushing as tight as possible. For the second pipe, I didn't use a rubber band, but tied waxed linen thread around the piece and tied tightly.  You can see how small this piece is relative to the other (below).

Your scrunches don't have to be evenly pleated, but you should wrap waxed linen thread or heavy string around the piece now, beginning on one end, working your way down the piece and back. End on that same end and tie off. Now that the fabric has been wrapped and tied, it's time to add some color.

It's time to finish the tutorial now that the poles have been wrapped. Please note that my coffee mug (on the extreme left) and my art doll Wendy, play no part in this tutorial. Note also the pole closest to the camera is the one with the rubber band and waxed linen thread, and the one furthest is the one with only the waxed linen thread.

Supplies clockwise from top left:

Dye reinkers, colors of your choice
Distilled water in a spray bottle or mister
Cotton fabric wrapped onto 2" (5.08 cm) PVC pipe and tied with waxed linen thread
Cotton fabric scrunched and tied with waxed linen thread or rubber bands and waxed linen thread
Strip of cotton, approximately 3/4" (1.91 cm) wide to be turned into tag ribbon, wrapped with thread
Cotton fabric folded into a triangle and held together with a clothes pin
White thread

The longer fabric is 18" X 24" (45.72 cm X 60.96 cm).  It is also a piece of white cotton fabric (from an old bed sheet) that I smoothed out and wrapped at an angle to the PVC pipe.

I ran dye ink (reinker ink) the length of the fabric on both pieces. I continued adding ink until I felt I had enough color on the pieces, including the one in the foreground with waxed linen wrap that fell apart on me.

When I originally posted this tutorial, several people asked what dye reinker ink is.  There are as many brands as there are dye ink pads.  They are the ink refills that rejuvenate your ink pads when they begins to dry.  I can't tell you all the brands, because I only buy reinkers, never the ink pads and I buy them on clearance because I don't care about anything except the color and how I can use them to color fabric.

One thing you should know is, although some dye inks may be labeled "permanent," do not use them when coloring fabric that will be used for clothing, or that will be used in art flags, or when making resists.  They simply won't hold up to prolonged exposure to water or the elements.

I should add that if you don't want dirty fingernails and dyed hands, you should wear gloves. However, hindsight is always 20/20. Of course, if you are like me, your hands are constantly a different color.

So without further ado, I began spraying the distilled water on the fabric. You do NOT really need distilled water, but it was in the sprayer, so that's what I used. Remember, this fabric started out dry, something you normally wouldn't do when dyeing fabric. But since I used concentrated dye reinkers, I waited until I had the ink in place before adding water. And I like breaking the rules to see what I can come up with, too.



This is the piece that was in a ball that fell apart on my table earlier. You can see I added too much water, then hung it wet, which caused streaks in the fabric due to gravity.



When you have sprayed the pieces to your heart's content, you can stand these up on your work surface. It's always nice to have a bit of extra fabric out to collect the excess drips. Being a frugal person, I wiped up the excess ink using the fabric strip I will use for tag ribbon, as well as the thread, which I am collecting and saving for another project. Now is also a good time to put your supplies away.

When the fabric is dry to the touch, remove your wax thread (and/or rubber bands) and finish drying on a clothes line.



Here are the finished pieces late in the day when dry. The two pieces in the foreground are the ones from the poles and the one in the back is the same one I showed hanging on the clothes line. The colors are no longer as pretty as they were when they were wet.



Here is a close up of the longer piece of fabric from the pole (PVC pipe). Although I love the technique,



and the results (I swear these ridges were made by the process because the fabric is laying quite flat and smooth in this photo), I am not crazy about the finished piece. These new colors, although from the same manufacturer, don't play well together, are not really vibrant when dry, and turned into a bit of a disappointment for me. Of course, that only means I can play at this technique again until I am happy with my color choices.  And remember, any dye based reinker will work. Just be sure to use DYE ink and not pigment based ink reinkers.  Also remember that you must use only alcohol with solvent based reinkers.


I hope this relieves some of the possible confusion I may have caused when I dyed fabric last week, and I hope you will try this technique, too.  After all, I'm sure most of you who are still playing with your ABs have at least one reinker!