Morna Crites-Moore had a beautiful post today. If you haven't seen it yet,
click here to take a look ... I'll wait.
Her post, along with the news of David Bowie's death from liver cancer inspired today's violet patch (not that I was a fan, but Ziggy Stardust, Major Tom, and Suffragette City did play in the background of my teenage years) ...
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Patch #11 Discharge bleach dyeing on linen
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I haven't done any
discharge dyeing with bleach for over a year
, mostly because I wasn't wild about cutting freezer paper masks. Having long intended to try using Don's foam paint daubers as an alternative, Morna's post gave me the incentive finally to give it a try ..
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| Note: Jude Hill did not recommend Lemon Soft Scrub, but it was all they had at HEB |
So even though it looked promising ...
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| Looks can be deceiving ... |
nothing much happened. Reading the label I found bleach waaaay down the list of ingredients. Hmmm.
Not to be deterred, I dug out a bleach pen, squeezed some out on the plastic lid and gave it a try. Whoa ... talk about fast acting! The first couple of moons went way too far. Then I tried rinsing sooner, and others didn't go far enough ...
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In addition to the moon variations,
I was seriously debating which was the best violet representative |
Fortunately, the moon at the beginning of the post was just right. Because it only takes one, right? Which reminds me ... gotta buy one of those billion dollar lottery tickets today.
Before I head out though, here's the final batch of pictures from the natural dyeing workshop ...
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| A blurry picture of Maura hanging the first demo |
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| Ten of the sixteen participants |
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| Three vats of red |
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| into which we all dipped cloth we brought with us for the workshop |
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Brazilwood (which Mo informed me is an endangered species)
samples of which were cut up and given to each participant |
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Silk, cotton, linen and wool dipped in
Cochineal and Madder were also shared with everyone |
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The second day of the workshop was dedicated to Indigo magic
1 ... |
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| 2 ... |
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| 3!!! |
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| Once again, we were all given the opportunity to dye our own cloth |
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| which everyone was prepared to do |
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| The afternoon was dedicated to creating shibori |
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| graced with a rare touch of sunshine over the blackland prairie |
Thank you for showing your bleach dyeing process. I really do like the results!
ReplyDeleteHow does the freezer paper masking work?
I learned the technique in Jude Hill's Spirit Cloth class entitled "Whispering Sun, Moon and Stars." The class is not currently available, but hopefully it will show up on her Feel Free site someday (classes offered for free with the option of making a voluntary donation). Basically the technique involves ironing freezer paper onto any area(s) of the cloth that you don't want to bleach, but I found it hard to create a good stencil. You can see examples of various ways to do it if you look up "freezer paper" and "bleach dyeing" on Google or Pinterest.
DeleteThank you Liz! I'm going to have a look (-:
DeleteSimone - Can't wait to see what you come up with!
DeleteFirst, may I say thank you for mentioning my blog. That is so nice of you!
ReplyDeleteI love your discharged moons. Especially the first one - and yes, isn't it so true that after doing ten of something the first one ends up being the just right one.
Goodness, I'm sorry I neglected to let you know that in advance. In any case, you're welcome and thank you again for the inspiration!
DeleteOh, my! You certainly aren't obligated to tell me! I'm grateful for the mention. And, in like fashion, I have now added a little shout out to you in that post! A Mutual Admiration Society!
DeleteToo cool ... I really do love the blogging community!
Deletewow, you look like you are having a spectacularly good time! I've bleached cloth before, using dilute solutions of Clorox... mostly as a way to soften an otherwise bright palette and then to be able to use the before and after. It is very harsh though...
ReplyDeleteDidn't know about Bowie. He was an idol of sorts. Now I know why I've seen his picture here and there all day!
It's beginning to dawn on me that this patch-a-day format is a great way to act on whatever inspiration I happen to have without needing to plan out a full-blown PROJECT (I mock myself, but it's true that I'm often immobilized by the notion of starting yet another cloth when there are so many that haven't been completed).
DeleteI have found Soft Scrub to be a good bleach, but it takes a while. My problem is usually containing the bleach...it always bleeds. What a beautiful blood moon you have made, and thank you for the pictures from your dye class. The reds you got just knock me over. Making a whole raft of patterns and then picking the first one happens to me a lot.
ReplyDeleteI actually used some Comet soft cleanser last year and had the same problem you did with bleeding. Looks like the bleach pen, which is fast acting, may be the answer. I'll let you know next time I give it a try.
DeleteAs for the reds ... well, they do look amazing fresh out of the dye pot. The truth is, once they were laundered (in Synthropol) and dried, the colors were still lovely, but far less saturated.