Creating Texture with Dye - Resists

How do I Resist Thee??? Let me count the ways.......

ummmm nope....can't. There are so many types of resist (many of which have been covered here) I won't even attempt to count them. Cuz even if I did....some of you would come up with others and then what??? My count would be all off!!!  LOL!!

This is not actually a resist class. Most of you know SOME kind of resist you enjoy.  If you are looking for perhaps a new and different resist, check out the labels on the right sidebar of this blog. There are several there. What we want to do today is look at how we can use resists (with thickened dye) to create perceived texture.

Just for a refresher....

1)Take the fabric of your choice

2)Apply whatever resist you want to use in whatever manner you wish to use it to create the negative space.

3)When the resist is dry, apply the thickened dye

4)Process as usual for dyeing fabrics (batching/drying, rinsing, washing, drying, ironing, enjoying the results)

Here is a piece I did with baby cereal. (being a grandmother of 5 I did seem to accumulate several boxes of this stuff )

First I spread out the mixed baby cereal. The consistency will depend on just what you want to do. For this I added just enough water to maket it spreadable, not watery. I spread it on with a paint brush. Plus, my hands got into the act a bit in the spreading process. Not for the squeamish.

Next I hung in on the drying rack. The cereal resist was thick enough that it didn't drip or run. It stayed here until completely dry.

Then I bent the fabric a lot to "break" the resist so that it was cracked all over. The final part was to "paint" it all over with black dye. Now for the hard part.......waiting.....batching......  Finally it was all dry again. Next, I had to soak it in water in a bucket (didn't want all that cereal to go down my drain) until I could remove all the resist. wash, rinse, dry and iron and  VOILA!! A very textured looking piece!!!

Here on FIRE there was a presentation on sugar resists. Hey! How could I pass that one up!

Started with Pancake Syrup and a computer piece that shows up in a lot of my work just because I think it is so cool!!! Poured the syrup into a flat dish, dipped the computer piece in the syrup and stamped the resist onto the fabric and let it dry.

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Next I "painted" the dye over the dried resist. (I use my dyes as is or sometimes slightly thickened just like I use acrylic paints)

Do all the usual stuff...let it dry...rinse all the stuff off...wash...dry...iron and here is the result. I can so see this used in an art quilt as lake or puddle in the rain....or little kids tossing stones into the lake.

If you are interested in more about sugar resists...just check out the right side bar on this blog and under the heading "LABELS" you will find previous posts on this technique.

OK!! It's mid week now. I'll have another post tomorrow and then for the next 3 Fridays in August, we will be having what I'm calling Free For All Fridays!! Time for me to show off all of YOUR talent! I'll be posting photos of all YOUR work that you wish to e-mail me on the topic of the week!  One more time...my e-mail is

Kelly@KellyLHendrickson.com

Keep those photos coming in! This week send me photos of your work with dye that has created some interesting perceived textures!