You all know I can't stop mono-printing and dying fabrics, so today I decided to record the process for you. After all I really need to practise this You-Tube thing!
I'm reusing my freezer-paper stencils from previous projects (see earlier blog posts). I used thickened dyes, block ink and a Gelli® plate. You can buy the dye powder and thickener from Kraftkolour. The cheapest place to get soda ash (which activates the dye) is in the DIY store. I'm using Derivan block ink. This ink is not really washable so if you are making a garment or item that needs laundering then you'll need to shop around for a different type. The block ink stays wet much longer than acrylic paint and you need lots of time for this technique. I'm using a Gelli Arts® gel printing plate. Get yours at Gelli Arts® and use the code below for 10% off.
First prepare your cotton fabric by soaking in soda ash solution and hanging to dry. You can then iron on a freezer-paper stencil before scraping on thickened dye with a credit card. Once the fabric has batched for a few hours you can wash it out and hang to dry. Now the fun begins....
Roll a small amount of ink onto the Gelli® and lay the fabric pretty side down over the ink. Any time you touch the fabric now you will get a black mark. Draw onto the back of the fabric with a skewer. You can lift up the fabric any time to check how it looks. You can just about see the lines through the back of the fabric.
I used some cardboard circles from muffin tin packaging to add pattern.
When you finish a section just lift the fabric, roll out more ink and go again. Holding the fabric up to a window can help you align the stencil if it's difficult to see through your fabric.
Once the pieces are finished they need a few hours for the ink to dry and then you can sew into them. I'm not sure yet what these will become.
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