What I DIDN'T do was share her postcard to me! For her birthday, Emma requested cards from 50 participants, and she agreed to send all 50 of us a postcard in return. Well, hers got to me first! And here it is:
I love the colors, stitching, the gold peeking through, and the general yummy-ness. Didn't she have a cool idea for celebrating her 50th? I remember when I had my 50th I wore googly eyes and a Cinderella paper tiara on my head all day. And no one really noticed because I'd worn that a few days earlier, too. But it was my birthday, that's my point.But, enough about gorgeous women having 50th birthdays. I MUST tell you about this Setacolor thing. Setacolor is a sun-activated fabric dye. I don't even remember how I heard about it, but I did. Here's a video.
Well, I bought a bottle of transparent green and a bottle of transparent blue, and I tried it today. Here is the portion of fabric I painted, dying in the sun.
I used a stencil sheet for my pattern, but as you will see on the video, you can use natural elements like leaves and Coco-Puffs cereal**, as well. Or, cut-outs of buildings or a Pez Dispenser. Whatever you want!After a while, of course, the fabric dries in the sun, and when you remove your template, guess what? The pattern is dyed right onto the fabric!! Here's the finished bit.
It will be much bolder and clearer with my next go. I made the mistake of removing the stencil before it was completely dry, and had to replace it. That's why some of the lines aren't quite sharp. But it's still awesome! I have some self-cut stencils to try next and more ideas for fabric patterns crowding into my head and replacing the trigonometry (which has really proved to be useless). When you can create your own patterns and dye your own fabric, your fabric postcards and journals can be even more original!**Now that I think about it, when I tried the Coco-Puffs it didn't really work as well. Cheerios is probably a better sun-dying cereal choice.
Next up: Scout refuses to lie still on the fabric for the full half-hour and ends up with just one ear.
8 comments:
well, I think your sun-fabric turned out great! beautiful color and will make a lovely background or fodder for collage...maybe another beautiful postcard! cool stuff...
Oh Chris! The second go with the butterflies is much better! I can't even imagine how you ever got the stencil back on so that it matched exactly where it was in the first place!
I can not wait to see what you come up with next!
Just love the colors swirled together and then the pattern. Whatcha going to make with it???
This is tres cool! the mind boggles at all the stuff one could use for stencils - I see a play day coming up!
Erin
How gorgeous this fabric turned out!! I love the color and the stencil pattern... and will be looking forward to seeing how you use it... roxanne
That is so cool! I wonder if how it works on silk... hmmmmmm.
I got a postcard from Emma too, it is just gorgeous! And the paints, how fun that you are experimenting with them! I just got a bunch of sun dyes for fabric too, though I don't know what brand they are. I'm waiting for some sunshine now. :-)
Wow - that fabric is totally yummy. I might have dribbled a bit when I saw it. I must remember that Cinderella tiara thing for my 50th, it sounds just right. x
Your butterfly pattern is very pretty. Mistake? Not too bad of a mistake. Use mistakes to an advantage. Fluttering butterfly wings in motion.
I like how you cut your own stencils. I was thinking of making stencil patterns from thin plastic sheets... but now I see it's easier to cut them from heavy paper.
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