It's done!

I'm Super Spec today: facing impossible challenges against all odds. Consequently, this won't be too wordy.

Here's the fabric of the moment, fully painted, waiting for washout:


The sheet underneat is cool, too. I'm planning to use a length of cotton, prepped and ready as my undersheet next time (in about 10 minutes):


Shot this on the clothesline for a full view. It's breezy today. The photo's a bit washed out:


And a bit closer:


That's it for today! Super Spec must fly away.

Color!

Here's what happened Friday morning:


Followed up by a little:


Now, I'm not intending for the background to be yellow. I want it to be green....with yellow lines. So, I'm trying to think of this like a batik project, where there's a gradual build of color.

And I also have a lot to learn. Some people let their fabric dry, others cover it and let it batch:

I felt good about this except that when I took the plastic off, the resist lines were tacky. This was worrisome to me. And then, the fabric took forever to dry. I probably could have left it uncovered and been just fine.

The other lesson I learned was this:

The Dreaded Crocking!!
The color from the petal wicked across the sheet underneath my fabric and then placed color on the other side of the resist line. It didn't just bleed through the resist line. I'm really a closet silk painter, but am too lazy for all the fuss that silk painters put into their prep. Often there is great care taken in attaching the fabric to a frame, so nothing is touching the table. This prevents Dreaded Crocking, even though too much paint will bleed across a line. I suspect allowing the table to dry out completely before adding the petal color would have prevented this. Or maybe more thickener in the dye....that would have made a difference. Either way, I'm calling it a happy accident.

And now, the reveal:


I still have another layer of resist and a final layer of color before this piece is done. Will issue a full report at the end!

Table: The Maiden Voyage

That's right. I had to whip out some fabric and lay a hurt on it:


Up until the birth of my print table, I'd been doing this kind of thing on 4' x 8' sheets of foam insulation. Getting the pins to stay in was problem A. Keeping the sheet from bowing while stretching fabric taut made me absolutely crazy. So, imagine my delight when the pins stayed where I pinned them---without sinking into the surface or popping out at the worst possible time---and the fabric stretched like a dream.

I put the last pin in and broke into a fit of geek-snort laughter. What is that? Well have you seen the commercial for identity theft that ends with the line, '...my Girl robot,'? A nasal-y, throaty 'hee, hrr, hee', interjected with well placed snorts. That's geek-snort laughter. And tonight, I was giddy with it.

Now, what's going on with the fabric? It called for a little corn dextrin resist, so I broke out my trusty:

...and whomped up a batch of hot dextrin. It's lumpy, I know. But can you really expect me to use a seive in a moment of evil genius? No! Thank goodness there was one T-pin left over. It served well as a squeeze bottle unclogger.

Now I'm waiting for the dextrin to dry. After that, there will be a layer of dye, some drying, followed by more dextrin and dye. It's fabulous in my head. Let's see if it ends up that way.

One last view of the design:


Until tomorrow....
Funky C.

A Table is Born

Welcome to the birth of my new PRINT TABLE!! Yeah, I'm yellin'. Just a little excited here.



Features include two storage shelves, a vertical bin on the end for storing silk screens, 4 wheels, two of which lock. The table is 4' x 10', big enough to print 3 yards at a time.

Here we have the elves adding the oil based paint, two coats please:

Painting done:


Then, two layers of plain ol' felt from JoAnn Fabrics, wrapped and stapled:


Finish with one layer of unbleached cotton twill (denim), wrong side up:


And Voila! I'm cookin' with gas.