10.08.2012

watercolors

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Many moons ago, when I was just a young buck in grad school, I discovered the joys of watercolor. Having devoted the majority of my young adulthood to studying oil painting (I mean, is there any other medium if you're going to be a serious painter? Wink...) it felt somewhat naughty and subversive to put down the turpentine and fill a jar with water, pin some paper to the wall and set to work, letting the colors bleeeed. I didn't do anything super cool or smart with those watercolors - I just painted still lives - huge still lives - of all the dirt and crap that was sitting around my studio (I kept a very untidy studio.)

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little details of those watercolors...

I don't know that I've ever really given the full story on this blog of how I made the switch from painting to sewing, but that's because there really isn't much to tell. I think like a lot of people that pursue a passion extremely hard, I just experienced burnout and needed a break. I also never stopped working with art and artists on a daily basis, albeit in a much different capacity, and so it has never been far from my mind. But the long and short of it is: Shortly after moving to Houston with Nick, I stopped painting. Around this same time I received a sewing machine for my birthday (for lack of any other birthday ideas, Nick suggested I ask my parents for a sewing machine - that man is clairvoyant sometimes, I swear...) and left it sitting in a box for a number of months. Finally my fingers started to itch for a creative outlet and I buckled down and learned how to thread my machine and sew my first few tentative stitches...

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One of my earliest frustrations with sewing was with my fabric choices. Perhaps I'm exceptionally picky, but I was never happy with the prints readily available to me at the local fabric stores. I find it exceptionally frustrating when you have a mental image of your dream garment only to find that the fabric in your minds eye simply does not exist!! You guys have seen enough of my makes to know that I tend to favor loose, abstract prints with a hand drawn/painted quality. Prints that looks like I might have made them...

So from the very beginning I've had "learning to hand dye fabric" on my sewing bucket list. This summer I got really excited to see that The Art of Cloth Dyeing was being offered as a class on Craftsy.   I enrolled and began leisurely working my way through the classes, not really taking notes or doing any of the techniques shown, but just trying to get more information on how dyes work, what you need, steps, etc. My husband, Nick, kept raising his eyebrows at me because much of the samples shown in the class are what I might call "fancy tie-dye." While I think some of these immersion dyeing methods can yield really beautiful and unusual results - and I plan to try them out in the future - I was really watching this class with my own agenda in mind.

What I really wanted to do was direct application dyeing. So after waiting patiently for a few months until I had enough money to gather supplies, I finally put in an order with Dharma Trading Company (anyone watch Lost...?) for some bulk fabric, chemicals and a small selection of procion dyes.

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This past weekend I hand painted my first length of fabric - three yards of some diaphanous silk habotai (habutai?) I had to work very quickly (thats the reason why all these pictures show me with my dust mask and gloves on) just barely touching my brush to the fabric and letting it bleed outward. The more layers I put on the looser my "hand" became and I began to have fun letting the colors mix and travel directly on the fabric. It reminded me very much of how much joy I used to find in those grad school watercolors, touching my brush to a surface...


xx

51 comments:

  1. This is so cool! It's a little dream of mine trying to paint and dye my own fabric designs. I can't wait to see what you make with this one.

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  2. So cool, Sallie! I really enjoy your posts about sketching and artwork. Your watercolors - so rebellious and awesome, I think it's possibly a more difficult medium than oil (or at least mysterious to me). I've done oil painting since I was a tot and totally get the "serious medium" thing. I've wanted to learn how to dye fabric for a long time, even have the things I need from Dharma but haven't had a go yet. Can't wait to see what you make up with your fun handpainted fabric :)

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  3. Wow! This looks so cool! I love that you're now fusing two mediums-- it's almost like seeing a collaboration between two artists. Really interesting! I'm going to a shibori workshop tonight-- something I've wanted to try for a while, but not really in a small apartment with two dogs running around. It's dangerously "tie-dye", but we'll see!

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  4. love your watercolor still lives - lighting is absolutely fantastic! also - looking forward to see what you gonna make from your unique new fabric :)

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  5. I'm de-lurking to say hello, and that your art is just as stunning as your garments! After drawing and painting my whole life (and majoring in studio arts in college), I haven't really touched my paints (I do watercolor and cheap-o acrylic) since I began sewing 4 years ago.
    I'd like to think I'll get back into it someday... but then again, I might not. I can't force it.

    Fabric painting seems like a lovely marriage of both passions. I can't wait to see what you make out of this wonderful silk!

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  6. That fabric is awesome as are your watercolors!! I actually have some unopened procion dyes and chemicals I ordered from Dharma before realizing that the process gives me a major asthma attack (even with a mask/respirator). If you have any interest in them, let me know, they've just been sitting under my sewing table all sadddddd.

