Why can't this silk just iron itself?

It’s very simple to make your own print table. First, pick a table that is roughly the right size that you don’t care too much about (just in case). Then lay down a cut open garbage bag. On top of this put down a layer of polyester quilt batting. On top of that put down a flat sheet you don’t care about.


Pin it tight with t-pins (begin with the corners then pull it tight by pinning under the table).


Now you are all set to pin some fabric to it!!!


The first thing you need to know about dye printing with natural dyes is that whatever fabric you’re using needs to be mordanted and dried before pinning it to the table. For your first tests, I recommend cutting 3 squares of silk, mordanting one alum, one iron, and one either oxalic acid or copper. That way you chttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifan see the color differences between them almost instantly! (How awesome!) I did this experiment the first time I tried printing/painting with natural dyes… Check it out on my website!

Next, you will need some sort of print paste medium. Traditionally, Gum Tragacanth (a derivative of a bean in Turkey and Morocco) was used, which is supposed to be very similar to Guar Gum… however I hated using Guar Gum. It’s my preference to use Monogum (the print paste medium used most often to do bleach printing). It’s really easy—1tbsp per 1/2cup of natural dye concentrated water! Whisk about 2 minutes and wait. And voila! Natural dye paste!

Now that you have mordanted yarn and print paste with dye in it, you need to t-pin your fabric to your table. Pin from the outside of the table towards the inside. Pick a corner to start in and pin about every 4” down that edge. Then go down the opposite edge starting in the middle. Now for the next two sides, begin in the middles, and go evenly each direction on each side. This will keep your fabric evenly in tension. It doesn’t have to be tight like a drum, but you want it tight enough that if your fabric has a few wrinkles they’re stretched flat. Masking tape over your t-pins (or they’ll get gross and it’s no fun).

Now you need to take into consideration what you are printing with. Do you have a stencil cut out? Do you have awesome ferns you cut from the forest? Do you have potato stamps? Sponge stamps? Ect… I did a combination of stencil and found materials today. If you’re using a stencil you need to measure out your repeat. The repeat is how many of them there are across and how many going up and down. Mark this on your stencil, then pick a corner (usually I start with the bottom left) and measure up the incriments on your tape, and then across on your tape. This helps with registration. **PLEASE NOTE: I was not going for perfect registration today. I was perfectly happy with good enough, it looks like a straight line. If you’re going to do a perfect repeat you probably want to have someone show you in person, it can be a little tricky.

Once your table’s made, your fabric is pinned and taped, your print paste is made, and you have something to print, the only thing you need now is an apron and a sponge brush. Then go at it!!