I was reluctant to start this chapter: in fact I have started looking at subsequent chapters. This was probably for two reasons. First, I had not used procion dyes (one of the reasons I chose this option - this will be overcome by just doing it, obviously) and second, and more importantly, I was not quite happy with my colour scheme. Image 181 gave me the indigo tweak and now I'm going for a second adjustment. So, I'll use my indigo colour study but slightly tweaked so that it resembles the colours in my Boro influenced work (Images 156-167). The palette I will be working with is shown numbered 1-7 in Image 208. The only real changes are the red and yellow which I felt were too dominant. And yes, I found I couldn't be without that dusky pink after all.
Observations from this colour mixing:
- the Golden Fluid Acrylic Payne's Grey is very blue/black, predominantly blue. Since being introduced to Payne's Grey by Alison King at the Summer School 2014 I have used it a lot and this is the first time I've found it so... blue. I therefore reverted to the Amsterdam Expert Series.
- there are two sets of 2/3, one using a base black and the other Payne's Grey. Either will work for me.
- there is a choice from the three shades of yellow ochre, depending on the mixing.
I have chosen to use cold water 'fibre reactive' dyes, procion MX dyes, as I intend to dye natural fibres. I have followed Helen Deighan's methods given in Magic Dyeing Made Easy.
Prior to dyeing the fabrics they were PFD'd - Prepared For Dyeing, by washing them. While doing this I noticed that small quantities of open woven fabrics, e.g. scrim and some linens, are very delicate and become misshapen or even disintegrate no matter how carefully you wash them. This worsened on handling in the dyeing and rinsing process.
The dyes were made up using 1 level tsp dye to 100ml water. I mixed them in small, lidded jars. I also added a drop of washing up liquid as I read this helped to mix the dye powder. After the dye was mixed I dipped a piece of kitchen roll in the dye as it was not obvious what colour you have in the jar (Image 209). These were included on each colouring page to remind me where the colours had come from.
The washing soda solution was made up from 400g soda to 2 litres water.
The salt solution was made up from 500g salt to 2 litres water.
The fabrics used, the colour samples obtained and the technical notes on how the dye colours were obtained are all in a new A4 sketchbook - Images 210 - 219. Idea 1 was used to organise the production of these samples but rather than stitching them together after dyeing I mounted them on separate pages as some of the fabrics had become so 'worn', particularly the plasterers' scrim and the dish cloth cotton. This meant the strip of fabrics had to be cut to mount them but it does have the advantage that the wonderful edges can be more easily appreciated.
Health and Safety
I was particularly careful when mixing the procion MX powders and wore a face mask to prevent inhalation of the powder. All my ingredients were carefully labelled and will be stored away from the kitchen, where I did my dyeing.
Other dyeing agents were also sampled. Turmeric powder was used following the recipe given on timberpress.com. The material was left simmering for 23 minutes (the cooking smell was very pungent). The colour obtained is shown in Image 221. The wooden barbecue skewer used for stirring the mixture is also attached as it coloured well.
Tea was used and a sheet of 'fabric' made from tea bags was also produced by ironing them on to vilene, part of which was waxed with acrylic wax. The texture of the iron-on vilene used can be seen through the tea bags. If this was not wanted a different make of vilene could be used (Image 222).
While collecting research material for my sketchbook I have taken many photos of lobster pots and so have included some rust dyeing here as it is in keeping with my research subject and I was hopeful it would produce not only the yellow ochre colouring #6 but also, given the appropriate wetting agent, variations on the blue #4. During the Surrey Open Studios 2016 I attended a workshop with Jule Mallett which gave me lots of rust related inspiration and samples of unwrapping. Two tins were used that I had left outside to rust. These I wrapped in loosely woven cotton that had been soaked in tea made from 2 teabags to a pint of liquid. I left these in a heated kitchen for 24 hours and then unwrapped them, rinsed well and washed (Image 223).
This was developed with gulls in mind, using tea made from two tea bags as the wetting agent (Image 224 and 225). These photos show the front and back after 2 days. After one day I sprinkled the couched metal gulls with salt to speed up the process.
Prior to dyeing the fabrics they were PFD'd - Prepared For Dyeing, by washing them. While doing this I noticed that small quantities of open woven fabrics, e.g. scrim and some linens, are very delicate and become misshapen or even disintegrate no matter how carefully you wash them. This worsened on handling in the dyeing and rinsing process.
The dyes were made up using 1 level tsp dye to 100ml water. I mixed them in small, lidded jars. I also added a drop of washing up liquid as I read this helped to mix the dye powder. After the dye was mixed I dipped a piece of kitchen roll in the dye as it was not obvious what colour you have in the jar (Image 209). These were included on each colouring page to remind me where the colours had come from.
The washing soda solution was made up from 400g soda to 2 litres water.
The salt solution was made up from 500g salt to 2 litres water.
The fabrics used, the colour samples obtained and the technical notes on how the dye colours were obtained are all in a new A4 sketchbook - Images 210 - 219. Idea 1 was used to organise the production of these samples but rather than stitching them together after dyeing I mounted them on separate pages as some of the fabrics had become so 'worn', particularly the plasterers' scrim and the dish cloth cotton. This meant the strip of fabrics had to be cut to mount them but it does have the advantage that the wonderful edges can be more easily appreciated.
Health and Safety
I was particularly careful when mixing the procion MX powders and wore a face mask to prevent inhalation of the powder. All my ingredients were carefully labelled and will be stored away from the kitchen, where I did my dyeing.
Other dyeing agents were also sampled. Turmeric powder was used following the recipe given on timberpress.com. The material was left simmering for 23 minutes (the cooking smell was very pungent). The colour obtained is shown in Image 221. The wooden barbecue skewer used for stirring the mixture is also attached as it coloured well.
Tea was used and a sheet of 'fabric' made from tea bags was also produced by ironing them on to vilene, part of which was waxed with acrylic wax. The texture of the iron-on vilene used can be seen through the tea bags. If this was not wanted a different make of vilene could be used (Image 222).
While collecting research material for my sketchbook I have taken many photos of lobster pots and so have included some rust dyeing here as it is in keeping with my research subject and I was hopeful it would produce not only the yellow ochre colouring #6 but also, given the appropriate wetting agent, variations on the blue #4. During the Surrey Open Studios 2016 I attended a workshop with Jule Mallett which gave me lots of rust related inspiration and samples of unwrapping. Two tins were used that I had left outside to rust. These I wrapped in loosely woven cotton that had been soaked in tea made from 2 teabags to a pint of liquid. I left these in a heated kitchen for 24 hours and then unwrapped them, rinsed well and washed (Image 223).
This was developed with gulls in mind, using tea made from two tea bags as the wetting agent (Image 224 and 225). These photos show the front and back after 2 days. After one day I sprinkled the couched metal gulls with salt to speed up the process.
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