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  7. wow, sallie. just wow. ever fancy a trade of art for, i don't know, something sewn, my firstborn, i'm your girl.

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  8. i think your talent at art explains your supreme style when it comes to sewing ;)

    but fo' real tho, that fabric looks like it's going to make a super cool hi-lo hem dress or something hip like that. i really like the "bleeding" effect of the dots!

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  9. I can't wait to see what you make with this. I find something extremely satisfying about dyeing or painting fabric and then sewing something with it. Something about seeing a project through from start to finish-- almost totally handmade. Now if I could just weave the fabric, too, I'd be set! :) You're watercolors are amazing. I'm an art major that started with watercolor (technically my concentration was printmaking) who has only recently dabbled in oil painting. I tend to be a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.

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  10. It's just gorgeous... I've always wondered if 'painting' your own fabric like this would be possible. Can't wait to see what kind of creation it turns into!

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  11. How cool to reconnect with an old passion and merge it with a new one!

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  12. This rules. Seriously, you are my sewing/awesome blog hero.

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  13. I know exactly what you mean about imagining prints and then finding nothing even close in the stores. I look forward to seeing what evolves.... looks beautiful so far, I am a sucker for watercolors.

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  14. I love to hear you talk about painting, its clearly something your very passionate about. Your watercolors are stunning, and so is your newly painted fabric. I'm very excited to see what you do with it. I love that you've given a whole new layer of creativity to your wearable creations :) Mx

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  15. this got me so excited that I can't even form a proper complimentary comment.... so yeah, I love it! I want to do it too!

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  16. Beautiful...!
    I spattered a length of satin with a whole bunch of fabric paints once, for the same reasons you are painting your own fabric, and made a ballgown. It was pretty out there, but being one of the few really creative things I have done it is still one of my favourites! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you do with this divine print :)

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  17. Your story is very interesting, and I have no doubt your fabric will become a fantastic garment.

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  18. Wow! You're so talented, those watercolours are beautiful. Can't wait to see what your fabric turns in to.

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  19. Oh I'm so glad you've taken the plunge! Can't wait to see the finished product! I know you've wanted to try this for awhile... Artists are artists forever , the medium is just the vehicle.

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  20. I'm really excited to see what you make with that habotai Sallie. I'm so impressed that you've taken clothes creation a step further - like the true artist and free spirit you are!

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  21. Thanks Joanne! My wheels are turning...

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  22. Thanks ZoSews!

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  23. Thank you Crystal - I hope I don't disappoint!

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  24. Thank you Carolyn! The ballgown sounds amazing!

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  25. You should! Its actually fairly easy - a bit intimidating the first time because there's always this fear that something didn't work - but it did!

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  26. Thanks Molly! I'm really hoping that this opens up some doors for me creatively.

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  27. Me too! Thanks Robin.

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  28. It is! And its (fairly) easy - if a bit of a project. But if you're looking for a project you should totally go for it!

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  29. Oh my gosh! I've totally had that same thought about weaving the fabric - and it wasn't entirely a joke, either! Yes, I love the follow through with dyeing my own fabric. Funny you mentioned printmaking - I've always thought that in a weird round about way sewing was like printmaking - very process oriented...

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  30. Oh I like that idea...it definitely needs to get made into something that flows...

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  31. I will keep it in mind!! Haha!

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  32. Yes! Would love to give them a new home!!

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  33. Hey Xenia Katie! I'm so glad you commented - especially since it sounds like we've had a very similar 4 years! I never thought I'd be sewing my own clothes, or living in Texas, or married, or doing half the stuff I've done in the last couple of years - so I'm not willing to say that I'll NEVER make art again. But, like you, I'm also not going to force it one way or the other. I know its always something I can go back to. Dyeing that silk was really satisfying... so... who knows!

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  34. Thanks Mokosha! I'm not sure yet what I'll make with it yet! Still thinking thinking thinking...

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  35. Ooooh I always wanted to do shibori! I especially love the shibori I've seen with the classic Japanese indigo ink. Have fun in your class - I'd love to hear how it went. Also super jealous that you live somewhere where you can just take a shibori workshop... but I guess the tradeoff is I have an obscenely large hallway in which to experiment with dyeing (and extra rooms with doors to lock the dog and cat in...)

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  36. Thank you Caitlin! Watercolor definitely requires a mental switch from oils. For me its a lot more like drawing than painting, honestly - which might be why I liked it (I was always a better draw-er than a painter, despite that painting major...) You should totally jump into dyeing your own fabric! You could just make some beautiful silk scarves or something first - something that isn't a huge commitment of space or resources...

