It sure has been awhile since my last post......I haven't been idle! Actually, time flew by as I enjoyed our 7th Annual Girlfriend Art Camp at a friend's home in AZ.
My two buddies had never eco-printed so with instructions sent ahead of time, Nan got an iron/rust pot started. Basically one soaks metal objects in a solution of vinegar and water for a week or so. It's used in eco-printing when a darker image is desired.
I brought a bunch of dyed wool fabric samples to print on. Instead of using square cedar shake shingles as presses to hold our fabric/leaf layers, we had to substitute long narrow wood shims. We used two on the bottom and two on the top.....challenging since they were uneven in depth.
Here's one of the layers....instead of dipping the leaves or fabric in the rust water, these layers were spritzed with a vinegar and water solution which also helps to develop definition of the prints.
The size of the shims required two people to wrap with string....here Sue and Nan are securing one batch.
I'm totally in love with silk noil and have been using it for ages in garments and wall art. You can see by the horizontal lines that this narrow piece was accordion folded to fit between the shims. The fabric was dipped in the rust water prior to adding leaves and folding.
We didn't stop with just eco-printing....come back to see what else we did.....
5 comments:
Oh, how great are these pieces; I love rusting things! It must have been like receiving a gift every time you opened one. I don't think I have seen this done on wool, so that was especially neat. Were you able to thaw out a little in AZ? Looking forward to seeing more:)
Mary replies - I work with wool and wool felt alot....there are very few techniques I haven't tortured my wool pieces with! AZ weather was perfect. Tried to get 'the husband' to consider spending time there one of these winters but he won't consider that idea....it's too 'brown' for him. He needs green......even here in our mountains there's still lots of color all year round.
Seeing eco-dyeing results is fascinating. There are so many factors that go into success, but you seem to have found a great technique for your materials! Lovely and I know that you will create beautiful pieces.
Your objects turned out so well-defined! I'm studying your steps to understand the process better, but it looks as if the spritz with vinegar did the trick, as you noted. Several in our fiber group have done this and had wonderful results. I love the soft and earthy look of eco-dyeing and have seen some lovely garments made using this method. Glad you enjoyed your winter break in AZ. We will be going there in another couple of months, just for a short visit. We considered it as a retirement location, but Florida was a better choice for us. We still love it there. Thanks for stopping by my blog- I think Bonnie Hunter may live in your region- not sure. Her systems for scraps are truly admirable.
Cool pieces and I like seeing some of the process. Love that last piece you did! Now that's a WOW one for sure!
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