Options
Two options were offered in this chapter to colour fabric and yarn, using cold water fibre reactive dyes (procion) on plant derived fibres or disperse dyes on synthetic fabric. I decided to colour fabric using disperse/transfer dyes and fabric crayons since I had not used them before.
Fabric Crayons
I experimented with 2 brands of crayons; Di-Stix and Crayola, The pack of Di-Stix came in 10 colours, cerise, yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, green, black, brown and dark green. The Crayola pack contained 8 crayons, magenta, burnt sienna, orange, green, violet, blue, yellow and black. I found that the Di-Stix were softer and more prone to blobs than the Crayola. My first trials were to see how the colours were reproduced on various types of fabrics and to see how many times the transfer paper could be used before the image was too faded. I used the following fabrics: chiffon, netting, organza, crystal organza, microfibre, pearlised taffeta, duchesse satin, garden fleece, medium weight vilene, polycotton and pure cotton. In general the colour lasted well when repeat printing with most fading in the green colours. As expected, colours were paler on natural fabrics. Things to consider when using transfer crayons is that the result can look “sketchy” if the colour isn’t applied evenly. Also, as with wax crayons, small flakes of crayon can occur which need to be brushed off - they can spoil the finished print and can really stand out.
6.1 Trials using Di-Stix on various fabrics
6.2 Trials using Crayola fabric crayons on various fabrics.
I tried overlaying the colours with each other to see if it would result in the expected colour mixes. Firstly I tried a sample where I crayoned the vertical and horizontal lines on the paper and then ironed the paper onto polycotton. I wondered whether there would be a difference if the one set of lines was ironed on after the first but there was no appreciable difference.
6.3 Effects of overlaying colours. Left photo, horizontal lines crayoned over vertical lines. Right photo, horizontal lines applied on top of vertical lines.
The next trial was to see if fabric crayons could be mixed to achieve the colours in my colour scheme. Some good matches could be achieved but some colours didn’t seem to mix well when ironed. They look better when viewed from a distance since the eye mixes them.
6.4 Mixing greens, blue and violet
6.5 Mixing browns, golden yellow and dark green.
I then tried a tonal column in crayon to seen if I could achieve light and dark tones. This worked quite well for the first print but was less obvious in subsequent prints.
6.6 Tonal column using fabric crayons.
Disperse Dyes
Transfer Method
I made up the dye by mixing the powder with 100ml of water and stored the dye in plastic bottles with flip spouts. This made it easy to dispense the dye into wells on a paint palette. My colours included bottle green, emerald green, golden yellow, lemon, violet, black, dark brown and ultra-marine. I later made up some red dyes when I had trouble achieving a dark brown colour. .
6.7 Tests using transfer dyes where the dye is painted onto paper and then ironed on to the fabric.
Bath Method
I stitched several types of fabric together and cut across to create narrow bands made up of all the fabric types. Each strip was coloured to match my colour scheme by boiling in a pan of dye for 20 minutes. The way in which each fabric type took up the dye differently becomes obvious when seen side by side, I found that I only needed a small amount of dye powder to achieve quite deep colours on some fabrics. To achieve the lighter tones I started with minute amounts of dye powder and then built up the colour as necessary. After all the strips had been dyed, rinsed and pressed they were stitched back together.
6.8 Colour scheme using bath method.
I then tried some dye techniques such as shibori and tie dyeing. The stitched shibori had very subtle markings and the tie dye had stronger markings,
6.9 Shibori using stitching and gathering on folded cloth.
6.10 Stitched and gathered centre shape. Edges of fabric tied with yarn.
6.11 This was to see the effect of over-dyeing and shibori on a design created with fabric crayons. The original yellow of the fabric crayon can be seen in the centre of the lines.
6.12 this was created by rolling fabric around a length of sisal string and scrunching the fabric around the string.
Other Experiments
6.13 Mono printing. Background coloured using disperse dye and transfer method. On paper a square was coloured in with fabric crayon. Another piece of paper was placed on top of the square and the design was drawn on the top paper, The top paper was then ironed against the back ground fabric.
6.14 Sgraffito. A layer of fabric crayon was applied to a piece of paper and another colour applied over it. The design was scratched out using a kebab stick and then ironed onto fabric.
6.15 Masking. A piece of paper painted with transfer dye was placed over a doily and ironed onto fabric.
6.16 Printing using the transfer paper used in the doily print.
6.17 Masking. This print was made by placing a pressed verbena bonariensis flower on the fabric and under paper painted with disperse dye. I had to press hard with the iron to get the print because of the bulk of the flower head.
6.18 Ghost print of the verbena flower.
6.19 Frottage. Rubbiings were taken using fabric crayons of a bamboo cane and fine corrugated card. These were applied to a background coloured using disperse dye on paper.
6.20 Frottage. Rubbings in fabric crayon on a background coloured using disperse dye on paper.
6.21 Frottage. A shape was cut out of paper which had been rubbed with fabric crayons. The shape was ironed on to a background coloured by disperse dye on paper.
Other Methods of Colouring Fabric
I tried dyeing fabric using turmeric and salt. The colour was initially a deep yellow after boiling the fabric in the turmeric solution. It lightened considerably when rinsing. I found using detergent could mark the fabric.
6.22 Fabric dyed using turmeric.
