Stamping with Thickened Dye

Well, once I got going with the dying I really got busy.  These are my results at the end of week 1.

It all took longer than I imagined because of doing multiple things to the same piece of fabric.  Initially, I was washing the fabric after each step, resoaking it with soda ash, and letting it air dry before the next step.  That sure took a lot of time! And I did it for nearly the whole first week.  Eventually, I realized I could often do step 2 as soon as step 1 was dry (or sometimes even before.)

One of the first things I did was very simple: stamping. Like these circles, made with a masking tape roll, a jar lid, and a toilet paper tube.  I decided to repeat several of my patterns in black and white, thinking that these pairings can be used together.

Here’s some more, on the left.  This time the toilet paper tube was pinched.  I like this pattern a lot.

This fabric is folded in half and you can see the back side shadowing through.  That gives me an idea for something more! The piece on the right is a clean up rag, of which I now have many.  I’m calling them CURs in my notes. (Gotta love those abbreviations.)

And here’s the same pattern done with fuchsia on a colorful background.  I also repeated my earlier credit card markings in black and white, on the left.  The big crosses/Xs on the right are screen printed.  Something that has given me mixed results.

And that bottom rust colored piece?  It’s a whole ‘nother story, which I’ll share with you soon.

Having fun and still learning lots!

Ellen Lindner