Overdyeing

I find that the best fabric prints require about 3 or more processes.  Usually something close to solid for the background, a large scale print, and a small print.  At the end of my previous dyeing session I had several fabrics that still needed one or more additions, so I addressed those early on.

This fabric had only fuchsia petals on a plain white background when I started working on it again. I added turquoise to the background, using one of my homemade stencils. (As you can see, I’m not going for perfection with these. As a matter of fact, I love the imperfection.)

I was happy with the results above, but also wanted to add a very small scale print.  Maybe in black.

I had a little scrap of shelf liner that I thought was the right scale, but I didn’t think I wanted it everywhere. So, I did this.  I scrunched up the fabric so it was small enough to fit under the scrap, added black paint to the shelf liner (with a brayer,) flipped it over and used it to stamp the fabric.

Voila! Once I opened it back up I got this.

Yes!  I like it.  One down.

Now, these two ugly fabrics will also need some attention.

I’ve got ideas for them.  How about you?

Ellen Lindner