in my Tie Dye workshop at All Saints College Bathurst
a full day of packing the car chock full with dye stuffs
I headed off at 5.30am last Monday
all ready to give a 3 day dyeing workshop at All Saints College in Bathurst.
The first day was about dyeing from the environment.
Cotton and silk fabrics were washed and wrapped with onion skins,
Coreopsis flowers and eucalyptus leaves and then
tied or clamped around sticks, pipes.
The bundles were then put on to simmer in the herbal brew
After simmering we left them to sit in their warm bath overnight
We took them out the next morning to dry in their bundles on the window sills
There they sat for the next two days
While they were drying we got on to dyeing some silk tissue
with the bright fibre reactive dyes that I get from Beautiful Silks
here is the link for the technique that you can use at home
.... I had to modify it a little
so that we could cook the many pieces of fabric in our limited time frame
that these creative students produced
You can get the dyes and silk through this link
a lot of fun was had by all
LOOK HOW MUCH THEY MADE!!!!!
On the last day we opened our first bundles
to see what had been brewing
for more info on the natural dye process
have a look at the books by India Flint
The results were subtle this time
but quite lovely
They also dyed some socks and shirts
that I had soaked in Soda Ash the night before
Unfortunately there were some very keen dyers who
didn't wait for me to explain the change in technique for the different fabrics
and put vinegar on the garments that I had carefully soaked with soda ash.
vinegar = acid.... soda = alkali
So the soda ash was washed off
and they were unable to get a stable colour
Never mind, it is all a learning experience.
Jarred was particularly innovative with his ties
It was so great to have him in the class.
Thank you all for being an awesome class
It was great to hang out with you all over those 3 days
Other classes running at the same time included
under the tuition of Selena Seifert from
Wild Valley Art Park
This group also helped Selena
make the big mosaic at the back for the school wall
and here are some of the glorious skies that Bathurst treated us to
as we enjoyed and a glass of wine in the evenings
with our hosts, Lesley and Neil,
who very kindly accommodated Selena and myself
over the run of the workshops
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!
Have a great holiday ....
You could do some dyeing if you are looking for something to do ;)
looks like everyone had a great time! Lovely results with both types of dye.
ReplyDelete