I completely forgot to share the first round of dye class projects this semester!
( Read more... )

My dye class presented some of their projects today for the most recent unit, repetition techniques. This segment of the class covers a wide range of methods for creating surface designs on textiles involving repeat images, from screenprinting to blockprinting, stenciling to digital fabric printing. Check these out!


( Read more... )

My graduate students presented the next round of projects in dye class today, the focus of which is use of resist to create surface design on fabric. They decide upon a method, a fabric, and a dye to use, and must create a substantial length of fabric (the minimum requirement is 4 square feet, but most choose to do more surface area than that ( Read more... )

I have to admit, i got a bit jealous with all the great results my students got out of their shibori project and it made me itchy to do some of my own experiments. Spring Break provided a great opportunity to step into the dyeshop while everyone was gone and explore ( Read more... )

We have had some blizzards and ice storms in the past couple weeks which did wind up causing production delays for both our mainstage show and my grad students' projects. (It's hard to work on something when you can't leave the house to get to the facility to use the equipment to do the project...) So, the two remaining students completed their ( Read more... )

We've finished the first part of the graduate level dye class i teach, in which we cover the science portion of the subject (different classes of dyes and which fibers they work on, how the processes differ, how to discharge dyes/"color remove," etc.). We're now moving into the section that students usually find more fun, because it covers the ( Read more... )

This is a topic which comes up over and over on the email lists and discussion groups frequented by professional costumers--what single textbook could replace the out-of-print "industry bible" of Deborah Dryden's Painting and Dyeing for the TheatreAnd, yes, there are a lot of dye books out there to consider--comprehensive ones that cover a lot of ( Read more... )

My dye class has presented another project, and the topic this time around is print repeat techniques--creating multiple iterations of an image on fabric or on garments. We talk about all the different ways in which this can happen, from stenciling to block printing to screen printing to heat transfers to digital textile design. We discuss the pros ( Read more... )

Recall my post a few weeks back about the out-of-print status of my old dye-class standby text, Deborah Dryden's Fabric Painting and Dyeing for the Theatre, and my sub.

Today, i'm reviewing the second of four contenders: Elin Noble's Dyes & Paints: A Hands-On Guide to Coloring Fabric. This book was recommended to me by a colleague in academic and ( Read more... )

We're super busy on Cabaret, but i do have time to share a couple photos of our most recent dye class projects. Resists are the focus.

( Read more... )