Wednesday, August 17, 2011

August's Tart Kit: Spraying Silk


Susan's spiral sample shows the layers of silk that have been sprayed with Dye-na-flow and sandwiched into a small quilted piece. This is an example of this month's kit where you will color silk with droplets of paint sprayed onto the surface. You have three types of silk, three colors of Dye-na-flow, and  a spray bottle. Use the newspaper included in the kit to make a mask or a stencil you have at home to create a pattern on the silks. The three colors will blend to make secondary colors and an interesting painted surface.

Cut or tear the newspaper and lay it over the silk fabric. You may want to cut multiples of the same shape to use in the second or third layering.


Dilute the paint with water so that it will spray from the pump. Spray the first color over the fabric and stencil, making sure you do not oversaturate the fabric.


Remove the stencil and replace it in another position with the white unpainted areas open to the next layer of paint. You will be masking some of the area which has the first color.


Continue spraying and repositioning the stencil until you have achieved the desired results.



Instead of using a stencil, try pleating the silk. Press with an iron to hold the pleats. Spray the first color onto the surface of the fabric.




Open the fabric and refold into pleats in another position - possibly 180 degrees from the first folds. Press and spray with a second color.



By folding or bunching the silk, you can create color on the surface that is visible.


 
Refolding or rebunching and spraying with another color will give you an interesting surface of droplets of color. Set the color with your iron and you are ready to piece the silk into your next art quilt.


Cut the smaller pieces of silk into narrow strips and spray with multiple colors to use as accents or ruffles.