Rust Dyeing

Well at last I have sorted out my rust dyeing..  The cans that I put to soak back in the winter have rusted nicely and I also have one or two other items, notably an old striker plate.  I was also lent a very long twisted piece of marine detritus but my attempts to wrap cloth round it were not very successful.  However, I think that thanks to all the good weather I have now learnt what I have to do.  I find the cans a bit frustrating because they are quite small and consequently so are my samples.

Here is one where I used a piece of previously dyed cloth that was waiting to have something more done to it.  I have some other dyed fabric that I think might benefit from this treatment so that is my next plan.  I stocked up on malt vinegar at Tesco this afternoon!

Here is one made from keys.  Changing the front door lock proved a useful source of objects.
I think this has potential because they look a bit like trees.  As the fabric is linen I might try to embroider it at some point.

The can does make a good impression.  I have several like this and it has given me a journal quilt.

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I was reminded of some photos I took at Hayle harbour a couple of years ago so this one seemed to fit my theme of water.

And one of the prints from the striker plate worked quite well so that has formed the basis of another journal quilt.

The entrance to Hayle harbour is shallow and has to be marked, a bit like the Venice pilone so that was my inspiration for the patterns of the hand quilting.

This one is mounted on a piece of hand-dyed and quilted 'sea' fabric.  That is absolutely the last scrap of a piece that I dyed shibori style by wrapping around a pole when I was studying with Committed to Cloth six years ago.  So now it is panic stations to produce some more especially as a group of us who are members of the St Ives Arts Club are planning a craft fair the first weekend in October and I need some work for that.  Down here that means things related to the sea and lots of blue.  I have bought some Navy-Indigo procion dye because I don't want to go the whole hog with an indigo vat, and I have started to work on ways of making more sea fabric.  More in the next posting.