Completed for FIBR 190: Color Lab - Project 2: Fabric Surface Design with Dye
For this project, we were to focus on dying with Indigo dyes using Shibori dying techniques on cotton & silk, dying with acid dyes on silk, and using heat-pressed disperse dye techniques on polyester.
The idea for this project, which I didn't realize at the beginning, was the idea of freedom. In my personal life, I have been embracing the southern roots that I come from. I have been wearing my cowboys boots, listening to country music, and clinging to the Lord. I think my Fibers major really brings me back to who I am and where I come from because all I do all the time is sew, crochet, embroider, save all my scraps, and all the other little things that my Granny definitely did 100 years ago. I'm beginning to see how my grandmother and her mother and her mother's mother didn't have it wrong at all. They perhaps had the secret to what life's all about.
I loved using the indigo on the different fabrics. I dipped each of these fabrics only once in the indigo baths. It showed up darker on the silk & lighter on the cotton, which was so fun to experiment with.
With this set of swatch, I really stuck to my original plan of motifs, themes, & color schemes. I was able to play with layering backgrounds & foregrounds better this time around as well as combining the different techniques. For materials, I used cotton broadcloth, raw silk, polyester lace from an old dress, indigo, acid dyes, embroidery floss, crocheted ribbon, and soy wax. This is my most cohesive set yet.
The sweatshirt was for the final acid dye piece. Each piece was hand-dyed with acid dye & sewn together to mimic a quilt square.
We also experimented with disperse dye & using the heat press to set the dye on fabric, which was a super fun process (once I figured out how to turn on the heat press). I picture these designs on wallpaper or interior fabrics like bedsheets or pillows.
For the final disperse dye piece, I decided to thrift a red sweater & sew on a piece of polyester with heat-set disperse dye. I felt like this quote from Hillsong Worship's song "King of Kings" encapsulated the entire idea of "freedom," considering true freedom only comes from being saved by Christ. He saves us from death, Hell, and the grave, and He sets us free, indeed!
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