Sloppy Monoprints

Beth and I got together on Friday and played with thickened dye.  Since it is "Monoprint Month" I suggested we make some more monoprints and Beth had the perfect technique lovingly called sloppy monoprinting.

First we covered up Beth's print table with a large sheet of plastic. Second we marked the plastic with tape to indicate the measurements of our fabric. Then came the sloppy fun; we spread thickened dye on the  plastic. Now if it had been paint, it would have laid nicely and behaved but because it was thickened dye it bubbled on the plastic making wonderful bubbly patterns. 

We laid the fabric on the dye,  rubbed with our hands and with a credit card, then peeled off the fabric and draped it over the railing on Beth's porch.  One layer done.

We repeated the steps till we liked the results. Then we batched the fabric.  Here are my first attempts at this technique (washed, dried, and ironed) and some detail shots.  I used cotton/bamboo fabric and both were 1 yard pieces.

This technique makes a great first layer for a whole cloth masterpiece or some wonderful material for cutting up and using in a pieced quilt.