Arts Projects For Anyone to create for your entire Wellbeing. !

Arts Projects For Anyone to create for your entire Wellbeing. !
Inspiring art creation for the home, at school, and community. (Above image from the school meadow in bloom)

Monday, March 30, 2020

Fabric and Paper Dyeing Techniques





Hi Everyone! Virtual week day one! Favorite school shirt and/or sunglasses! I chose my new staff school shirt Mr. Lowe bought us at the start of this year. All the staff wore their shirt on the first day of school so the new parents would be able to identify staff for help. It worked wonderfully!

A few weeks later CW had their annual 5K to raise money for the school, exercise, and to welcome the community! We also had music and a tie-dye station! I decided to tie-dye my staff shirt and it came out amazing! I used the Shibori style- Dating back to the 8th century, Shibori is a traditional Japanese manual technique which resists the covered areas of fabric, thus producing a hidden first layer of the fabric once removed. Typically, under color= white and dye color= indigo. Many resist methods can be used- string, wood press, or even rubber bands! The trick is to stop the color from touching those hidden layers. Once you figure that out, you can create many beautiful patterns! I was really interested in this technique in college.

I hope everyone is staying safe. I miss you all.

#WeAreCookWiss #CWVirtualSpiritWeek



Bought this beauty at the Philadelphia Cherry Blossom festival last year 2019 for only $10 and cleaned it. Handmade from Japan in the Shibori style! Look at that incredible detail!


Dye Projects for Home:

1. Create a dye Swatch book for your reference.  

What is a dye swatch book? It's just pieces of paper or fabric that you pin to a board or put in a scrapbook or journal with notes. This way you can refer back to and remember what was used, how much, and what you did. 
  • First you want to collect fabric scrap pieces that you might have or different kinds of paper.
  • Next set up your natural dyes (see below) for you to test pieces with.
  • Keep a good log with the fabric you used, what dye you used and how log it soaked for.
  • This information is useful when creating a final art piece. 

2. Create natural dyes with materials from home. 

Did you know you can mix and create natural dyes with foods, plants, and spices you already have in your home? Simple items like leftover coffee grounds, tea bags, turmeric, and ground parsley can create beautiful colors for you to use to paint with or dye fabric with. 

3. Create your own dyed paper, painting, or fabric piece.



Now that you know the basics lets put all that information together!  (Disclaimer-online images used for dye examples were not my own)
  • Some ideas for fun could include dyeing old clothes to give them a new look (make sure you ask for permission first kiddos!) 
  • Dyeing White or off White Natural Yarn
  • Dyeing an old Bag or Tote
  • Painting on different kinds of papers. 
    • Use the papers for later for collage, gift wrapping, or drawing on!

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