Friday, May 22, 2009

Who Knew the Wonders of RIT Dye?

The last week I have been having fun doing some quick dying with good, old RIT dye. It really produces some wonderful fabric. Plus it is easy and I can do it in my kitchen while supervising the kids. I bought some inexpensive plastic containers for doing one yard of fabric. Then I add the dye and pop it in the microwave for about five minutes. Rinse it out in the sink and a speed wash in the washer. Iron the damp fabric and Done! I managed to dye 20 yards of fabric in just a few hours (spread over a few days). The colors may not be completely colorfast, but I'm not planning on creating anything that needs to be washed. One day I am planning on a big dye session with Procion dyes, but for now RIT is filling the gap. The colors in my photos aren't the best. For some reason the shade around my house is very blue. Plus we, thankfully, have a bright sunny day. Oh well, you'll just have to live with my less than perfect pictures.

Monday, May 11, 2009

I Felt ...

A few more in the series --

I am really enjoying working with all the bright colors and positive messages. I now have quite the collection hanging on my dining/studio walls. I've thought about combining these 6" x 6" squares into some larger pieces, but haven't found the perfect mosaics. I figure if I keep making more I will have more to work with. But then again, I might just add backing fabrics and mount these. Maybe send them over to the Etsy shop. Both my mom and mother-in-law received one for Mother's Day. I love having gifts of artwork ready to go. Occasionally a not so nice saying pops into my head for the series. I'm not sure if I want a reminder of brokenness and fear hanging on my walls though. I think I might need to work these out in my journal. So many ideas, so little time. Plus, I had to throw in a few more bookmarks and tags. I added washers and yo-yos to tags -- very fun.