having fun

having fun

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Men's Ties - start to finish


Early last spring I decided to make make men's ties for my fall art fair shows. It took months to get my head wrapped around switching gears - from sewing and "doing lunch" to dying yardage.

I participate in a small design group - we meet weekly at my home. There was interest in trying soy wax batik. Soy is supposed to be far friendlier to the environment, less hazardous and easier to remove than traditional paraffin and bees wax formulas. I found it a pain to remove totally and lines far less crisp. It could have been operator error and others seem to have better results. But I glop wax on, moderation a fleeting thing.

I dyed one yard pieces of silk. Dye on, wax on, dye on, wax on. This is the scene on my patio table - for weeks, it seemed.




Samples of the fabrics in process. I used a square wooden chop on this piece. Layering the dye and the wax, attempting to vary the dye color with each application and the placement of the chop.

I used a sumi brush for this piece -

These are the 4 final fabrics that headed off to the tie maker downtown L.A.

The ties will premier this weekend at Artistic License Art Fair . Hoping for a great show and a nice weekend -