How about some fun
experiments with fabrics and colors? :)
I may be writing mostly
about hand embroidery but I'm actually an experimentalist by nature
and I LOVE trying new stuff.
Last month, you could see
a glimpse of me letting myself go a little wild with my first
embroidered art journal where
I stitched my heart away in all forms that I don't normally do...
Truly, a wonderful creative outlet!
Speaking
of that journal, one of the pages was colored in the same method that
I'm going to show today.
The
one with the geometric design! I used watercolors back then so the
colors turned out a little muted. They are actually still a little
brighter than in the picture, but still quite dull compared to this:
Juicy!
I
used fabric acrylic and batik paint here.
Marble fabric coloring
The method is actually EXTREMELY easy and super fun! And the results will
always be unexpected.
But
you will stain your hands A LOT in the process. So if you are wary of that, if you need to go
out and meet people, it is better to use gloves. If you don't care
about that (I mean, most of us are on quarantine right now) then you
can have fun with bare hands :D
1. Prepare the fabric
and work area
I
used some cotton and linen fabric scraps in my experiment. Some were
just too small to be used for stitching, others had stains on them
which I wanted to cover with dyeing. And the rest, well, just took
them to have some fun, no particular reason.
(You
can totally use a bigger piece of fabric for your dyeing, the
process will not change)
Prepare
the work area by covering it with newspapers or food wrapping
plastic. There will be a lot of paint and some of it may drop on the
table surface so it is better to protect it.
2. Wet and lump the
fabric
Take
the fabric, wet it (I used a spray bottle) and make a lump out of
each one. No particular order or science, just lump it together
randomly like you would do with some waste paper.
Make
sure your fabric is so wet that if you squeeze the lump in your hand,
there will be some drops of water falling.
The
level of wetness will determine how “sharp” will be the marble
effect. If your fabric is slightly damp then the effect will be
sharper. If your fabric will be as wet as if you just took it out of
a bowl full of water (basically, if you squeeze, there will be a
whole river flowing), then the coloring will be more smooth.
You
can decide which way you like the most!
Personally,
I had my fabric slightly damp and even had to spray some extra water
in the process because cotton and linen tend to dry rather quickly.
If
you decide to color a bigger chunk of fabric, again, make sure all of
it is evenly wet! In this case, I would actually use a bowl of water.
3. Apply paint
Now
take one lump and apply paint to several places in a random manner.
You can choose between watercolors, acrylics and batik paint.
4. Squeeze the lump
After
applying the paint, put the brush down and squeeze the lump nicely
several times.
What
happens here is that the paint spreads further from the spots you
applied it to, but it will not reach every single corner of that lump
so some places are likely to stay in original color. Meanwhile, the
spots where you applied the paint will hold the most of it.
That's
the whole secret behind the marble look :)
If
you don't like surprises and want to have more control over what is
going on, straighten the fabric and take a look. Then, if you think
some places are too bold, you can lump it again and squeeze more so
that the paint spreads better. Or, on the contrary, if you feel like
the coloring is way too smooth for your liking and you want some
parts to be bolder, lump it together and apply more paint to several
places, then squeeze slightly.
5. Leave your fabric
to air dry
Leave
all the fabric to air dry, better overnight.
If
you need your work area, simply move all the lumps to some other
place where they won't be bothering you (but don't forget to cover
the surface with newspapers or food wrap and place the lumps in a
safe distance from each other when the paint is still fresh).
You
can also straighten the fabric at this stage and let it dry like
that. It will just take a bit more space.
6. Wash and iron the
fabric
After
the fabric dries out completely, wash it in a bowl with lukewarm
water, a drop of dishwashing liquid and, optional, a drop of vinegar.
(They say vinegar helps to preserve the brightness of colors. I have
never noticed any difference between when I wash my embroidery and
dyed fabrics with vinegar and without it).
Wash
each piece separately in case some colors will bleed. But, normally,
if you use good paint, it shouldn't happen.
After
washing it, all that's left is to iron the wrinkles out!
7. Marvel at your
results
My
favorite part!
This
one turned out the best, in my opinion :)
This
one is so magical too. I applied red paint first, squeezed it, then
applied blue paint and squeezed. As a result, the paint got mixed in
the most fun way and now reminds me of galaxy skies!
This
one is totally not what I expected. The paint didn't spread very
well, I wonder if the fabric was half dry without me noticing? Most
likely, that's the reason, so be careful!
Where to use this fabric
I
mean, if you use a bigger piece of fabric, you can pretty much do
anything with it. Use it in patchwork, make a pillowcase or a tote
bag. You can color a T-shirt this way!
As
for embroidery, I feel like the toned-down watercolor version would be
more suitable. Trust me, the marble effect is quite visible
there, my pictures are just a little too bright. And on a toned-down
fabric your colorful embroidery will stand out more, in my opinion.
Or,
maybe you can play with contrast and do some whitework on a vivid
marble fabric?
Frankly
speaking, I don't know for sure yet what I will do with my fabric
scraps. But I am very hopeful for the embroidery art
journal #2 and I want to
make more applique and fabric collages there and have more fun with
various media. So this is me adding some stuff to my stash :)
What
would you do with a fabric like this?? :)
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