More Shibori with Silk & cotton

My sister Em asked for a shot of the deck skirt, so here it is. Warren worked on the first of 4 raised beds that will go in this corner of the back yard too. The other 3 wil have to wait until next summer, as he will be having his right knee replaced on Tuesday.

I've been working in the studio. I put the old Microwave oven in the corner, & set up all the Acid dyes that I just bought for dying.

I bought some black silk & tried discharging it with bleach, but it wouldn't discharge at all! so...I got out my Lumier paints, & painted it instead. The fabric on the right pole was a black cotton, & it did discharge without any problem, but the silk didn't fade one bit.The silks are the one on the left with the rocks, & the piece draped behind the 2 poles.

One of the pieces that I dyed at Sandy's house, the one with the large rocks, I stuffed the back side with bits of wool batting,( left from some traupunto project a while ago),

Then I basted a piece of cotton batting on, & stitched a flat backing, & quilted the whole thing from the front, & also added a cord for wearing it....

I left the edges on the front piece raw, but burned them a little to seal the edges. Now I can wear it like a little piece of art.

Acid Dyes

The thought of using "acid dyes" had always made me a little nervous. I had never really considered that the "acid" was only white vinegar. I had taken a couple of silk painting classes in the past, & love how the dyes flowed & colored the silk, but honestly never actually "got it" until yesterday, when my friend Sandy Winfree invited to come over & play at her house, & do some silk dying.  I forgot to bring my camera along for the the process, but here are the results so far......

Here are the silk wrapped on poles, Shibori style, with the 3 to the left including rocks & small stones to add texture. Today we will be adding another layer of color, then I have to wait a few days for the fabric to dry completely before we can see the finale results.

Sandy's process involves ironing & pleating her fabric before wrapping on the pole, which I did do for one small piece, but the others I just did the wrapping, scrunching & rocks, for what I hope will be a more organic result. Below is one of Sandy's breath-takingly beautiful quilts. She came to quilting from a doll-making background.