During one the guild spring meetings we started talking about possible study group topics. One topic that generated lots of interest was Painted Warps. A dozen guild members wanted to participate so we were off to the races!
Internet searches and guild library resources yielded some wonderful articles, videos, and general “how to information” . We wanted to try both ice dying and painting directly on the warp. Members would bring their own dye, at least 2 warps or skeins and a willingness to try something new.
It was decided to wait until our West Coast weather warmed up and the risk of rain had lessened. July 2nd was a lovely sunny but not too hot a day to start our study group. We spread out all over the lawn and got to work.
We had cotton, Tencel, super-wash wool, silk noil and commercial and hand spun yarn to work with. The warps and skins were throughly soaked to make sure every strand was saturated ignorer for the dye to penetrate into the fibre. We added salt or vinegar to the soaking water depending on the fibre. Salt for cellulose fibre and vinegar for protein fibre. The dye packages indicated this would help the fibre absorb the dye.
Ice dyeing was really different from any dyeing we had previously done. Wet warps and skeins were spread out on wire racks then covered with ice cubes. The fun really began when we started to sprinkle on the different dye colours on the ice. Some participants used lighter dye colours sparingly while others used a heavier hand when applying the powder.
Painted warps used a different technique. We made the dye mix by using either liquid dyes or adding water to the powdered dye. Salt or vinegar was added to the dye mixture as per package instructions. The soaked warps were unchained and spread out on large sheets of plastic. We used foam brushes to apply the dye to the fibre. Painting the warps on big sheets of plastic meant getting down on our knees on the lawn but the results were worth the aches and pains.
Once the warp was thoroughly painted, front and back, we wrapped it up in the plastic to rest in the sun for at least an hour in order to set the dye. We then put it in a large resealable plastic bag and microwaved it for 2 minutes. After those steps it was off to a cool water rinse. We found that very little dye colour washed out in the rinse.
What did we learn?
Try RIT dye in darker colours as Tintex dye didn’t result in deep colour
Some yellow dyes got lost in the final product so use a vibrant yellow
Grey dye can result in a “muddy” looking yarn
Ice dyeing could use less dye so colours don’t get lost
Sprinkle the powder in bands across the ice cubes allows all the colours to come through but beware, you might end up with “Swinging Sixties” warps or fabric
Everyone was happy to experiment and trust the process. Some results were not quite what was planned but they were all lovely and should result in some very cool weaving projects. We all had fun and it was great to spend time with each other learning new skills. We are going to try Natural Dyes later this summer so stay tuned!
