in preparation

little bundles i hope to dip into an indigo vat. shibori is something i haven't played around with very much, but i'm excited to see how these pieces come out. i'm using some of the mistletoe dyed scraps and hope the indigo covers up an unsuccessful dye result. i'm thinking the madder dyed pieces will become a deeper blue purple with one dip or so, but i'm not completely certain. that's the fun of experimenting with natural dyes, you really don't know how a fiber will come out of the pot; bright, pale, muddy, strong, mellow, uneven, uninspiring, surprising.

my big picture plan with this indigo dyeing is to create an oilcloth apron i can wear when dyeing in the future. i've wrapped screws into one piece of duck cloth, and scrunched up another. when they've been dyed and dried, i'll stretch them onto a frame and layer linseed oil until a slick surface is created. when all is cured, the pieces will be cut and joined into a long styled apron. i'll post pictures of the stages and we'll see how the final sums up.

space to work in

ah, photos. what would the internet be without them. everything in the studio is coming along nicely now, so i thought i would introduce you to my new/old "dyeing laboratory and weaving studio":

the dye laboratory and tea brewing station.

skein winder, gokoh, and kasuri shifter.

ze loom, with the new addition of jazz bands to prevent floating harness syndrome.

my workstation, complete with idea/inspiration board.

now that smell (japanese incense courtesy of lisn), sight, and touch (sheepskin bench cover) are taken care of all this space lacks is sound. i was hoping to get the vers 2x for my ipod, but they're not manufacturing them again until spring. phooey. so i'm on the hunt to find one, and haven't had any success thus far, as they didn't produce any this year.

it's like baking, just mix the ingredients

i've been home for a couple of days now, and quite busy. between laundry, cleaning, eating, and sleeping, i've managed to work on setting up my studio and taking notes on what i need in order to get started.

the first things are definitely dyestuff, a source of heat, and lots of experimentation. i want to create more kasuri weaving, and before my dedication and creative juices have time to wan. i would also like to start drinking green tea on a regular basis, so i'm thinking of having a tea station in my studio (i've got heat, water, and space).

the new toys i picked up in japan fit into the space beautifully and so does my loom. it will be nice to have a space i can go to that's dedicated to dyeing and weaving. i'm thinking of calling it my "dye lab and weaving studio". ohh, nice. or maybe there's space for "laboratory" a la dexter's lab; thus, "dye laboratory slash weaving studio". now we're getting somewhere.

i've fallen in love

with dyeing, natural dyeing that is. my experiments with marigold and avocado turned out beautifully.

i cut some sample swatches from various cotton fabrics, some cotton yarn, and a length of cream wool. first i scoured them in a soapnuts concentrate and soda ash, then using aluminum sulfate as the mordant, i simmered the fabric for an hour, rinsed and left wet. both the marigold and the avocado skins were boiled for a short time in separate pots, petals and skin were removed, and fabric immersed. i simmered the marigold pot for an hour, rinsed and dried the fabric. however, the avocado i let sit for a day, just soaking. the pinks were very light, with a slight brown cast. so i decided i would then simmer them for an hour as well. the pinks developed a much brighter tone. to see the difference; the bundle of wool i removed from the pot before simmering, the brighter segment i left in the pot and simmered. i then removed the fabric, rinsed, and let air dry.

i am very happy with both results! the idea to dye with avocados came from the lovely gerfotos, and really helped inspire me to try dyeing. i plan on dyeing with a natural teal concentrate i purchased from dt craft & design, next. or maybe combining these two colors to get a peachy color.

many colored things

closing up our guild year (we break for summer), we dyed warp yarns on a dock out at tybee island. for the last dye project i used greens and yellows, so this time i decided to play with a cooler group of colors, mostly blues and purples.

i painted areas with fuchsia, lavender, teal, midnight blue, and mixtures thereof. the lovely thing about this is that as it soaked in the washing soda the colors merged and blended together a bit, making a less intense and harmonious whole.

this is my first warp, and i have plans to create a rag rug as a learning project. there were many long strips of white cotton fabric from a project i am assisting in that would weave up beautifully. i think, perhaps, i will also combine these two elements with some pale blue yarn i purchased awhile back.

i am excited to see what we will create in the next fiber guild year, as the short time i have been involved has been a good thing for me, both through new experiences learned and creativity expressed.

stretching one's area

last saturday the guild meeting was focused around the textile artist, barbara james, whose speciality is in surface design through dyeing and printing. it was interesting to play around with the different ways of creating texture on cloth. i'm kicking myself for getting rid of my screenprinting frame from when i took a printmaking class in college. i really want to play around more.

my first dyeing attempt went well. this photo is of my second piece of fabric. i decided it would make a lovely tea towel; so i hemmed the edges. i'm not quite sure of the first one i worked on, as the design is agreeable but the colors are very loud and not quite to my taste. i may take a photo of it anyway, though.

we used the procion mx dyes which got me thinking again about getting into dyeing. it would be a good focus as i eventually would like to create my own cloth; weaving, dyeing, and printing. i think that where i will go from here is to experiment with natural dyes and the screen printing process. the procion dyes were easy enough to use and clean up, but i'd rather be truer to my own feelings about my impact on the environment. plus, i like how natural dyes age, it's really very wabi-sabi.