FIBER JUNKIES - DECONSTRUCTIVE SCREEN PRINTING - PART 2

.......continuing our play day, learning a novel way to screen print.......

While our screens were drying in the sun.....we set up our printing stations. We used Val's garage which was already set up with padded tables, covered with muslin. Using 'T" pins, we secured our fabric to the table top.

This is my screen....which looked awesome when I first spread the thickened dye paste over pine needles placed on piece of corrugated cardboard. Unfortunately, (and Judy didn't know why this happened) the image of the pine needles which was originally sharp, faded to nothing. So she suggested that I place the needles back on the screen and let it dry that way......

What a great solution. Look at the images I got once I began printing. The first printing is on the upper left.....the last on the bottom right. Each time you print, a different amount of dye is released, yielding sometimes slightly different prints, and sometimes drastically different. This fabric is still wet.

Once the entire section of fabric is printed.....it needs to cure. Here Judy is demonstrating how to roll it up in a large black plastic bag to 'cook' for a minimum of 24 hrs. indoors, or place in the sun to dry for faster results.

Fiber Junkie Nancy experimented by drying small pieces in Val's microwave (used only for dyeing purposes). She managed to burn some really neat looking holes in one piece. Guess the timing thing needs to be perfected!

48 hrs. later at home, I rinsed my fabric in cold water, twice. Then twice in warm water, then a final soak in Synthrapol (a special detergent used to remove unattached excess dye). The fabric has now been dried and pressed.

So....what will I do with it? Hummmm........I've been so stuck on wool felt in the past several years, this will be an excellent challenge for me.

Carol used a lot of textures.....and printed using several colors. It's interesting to see the difference between her first print (on the left) and her second.

Here's more of Carol's printing.....some of these are the results after the dye is all but used up........so she merely painted more dyes directly on the fabric over the areas that printed blank. (The center two on the bottom row.) **Carol, if I'm not remembering this correctly, please enlighten me!

Here's more of my fabric. The first print is on the left. I wasn't terribly pleased with the initial look because I didn't have enough texture......therefore I got a very uneven amount of dye transfer when I printed. So, I too went back over the areas that were pale with a different color dye.....applying it using a plastic hotel key card.....a great tool for this task.

I can't wait to begin playing with this fabric to see where this might take my designs. All of us ended the day very hyped........and grateful to Judy for her guidance and Val for the use of her facilities.