A Relaxing Day at Marcia's

Our next door neighbor's butterfly bush attracks many butterflies and moths and I spent some time just taking pictures as they passed by!



Pictures will be a little sparse (I let both batteries for my camera die!) but Priscilla has already posted a whole bunch at http://priscillakibbee.blogspot.com/2008/08/another-great-day-at-marcias-studio.html so you can at least see me modelling my new jacket which is almost done. I used a piece of fabric from Elin Noble as my base and then added molas an Hmong embroidery from Priscilla and then a bunch of my own home dyes to finish it off. I put a purple silk lining in it and some buttons as well!

I brought this fabric in for our mini show and tell. It is a piece of Merimekko that I bought a few years ago at an antique dealer's booth. It is dated 1971 and I loved the colors. What really surprised me was that the repeat on the pattern was at least 54 inches!! I have never seen one that large. I have 2 1/2 yards of this and I will make something out of it someday!


Priscilla and Pat are adjusting Pat's jacket which was just wonderful. Pat is shortening it a bit but they got the shoulder pads in. Priscilla has already filled her next two classes! These three day classes are so much fun and just how often do you get to have classes with a world class wearable artist!

This is the front of Pat's jacket with Marcia's quilt in the background. Marcia was doing trapunto to many of the jet trails and it added a wonderful affect.
This is early on in the development of Priscilla's newest jacket -- the cow jacket. Above the big cow is a "cows on vacation" fabric. I was able to supply the "solid" green you see from my stash that I had with me and it was a perfect match!

Differences Between Paints and Dyes

Right off the bat, the main difference between paints and dyes is that a fiber reactive dye will chemically react with the fiber itself to form a chemical bond while textile paints will merely coat the fibers with a very thin film. I have limited discussion here to acrylic paints which are used for painting fabrics. That being said, there are many times that the end results are very, very similar and impossible to tell without a trained eye. I have seen fabrics at Joann's and other vendors described as "hand dyed" when they are really painted with inks or acrylics. When I first was introduced to Mickey Lawler's work, I was very confused as she called her business Sky Dyes and yet her fabric is never dyed with fiber reactive dyes, always painted with acrylic paints(unless she has changed recently). Her work is drop dead gorgeous but it is not dyed!

So why would one use paints and why would one use dyes?

I must say I started by dyeing with Procion H dyes in a class probably 25 years ago. The pieces were pretty awful as we didn't use steam or anything but the sun to set these dyes. They are fiber reactive dyes though and many people prefer using them as there are no powders with which to deal so no masks are required. They do require heat to properly set though despite this class I took. We did get some washed out results which somehow were enough to send me off on the "Quest". This was 1984/1985 and there weren't a heck of a lot of materials out there on dyeing. I did get the book on Synthetic dyes for natural fibers which I didn't understand at all (at the time) and there was an article by Jan Myers-Newbury on dyeing gradations in the back of a quilting book. It wasn't until the early 90's that I took a dyeing class in Houston at the Quilt Festival from Don Weiner who was sitting in for Elin Noble. I also took a class from Ann Johnston at the same venue on painting with dyes.

It wasn't until relatively recently (maybe 9 years ago) that I started dabbling with acrylic paints -- probably about the time that Mickey Lawler's book called Skydyes came out. I took a one day class and was hooked on all the different things you could do with paints and all the control you had over your results -- certainly not the case for me at the time with MX dyes -- even thickened dyes. You could stamp and smush and get clear lines and get all those wonderful salt effects. You even knew pretty much what color the piece would end up! So I started delving seriously into textile paints and took a class from Elizabeth Busch who used the Pro Chem pigments with an extender; in other words, she made her own paints. She works with thick paints and we learned some very original ways to play with the paints. I was hooked but decided that these paints if thinned down, could be used just like the Setacolors and Jacquard paints I had been using. I could also control the intensity of the color a lot better so I permanently switched to these paints.

So again, what are the reasons for using either resource??

MX Fiber Reactive Dyes (or any fiber reactive dye)

1. It is much cheaper if you buy the dyes in quantity to get a large volume of fabric dyed.
2. You can get good rich/dark colors with a minimum of effort.
3. Cleanup from the processing is relatively easy -- the dyes wipe up painlessly from most surfaces.
4. You don't change the feel (hand) of the fabric or fiber when you use fiber reactive dyes.
5. You can dye a lot of yardage in a very short period of time.
6. It is challenging and sometimes unpredictable.
7. The resulting dyed fibers are very lightfast and washfast (MX dyes -- I don't know about the acid dyes as I have no experience with them). You don't have to treat the resulting fabrics any differently than commercial fabrics -- in fact you should probably treat commercial fabrics more gingerly.
8. It is easy to clean up silkscreens or brushes after using with dyes.
9. With dyes, the back of the fabric is essentially the same as the front of the fabric. If you are painting with thickened dyes, you can get some differences between front and back however.

