warming up leftovers

Before  I could mix up new dyestock I prepped a small lot of cloth to use up the leftovers from last year. They were stored optimally in a small cooler and I took them out for the first time yesterday so they've had a full day to come around to ambient temperature.

The method was a hasty "dunk it in here" parfait affair -  I was anxious to get the squeeze bottles cleaned and ready for the new colors. There are all kinds of cottons here from an embossed upholstery woven to some squares of humble, unbleached muslin. I'll give this bunch until tomorrow morning....





I made a big mess and am not inclined to clean it up right away. It's hot, I'm tired and there's a lotta later in today still.

so far so good

After a few hours stewing in it's juices I rinsed this one in cold water to flush off the excess dyes and to not disturb the soywax in the process.


I actually left a few pins in the thing having missed a few corners here and there in my basting frenzy so I had to be a cautious and gentle washer woman. A firehose would have been useful. Keep in mind this is four by six feet and three and four layers thick in places.

The balmy Georgia spring day has turned ugly on us. Thunder is rolling and the sky has turned all dark and broody.

Most of the wax is out of this one now and I am really pleased with the potential of the process so far. It's dark here, soaking wet and I've hung it over the rolling rack in the rain.

There will be some discharging and painting in a few places that are still needing to be pulled together design-wise.  Correcting value deficiencies this way is more fun than it should be.

post-lunch/pre-nap

yes, I remembered my bartender's apron and gloves.
The entire piece is crammed into a two gallon steel tub along with about a quart of dye and a gallon of special sauce.   I'll do the reveal later today or tomorrow.

not a crime scene clean up unless the big piece turns out really sucky. this will be the first table mopper of the season, formerly a pristine 24" square vintage damask table napkin. I wonder what the mistress of the household would have thought!

waiting

It's hot enough outside ...the dyes are out of the  refrigerator and this piece is well and thoroughly waxed . I let the soywax get very hot and in most places it's penetrated through to the plastic tablecloth underneath.

When we get back from lunch, I'll don the gloves (don't forget) and apron and mix up the monkey blood I have in mind for overdyeing this...pictures later.

basting sails

All of a sudden, it's shorts weather, and once chores and running around were out of the way, I took a chunk of this day off to do some more basting.

Some people may thing it a terrible waste of time but my basting stitches are like Attilla's march and  so I'm perfectly happy snipping and ripping if something needs relocation. I don't even bother sinking a knot at the end of a thread; a back stitch or two will suffice. Pins are such a pain.

I'm going to work on both these large pieces at the same time and have plans to do some some soy wax resist and direct dye painting on both pieces before I make any decision about if, and how, any permanent stitching, machine or hand, happens.