Imagine my delight to find this subtle watercolour type image as I lifted today's newly felted piece from the ironing board. Always looking for a faster way to get a result I'm one of those people who try to iron things dry rather than hang them out for a few hours... this time it payed dividends when the silk fibres in the felting released some of their colour onto my make-do cover. Time to look out a new light coloured sheet to iron on I think... this one may be destined for greater things! A Wisteria design maybe??
This is the felt that the dye came out of... also quite a pleasing result, though I'm still not too sure about the splashes of red, hmmm....
And finally, this evening's project. This newly dyed fabric is a length of cotton lawn that I'm planning on batiking tomorrow. Batik is something I haven't done much of... in fact I must have been perhaps 12 when our neighbour did some with my Mum and I got to join in, and I maybe did it once after that so I have been scanning the web for notes. As I pondered the possibilities of an old pan or two lurking in the shed a thought ran slap dash through the middle of everything, laughing as it went... "I don't have a janting but I do have a soldering iron!!!!". Now I know this works from the old days of making encaustic pictures with blocks of coloured beeswax, so time to check that my trusty old tool wasn't "something that got thrown out the week before it was needed" (after all it hadn't been used for over 10 years and must have gone through at least 2 house moves!) - some things fall into that catagory recently, such as those jam jars I recycled and then needed for a jam making session from a gift of rhubarb last week!
EEEEeeeeeeeee! I'm excited now :)
5 comments:
As for that red in that one above -- it's perfect! It adds just the right note of surprise. Very lovely! This wet felting is really intriguing me. I found my needle felting kit, and am anxious to try that, once I'm ready for this upcoming show. But the wet felting is so reminiscent of painting....inspiring.
Love the felt. I'm batiking too at the moment, and have recently discovered soy wax which revolutionises the process. I find it washes out well in the washing machine at 60 to leave a fabric with absolutely no wax residue which is handy for sewing into. The effects are the same as with ordinary wax if you paint the dye or paints on rather than immerse the fabric in dye.
Sorry that last sentence doesn't make sense! Note to self, read what you write.
I meant, The effects are the same as for ordinary wax, if you paint with dye etc, rather than do a low immersion dye bath.
If you have or can get any quickly, you should try soy wax as a resist. It works at much lower temperatures and can be washed out with soap and hot water
I can't wait to see your results. The wisteria idea is a great one.
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