Textile Paints (or any acrylic paint)

1. What you see is what you get. There are not the color surprises that you get with MX dyes after you have washed out your fibers/textiles.
2. They are easier than dyes to clean off your hands if some lands there.
3. You don't have to wear any kind of dust mask when mixing the liquids.
4. You can use pearlescent and metallic paints to add pizzazz to your fabrics.
5. There is very little if any learning curve -- in fact six to ten year olds just love doing it and there is no danger to them. You can use ANY acrylic paint or even house paint (which is an acrylic paint after all) right out of the jar/tube/can/bottle.
6. You can't marble with MX dyes except with shaving cream which doesn't give you the flexibility you have with paints.
7. You don't need to do any measuring or require any specialized equipment to get started.

So there are pluses for doing either!

For me, the ease of doing a lot of yardage plus the expense are a major factor in why I lean toward doing dyeing over painting. I love some of the effects I have gotten with paints. Anyone who has seen Mickey Lawler's work will understand this.

Paints do change the feel of fabric although I have found that my ProChem pigments and extender leave almost no change in the feel of the fiber even when it is painted quite darkly. Opaque paints, metallics and pearlescent paints will always leave the fabric a bit stiffer. However, controlling the speed of drying of acrylic paints and the varying the thickness of the paints, you can get some awesome effects that are just about impossible with dyes. It has been my goal over the past several years to find easy ways to duplicate the effects I get with paints using dyes instead and to do it with the ease that other dyeing techniques afford (like low water immersion).

To the above end, I have worked with thickened dyes on dry fabric pre-treated with soda ash to get many comparable results. From my other posts, you can see I have duplicated the salt effect now using dyes. Some of the commercial batiks are duplicating many of the interesting textural effects you can get with paints. So the "Quest" continues.

I think some of the confusion around words is a result of using dyes to "paint" (put color on a fabric with a brush)and using paints to "dye" (putting fibers in a liquid to get some color on it).

August RAFA Picnic

This is the Liberty Lodge in Finn Park in Webster where we met today. We think it will be an ideal site for dyeing or painting classes or workdays.


Too bad we didn't have more people as this is a facility to die for!! It is nestled in a woodsy setting although in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. The lodge is large and had picnic tables, ceiling fans and nice tables to work at inside (none of those picnic benches inside!). Many of us bought our work from QBL to share as well as a potluck lunch.

This is the doll that Val Schultz made as a result of a doll class with our own Julie Brandon, dollmaker extraordinaire! I am only sorry that I didn't get a picture of the wonderful blueprinting that Julie had done! She had manipulated some images in Photoshop, made acetates and cyanotyped some fabric. She was painting them today with Dynaflow -- really cool stuff!


This is Donna proudly (and she should be) showing a piece from her QBL workshop with Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer. We had her for a workshop for the group a number of years ago and all loved her. Donna started this piece in the shibori day I did a couple of months ago. She first dyed it with sun yellow, then clamped and it was overdyed in one of my multicolor mixes. She then discharged it using a silkscreen, Thiox and some turquoise MX dyes mixed together. Isn't it nice? I seem to remember that it was done either on cotton velveteen or a no cord corduroy -- probably the velveteen knowing Donna's penchant for unusual fabrics!

These are a couple of the pictures that were created out of the Lura Schwartz Smith and Kerby Smith workshop that Caren Betlinski attended. The images were just beautiful and done on an Epson printer. In the background are more of Donna's pieces piled up. She ALWAYS thinks outside the box!


You need to double click on this one to see the fabulous quilting that holds this piece together. This is a piece by Marcia which she machine quilted with a heavy Sulky multicolor thread. It gives the illusion of no quilting in some places. It is really awesome in person!

Jacket Class - Day 3 - The End is Near

Suki and I still have not negotiated a peace around the use of MY chair in the morning. She seems to still think it is her place to sit!

Well there is a reason for the blog to be named as it is -- we decided that overall the tame nature of all our garments would lend themselves best to a funeral -- I even elicited a pledge that if I died soon, that they would all wear these very appropriate jackets.

This is the first of our funereal garments -- Pat Berardi's jacket back!

This is Janet modelling her toned down, very staid funeral costume!

And here is Mary Payne showing off the back and front of her garment -- the lime green looks downright conservative next to some of the other choices in the class!




