As a result of the problems I'm having with my fingers and wrists, getting involved with serious and historically accurate dye techniques is not an option open to me. Embroidering vast and I mean vast lengths of fabric is counter productive and impractical. Hence the more viable idea of stamping small motifs on the field of the dhoti, patka, chaddar and turban lengths of fabric that make up the backbone of my wardrobe.
I've never worked with fabric paint before. OK. Yes. I am an illustrator with several decades experience behind me but still, ...
Selecting several scraps of various types of silk, they had been prepped (washed in Ecvover Delicate washing liquid*, tepid water by hand and with the minimum creasing or wringing out). Once dry they'd been ironed and set aside for later use. Remember too - NO fabric softener must be added at this point.
I chose to work on duppion and a tussah example and see what happened. As usual I worked out my guides in waterproof marker and proceeded from there.
Paint used: Dylon Fabric Paint, 25ml - Red.
The red band that edges the fabrics of my period worked nicely. Very easy to do. I used a 3/4" square "Short Flat" brush with synthetic bristles. For a sharper edge regular Cellotape/Scotch tape was used as a mask, burnishing it down with the back tip of a teaspoon in order to seal the edge more accurately. The end result was great. The edge did bleed fractionally. Very "period"! (I can live with this in this area.)
Application could not have been easier. Dip your paint brush in the paint jar and apply, filling in as you go along. I was impressed with the covering ability of the paint. Yes, I had to smooth small sections where there was some overlap and build-up but nothing major. The product dried fairly quickly and I was not working in a very hot space, keeping in mind that it's winter too. Lastly I loved the colour! I also loved the fact that the colour seeped through to the back of the fabric and gave me the effect of an almost 100% dyed visual. (I do need to do more variations on a theme but I think this will work well in most instances.)
Washing my test by hand and rinsing well I put it aside to dry and iron later.
Setting the paint into the fibres was a breeze Press the dry work with a hot iron, working over the area for a minute or two. Do use two pieces of fabric with the art between them as a preventative to getting any paint on your iron.
I've never worked with fabric paint before. OK. Yes. I am an illustrator with several decades experience behind me but still, ...
Selecting several scraps of various types of silk, they had been prepped (washed in Ecvover Delicate washing liquid*, tepid water by hand and with the minimum creasing or wringing out). Once dry they'd been ironed and set aside for later use. Remember too - NO fabric softener must be added at this point.
I chose to work on duppion and a tussah example and see what happened. As usual I worked out my guides in waterproof marker and proceeded from there.
Paint used: Dylon Fabric Paint, 25ml - Red.
The red band that edges the fabrics of my period worked nicely. Very easy to do. I used a 3/4" square "Short Flat" brush with synthetic bristles. For a sharper edge regular Cellotape/Scotch tape was used as a mask, burnishing it down with the back tip of a teaspoon in order to seal the edge more accurately. The end result was great. The edge did bleed fractionally. Very "period"! (I can live with this in this area.)
Application could not have been easier. Dip your paint brush in the paint jar and apply, filling in as you go along. I was impressed with the covering ability of the paint. Yes, I had to smooth small sections where there was some overlap and build-up but nothing major. The product dried fairly quickly and I was not working in a very hot space, keeping in mind that it's winter too. Lastly I loved the colour! I also loved the fact that the colour seeped through to the back of the fabric and gave me the effect of an almost 100% dyed visual. (I do need to do more variations on a theme but I think this will work well in most instances.)
Washing my test by hand and rinsing well I put it aside to dry and iron later.
Setting the paint into the fibres was a breeze Press the dry work with a hot iron, working over the area for a minute or two. Do use two pieces of fabric with the art between them as a preventative to getting any paint on your iron.
The cons?
Once the paint is applied to the fabric and dries you certainly are aware that something extra is on the fabric.
- Washing the garment once the embellishment is complete seems to be essential! (I had no problems with the paint either cracking or bleeding into the wash water.)
- You loose the sheen of the silk once the paint has dried.
- There is a small stiffness in the area which has been treated.
- Sewing a seam or hem by hand after the paint has been applied is going to take some effort!
Over all I'm quite pleased with the end results as far as convenience of application, stability, cost and time involved. A real delight was discovering that the paint does dilute into washes, much trickier to handle because of the water content versus bleed and control but the hue attained was lovely and shows clearly that this product can be successfully manipulated. I may yet end up working some areas up in layers of wash until I get the colour intensity I desire and see if I can maintain the gloss of the silk underneath.
* I find that Ecover delicate when used for hand washing silk does not remove the gloss.
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