Friday, January 22, 2016

What? no polyester!!

Great idea for a challenge, Sue.
I have a great respect for natural colorants- it's a complicated, labor intensive process to do properly.
The current craze of slapping *eco* in front of everything doesn't necessarily mean it is non toxic, or permanent, even- unless you know what you are doing.

I have a spectacular piece of silk jacquard dorozome from Japan.  It's mud dyed on Okinawa- this intensity of color takes between 75-100 repeat immersions.  Not a project suited to a weekend workshop!  Read about it here-
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/world/old-ways-prove-hard-to-shed-even-as-crisis-hits-kimono-trade.html?_r=0

Next is some very raw silk my friend Darlene brought back from China for me.  It's super rough, and I've treated it to Jane Dunnewold's flour paste resist technique for some crackle.

Finally is this wad of rust stained material I made- handwoven cotton from India, and some theater scrim.

should be interesting- stay tuned!


3 comments:

  1. Oh lovely pieces of fabric Betty. Mud dyeing is something I've not tried but with the intense nature of it perhaps best left to the experts.

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  2. Betty, what is theater scrim? I'm sure whatever you do will be awesome.

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    Replies
    1. similar to cheesecloth but a bit heftier, available from set design companies.

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