Here is Claire working on her jacket. She got to try it on right before we finished for the day and it is still too big despite reducing it by about 10 inches already! It is a gorgeous jacket and Claire says it WILL be ready for her upcoming trip back to Germany. She hasn't been there since she left under less than ideal circumstances when she was a very young child. She told us some wonderful stories of what has transpired that should make this trip a joy and help erase the horrible circumstances that precipitated her family's move to the US.

This is Nancy Hicks' jacket which now has a Seminole bracket on the front. The pictures hardly do it justice!
This is the first iteration of the back of my garment which hadn't changed since Day 1 until ....

Here is the front of the garment all trimmed up. I am definitely liking it and thinking it is a wonderful use of my Elin Noble fabric!


This is the final iteration of my back as I removed one of the molas and then it was three. You forget with garments that you don't see the side sections as we don't normally walk around with our arms held out from our sides like the letter "T". When I had tried on the jacket, the molas all disappeared! I really had fun yet again with this class and know more of Elin's fabric will end up in jackets in the future!

Thanks Priscilla! For more on Priscilla's wearables and classes, see my links and then go to her website from there!

Jacket Class - Day 2

Suki and I have not reached an understanding yet about whose chair it is in the studio. She seems determined to be sat on by me!


We had a great day today and it was fun to finally meet the second Marcia who I have heard so much about from Marcia number one! She hung out with us today as we continued working. Of course Nancy Hicks is WAY ahead of anyone else!

Well, this is the beginnings of the front of my jacket. I took most of today piecing the Seminole patchwork in the center. Double click and you can see it closer. I also painted the white spots in the Hmong embroidery on the left turquoise to tone it down.

This is Janet's wow second iteration of her jacket. The pattern is wonderful and her colors are fantastic and really show off that lovely mola (I have one like it as I loved the colors).


This is Pat's which is much further on now but didn't get a recent picture.
This is Claire's piece which is shaping up nicely!


Here is our overachiever Nancy who will have her vest done by the end of tomorrow and probably ready for our RAFA meeting!

Jacket Class - Day 1

Well, this is my third class with Priscilla working on jackets. I always learn something new and am beginning to feel more at home with the process -- should after three times - yathink!

I took two jackets to work on. One is another version of the Rag Merchant pattern which I used for my "Las Vegas" jacket and the other is using the "butterfly" jacket which is an old vest pattern long since out of publication with Vogue. I made a "jacket" from this last winter and just loved having it and wearing it. It seemed ideal for the beautiful Elin Noble fabric that I bought while in her class -- I bought far more than I should have but already have two people who want to meet with me should I find the need to give any of it up!! It is just too beautiful and perfect for clothing.


This is the beginnings of the front of my jacket. I am using the Elin Noble Fabric interspersed with my own hand-dyeds and some random molas and other textiles purchased from Priscilla.

This is the back of the jacket which I really wanted to highlight Elin's fabric as it was so beautiful. I am also going to couch on some yarns I found last night.
This is the beginnings of Claire Welch's jacket. She started with a jacket that two of her could fit into but Priscilla convinced her to go smaller.


This is Priscilla and Nancy HIcks beginning to work on Nancy's back. Nancy works so fast, the back is almost finished now!

This is Pat Berardi working on her brightly colored jacket. Note the Seminole work sitting on the side of her brand new sewing machine.


This is the beginnings of Marcia's jacket which is really nice.

This is the beginning of the back of Mary's jacket -- she is making the same one I am but with obviously different fabrics.
This was the first iteration of Janet's jacket back but she is giving up on this one. I know Janet's will turn out wonderfully as she does such beautiful work!

Home Again from QBL-Final Marbling Thoughts

Well despite some hefty thunderstorms, home beckoned and lots of time to think on the ride there!

Absolutely loved the marbling and have more than 50 pieces to show for my five days. I think I did 20 of those the last morning I was there. Can't wait to iron these pieces as I know how much better they will look after a good soapy soak and ironing! I will summon up my patience though.

On the way home, I decided that the key to marbling was to develop a relationship with your tray much like you do with people. If you abuse your tray, the relationship will change for the worse and you either change or end the relationship. The tray just refuses to change according to your wishes, only it's own -- isn't that the way all relationships are?

Anyway, am reading up on surface tension these days with some experiments in mind (of course). I have one print that I did on my cleanup water. It had (obviously) some of the size in the water and paints did float on it (although it was pretty ugly I must admit). They looked much more fluid though. The prints that I took from the paint that rose up from the bottom of the tray to lay on top also have that delicate fluid look. My thought is to try some varying concentrations of the size you work on and varying implements to put the paint on top.

So marbling will be on my list next week and then again in the fall when the weather cools and I can't work outside dyeing anymore. Now if it would just stop raining every single day!