Judith's Stitching Journey: Module 2: Chapter 6

A trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show in November proved to be a happy hunting ground for monochrome abstract fabrics and I bought quite a large selection. These are what I've used for all the patchwork samples in the next chapter.

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My attempts at dying fabric using Dylon Velvet Black cold water dye, met with mixed results. I am delighted with the patterning, but the colour was a long way from black. I love the blue and if it proves to be unusable for this course I shall have a very attractive patchwork throw for my settee.

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After some thought and another trip to town where I bought a dark brown dye, mixed that with the black dye in equal amounts, and voila! Black samples. The difference in shades are down to the amount of time the samples were left in the dye bath.

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I did some samples of black fabric (100% cotton) in bleach using the same techniques - tie dye and stitched samples - with some interesting results. These, it seemed, depended on whether I used a thin bleach or a thick bleach. First the samples using thin bleach ... some of these have developed some very attractive coppery toned areas.

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Then those where I used thick bleach ... much paler greys despite them having been left in the bleach for only the same amount of time as the earlier samples.

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The dyeing and bleaching proved to be quite addictive as I never knew exactly what I would find when I unwrapped the little bundles, or removed the stitched threads. However, it was time to stop and try other ways of colouring the fabric. I used fabric paint on my gelli plate to do a small selection of samples.