More Paint, Stitch, and Dye

Inspired by an article in "Stitch" magazine (#83), I prepared a piece of dupioni silk for painting. First, I added a backing fabric of cotton, right sides together, and stitched around three sides to create a pocket. Once it was turned right side out, I added several horizontal lines of machine stitching across the silk in two areas. I sprayed the silk with water and began adding fabric paint.

It looks very wet in this photo. I used an old credit card to apply and smush the paint onto the silk in vertical strips. I later used a paint brush to work the paint into the fibers, and smooth it around.

See how much lighter the colours look once the fabric and paint have dried?

I began to add some machine stitching in white and yellows to the painted fabric. It's a bit difficult to see, so check the close-up below.

I've used three shades of yellow so far.
The plan is to add layers of stitch in the colours of the paint onto the silk. Then, later, adding heavier types of thread by machine and by hand.
This is an experiment, and so far, I'm enjoying seeing what happens.

On the new wrapping cloth piece, a wee bit of buttonhole lace has been added to this loop.

The following photos show some of the results from my snow-dying experiment.

Depending on where a piece of fabric was in the dye sandwich, they varied from pale wahes of colours to bright and bold splotches.
Sometimes the dye helped a pattern to show better......

there were some amazing skies.....

very soft patterning.......

dark areas.......

subtle washes......

sometimes the white stitching on the fabric acted as a resist to the dye

does anyone else see a deer?

sometimes the stitching absorbed more colour than the fabric......

hello rorschach........

 results on silk.......













This fabric came from a sheer blouse with white flowers. The sheer fabric absorbed the dye beautifully to create a new striking fabric.

This is a pile of the fabrics I dyed. I'm pleased with the results.

The crewel piece has progressed a little bit from this:

to this:

I'm not sure if those three pale green bits at the top of flower 1 should have more definition on the outline, but I can always add a darker thread later.

I've made a start on flower #2. Lots of padded satin stitch on this one.

This little Dorset Button has lots of french knots.

It's just about the size of a quarter. A second one is in the works.

This ATC sports  a seahorse--my own design--and only needs a backing stitched on before it's completed. Tatted in white thread, I used fabric paint to add a bit of green and turquoise.

 Tatted in a beige and metallic thread, these flowers were also coloured with fabric paints.
Both ATC's and the Dorset Button will be heading out in the mail for someone special.






Well, that's it for my week.
I hope yours has been a fun and creative one.

Hugs from Suz