When one thinks of tie-dyeing the first thing that comes to mind is hippie spiral shirts in extremely blinding colours. while doing an internship I spent two years working for Melanie Brummer, a tie-dye artist who has dyed many fabrics that have appeared on catwalks around the world and I learnt that this art form can be very stylish.
In these two years where I had learnt so much about various techniques of dyeing various fabrics I have become quite addicted to dyeing fabrics and have made it my main specialty within Textile Design. simple dyeing turned into product development and for a range in my fourth year I dyed 12 wall hangings of 2m x 1m each on pure cottons and silks using multiple processes of dyeing in different colours layered over each other and adding hand stitching to add texture and depth.
This project inspired the range of scatter pillows that I had the opportunity to sell at DecoreX and in the space of two month I dyed, stitched and made over one hundred scatter pillows. After this endeavor I thought that I am cured of my dyeing addiction, but then i saw a new technique.
Dyeing with ice has entered my world and I am dying to try it. I find myself lying awake at night thinking of various ways to try this new technique and I cannot wait to finish my exams, buy fabric and try it.
So what is the moral of my story?
It is quite simple: I have found something that just keeps on exciting me. Dyeing fabrics is very unpredictable and even making one hundred pieces in five different patterns I was always excited to see the result. No matter how much the process is controlled and standardized, each piece looks different. Try dyeing some fabric, it really is a whole universe of possibility and you might be surprised at what you can do.
Peace and love
Clara
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