I think I mentioned to you guys already that I’ve been working on some techniques to make my scarf painting a little more watercolour styled. I think I’ve got it much closer to a point that I’m happy with now and I’m having much more fun with it!
These are two scarves I made as gifts recently.
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For all of my fabric painting I use Opulence silk dyes because they dilute really well and are fairly easy to control.  The basic technique is really easy. Just wet the fabric and then squeeze most of the water out. I’m using a basic cheap muslin.
 Hang it up somewhere that it doesn’t matter if it gets messy. I used my shower door.
 The water all over it will get patchy as it dries. You can add more or less water depending on the design you’re going for.
 Slowly drip paint into areas where there is water. You will notice that the paint only travels along the water veins. You can add more water or keep it dry so the paint is quite vibrant.
  Add a second colour overlapping the first. I use colours which are similar in tone.
   Allow the first layers to dry and then repeat wetting areas and adding paint.
    The effects you get depend entirely on your control of the paint and how much/little water it has to move around in. I like to add spots of water after the dye to move it around even more.
  As it dries the paint is sucked to the edges of the designs so they look more vibrant.
  Keep layering over and over until you’re happy with the designs.
 With the blue and purple version I used much larger areas of water.
   Once the design is how you like, just heat seal them with an iron and give them a final wash out.
 The colours are so vibrant and pretty.
   The crushable muslin makes a really nice fabric for a Summer scarf.
      So there you go, another technique to add to your arsenal!
 Now I need to stock up on some more actual silk and give this a try with that as well! |
