With apologies to John Denver. :) But before I go, I thought I'd show you this:
I couldn't pick up the gloriously glossy effect that this fabric has as I'm not yet that skilled a photographer - but it's really lovely. This is another fabric I made (36 x 24 or so) with the disperse dye/transfer paint method that I'm demonstrating over at
And Then We Set It On Fire this month.
For the piece above, I tore my papers into rough bits and then overlaid them individually onto the fabric and ironed them. It was a very lengthy process, which is when I came up with the idea of gluing them down first - which is what I did here.
I cut all of my bits of painted fabric into roughly rectangular shapes and then glued them to another piece of paper paint side up.
(I had already written on the backs of the papers their colours so I would know what the heck I was doing - as I was laying them down they all looked sort of blackish or blueish as you can see) Anyway, when that was done:
I ironed for this "ta da" moment. (This printed part of the fabric is about 30 inches wide and 26 or so tall).
Remember if you're trying this at home, that the key points are as follows:
1. I used pre-mixed transFER paints (not transPERSE paints) as well as disperse dyes. The latter is my preferred method.
I used
IDye for my disperse dyes (the link is for a Canadian store but I believe you can also get it at Dharma Trading) but any powdered dye that is meant for polyester fabric will do.
I mixed the powders to the following method:
a) 1 tsp for pale
b) 2 tsps for medium
c) 4 tsps for dark
d) 8 tsps for black
I mixed the IDye with a 1/2 cup of boiling water and two drops of synthrapol.
For an effect like watercolours on fabric, I thinned this mixture with another 1/2 cup of water and once cooled, painted my papers.
Both mixtures gave GREAT results with print after print, with no smell and virtually no mess.
I had the best results BY FAR using paper from a sketchbook rather than bond (photocopy paper). I found the heat process bound the colour to the bond paper (that's what photocopy paper is for, after all!) whereas the colour just sat on top of sketchbook paper. However, you don't want to use a really good quality sketchbook paper as the colour will then sink into the texture of the paper rather than sit on top.
With the photocopy paper I only got one or two prints, whereas with the sketchbook paper I've had so far - endless results (each paper has been printed at least six times and some of them have been printed 20 or more times!)
2. The higher the amount of 'man made' material in the fabric, the better result you'll have. I had the very best result with 100 polyester silk. I also tried a sheer polyester tulle with a very dark value paper which produced a really lovely see through print.
3. Don't forget to try different things with your papers - using resists, cutting out shapes or tearing the fabric into odd pieces, mixing your colours directly on the papers and using tools with the application of the paint.
I have finger painted it with multiple colours on one sheet, combed it and then spattered it and then smooshed it on top of all of that and had a fantastic resulting paper. For instance I painted a paper yellow, then laid pink over top, combed it, and then dropped "stripes" of orange with a heavily paintbrush in long swoops across the page - lightly smooshed it with the flat of my hand and that produced an amazing beautifully multi-coloured and patterned 70's funky cloth.
4. When you're actually making the cloth, I start by using a heavily padded surface on my table and putting a sheet of craft paper over it, then laying the fabric on it "good" side up, and then putting the painted paper(s) face down on the cloth, and then put another, bigger paper on top of it all to keep the iron clean. While you're working, keep the iron moving, keep the iron HOT HOT HOT(no matter what the fabric requirements are - you have two layers of paper between the fabric and the iron to protect it)
9. The longer you press and/or the more pressure you apply when you press, the more brilliant your result is. (For me, with arthritic hands, elbows and shoulders, pressure was problematic, so if I wanted brilliant colour, I just increased the time).
So, the top piece, with it's lighter colours, was less pressure and time, and the bottom piece was done with more time.
However.
You have to experiment a LOT until you get a piece that you're finally happy with. Be prepared for a lot of craptastic results when you first start doing this. Once you figure out the appropriate amount of pressure, heat and fabric though, you're off to the races and you'll love the results and variability you'll get.
I know lots of quilters and even art quilters have an innate prejudice against using fabric that isn't "best quality quilter's cotton" but as you know, I have NEVER adhered to that rule, I don't even understand the rule. Certainly, you don't want to put cheap cloth in your work whether bed quilts or art quilts, because the fabric will degrade and the colours will fade or the fabric will pill after the first or second wash.
However, good quality fabric of ANY kind will last a couple of hundred years in an art piece, and maybe even that long in a gently used bed quilt, so don't worry about it!
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So, I'm off on vacation again (spoiled girl that I am) this time to Savannah for a week, so I'll see you next Thursday or so, and hope you all have a good week in the meantime!
Cheers,
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