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  37. Oh I bet you'd make beautiful fabric! I hope you take the leap someday soon!

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  38. I love love love love love love watercolours. They've always been my favourite medium - so ethereal and delicate - when they work it seems like magic. And I've been lucky enough to be immortalized TWICE by my insanely talented friends in WC.... all this to say that seeing you getting jiggy with that silk and dye makes me extremely happy. I was wondering where your fabric was going to come from in your sketches last week.... silly me, of course Sallie is making her own! I can't WAIT to see the final {magic} product. BTW, isn't Dharma great? There silk organza is criminally cheap....

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  39. Oh this would be such an addictive thing to get into. We just stayed with friends who live a block away from Dharma Trading in San Rafael and I went whack buying some dyes. They are a wealth of information in there. I love, love watercolor and any prints that look like it. Can't wait to see what this will become!

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  40. Having made the transition from fine art to graphic design, to cooking, to sewing, and everything in between, i TOTALLY relate to the need for a variety of creative outlets. Doing graphic design as a career totally negated the pleasure I felt in doing it for personal reasons, so I needed creative outlets that were less and less relative to my profession.


    I have been to Dharma trading's site many, MANY times, window shopping and daydreaming about hand painting and dying my own silk. I'm so glad you took the plunge and did it, because it somehow makes it easier for me to imagine doing the same thing ^__^ Sewing to me, especially once I began learning fitting techniques and fabric manipulation, became in my mind, like a form of 'wearable art' and this type of project you're doing just reinforces that idea!

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  41. Daah! This is so awesome! Your fabric looks fantastic! I am like you (although I never majored in painting), any artistic technique is suddenly five times more interesting if I can put it on fabric. Did you know you can also use stamps and different inks? When I figured that out I was like PRINT MY OWN FABRIC?!? YES please!! I also LOVE batik, but watch out, it's addictive, and also has the added bonus of the lovely smell of warm beeswax permeating the space where you work. . .

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  42. i am so totally deadly serious, though i have no idea what i could possibly think up to trade that would be worth your art! it's exquisite. excited to see your sketched dress in this habotai!

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  43. Sallie, you should check out the fabric designs on spoonflower.com by c'est_la_viv. the fabric designs feel free and are watercolor based. might provide inspiration.

    http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/c%27est_la_viv

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  44. You are so insanely talented. I love seeing any and all of your paintings.

    The shots of you dyeing are darling! Loooove Dharma (and love/hate Lost).

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  45. Sorry I didn't see this sooner... I was in NYC this past weekend. Your history with painting and drawing has been very neat to read about. What's even better is how you're applying your skills in painting and drawing to the world of sewing. You're doing something different in the sewing community and that's rare to find.

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  46. I definitely relate to not finding the fabrics that fit the mental image of what I want to make. This fabric you're making looks beautiful. I hadn't thought of direct application with procion dyes. Smart! Can't wait to see what you make:)

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  47. OH!! I am always so jealous of painters! I think for me, that has always been the ultimate artistic expession. I'd love to see more of your work.
    That fabric looks soooo beautiful!! I was really into the idea of fabric printing and dyeing, lately. The shibori class was realization of a long held desire. But I resisted buying supplies. This sneak peek at your work is making me get the itch again.

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  48. Wowzer I had no idea what a talented painter you were!! I love the idea of transiting from painting to sewing; 2d to 3d... My Mum was an illustrator before picking up a crochet needle and then swiftly starting her own fashion label. It seems like the logical creative evolution. Your fabric is divine! I've been messing about with fabric paints recently (in a totally infantile kinda way!) but am really itching to try out batik...

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  49. Love it-the colour combination is awesome. I too refer direct application-although I'm very interested in learning proper Shibori techniques (i.e. Japanese kimono cloth not hippie tie-dye..). Have you ever tried Pebeo? Their transparent range is perfect for the water colour effect. Here's a skirt I did years ago (my first self-drafted thing-painted free-hand) and another I stencilled with a badly drawn stencil XD. Everything I've painted after has been after sewing up the garment, I find it easier to get perfect print placement and that way I'm not wasting paint and effort on bits that'll end up cut off and binned.. Can't wait for semester to end-thanks for the inspiration =D

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  50. Wow! This is exactly the kick I needed to seriously look into this. How did you pretreat the fabric? The Dharma site is very clear on how to use the dye and all the chemicals when painting directly onto fabric, but doesn't seem to say anything about the state the fabric should be in. And how much dye did you need?


    http://annettetirette.blogspot.com

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  51. The patterns put me in awe. Your ideas results to some creative
    Flint

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