Wavy Lines
Resist dyeing using avocado skins and overdyeing with indigo.
On a large piece of white linen fabric, I made long horizontal stitches and pulled the threads so the fabric bunched up and folded like an accordion. Then I dyed the fabric in a bath of avocado pits. It came out warm orangey tan with streaks in darker shades (not pink as many natural dyers advertise, but most likely I didn’t do it with the right temperature or pH).
As someone who is relatively new to making things, it is difficult to make something that I want. I don’t have enough experience to know how the dye job will turn out. It’s difficult to plan a project without knowing much. If I somehow saw my hand made objects displayed in a store I would not be remotely interested in them.
This project was one of the first times where I felt, ‘yes, I’d like to have that.’
I liked how the orange tan reminded me of the desert, however, in warmer lighting, it looked more dull, more brown. Getting the shade of color seems an impossible task.
Avocado skins from a local Chipotle restaurant cleaned and dried for storage. My sewn resist on linen fabric.
I used the fabric to sew up a cap sleeve dress from an early 2000s sewing pattern. At the time, the weather was getting warm and a linen dress would have come in handy.
However, when I completed the dress and put it on, I looked like a cavewoman (which was not what I was going for).
A few weeks went by and I was working on a different project with indigo. “I can’t imagine this dress could get any worse.” So I dipped the entire garment into indigo.
What came out was a bright blue color, almost florescent and the organic wavy streaks were darkened. It reminded me of the creatures in Avatar.
This was something my style. But when it dried, the colors were far less intense, more of a green gray.
A bit silvery in appearance.
What else can I do?
This happens more often than not. I try something then transform it but I guess it just takes a lot more experience, trial and error.