This weekend, I worked on some more dyeing. I had heard about the fabric Radiance PFD by Robert Kaufman and wanted to see how this 55% cotton/45% silk fabric would take both Procoin dye and rust.
On the left, you can see the results of three buckets that I dyed using my own mix and Ann Johnston's Value Parfait recipe guidelines.
I love the sheen and the colors, but I notice that since the silk has more sheen, and probably since the silk absorbs color differently, there isn't as much variation as there would be in 100% cotton dyed with the same recipes and stirred in the same manner. You can see this most clearly in the mid and deep range values of the green and the red.
Lessons learned:
--Stir less,
--Mix the dyes in more widely varying mixtures,
--Use smaller buckets. Something more along the lines of a large yogurt cartoon would be better than the 1 gallon ice cream buckets I usually use.
On the right are two small pieces of radiance that I rust dyed. I love the way the radiance takes the rust. It lifts the rust more quickly and it takes it more crisply than the other cottons I've tried.
If you've played with Radiance and have any tips to share, I'd love to hear them.
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5 comments:
I have not worked with Radiance, but I like the way the rusted fabric looks. Perhaps I should order some with my next order for cotton. I also like your July series. Reminds me of what summer should be, not the cool rainy summer we've been having here in the Northeast.
Beautiful work! Thanks for sharing.
I just ordered 3 yards of the Radiance to play with. Love the way it took the rust. Did you use the usual vinegar technique?
Isn't the Radiance fun stuff? I have gobs of it still to play with, having just used it to make my son's wedding chuppah (the canopy under which Jewish weddings take place). You're right about there being less of the crystalline line pattern than when dyeing with cotton; in the borders of the chuppah, it looked more like mistaken blotches than the several-colored crinkled pattern I was going for. Oh well - lots to experiment with here. Yours look beautiful!
Judy, Yeah, I'll post my technique on the web when I have the wording just right. I use the vinegar full strength, wrap it loosely in plastic, and let it stew for about 24 hours (when I'm feeling patient). Then I rinse with washing soda and hot water and then I was it again in hot water. I also always scrub my fabric with Washing soda and hot water before I dye it, even if it's listed as PFD.
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