LWI question(s)

[Muddypaws]

I have been using dry fabric.  Sometimes put dye down first and then scrunching in, or pouring over top.  It seems that my dark colours always overcome everything else, except at the lowest or starting point (ie the bottom if I put the item ont top of dye, or the furthest point that the lighter dye reached).  Should I be doing darker first in some places? Using less ~ I think it gets carried over top when I pour the soda ash on to the top of the fabric...

Merits of wet over dry fabric?

L

[ktaltre]

The classic way to do LWI is to apply the dye to damp or wet fabric. I scrunch damp shirts/fabric in a plastic pan, pour a little water (or not) over and then squirt the dye on and then pour soda ash solution to almost to the top of the cloth. If I'm doing clothing, I flop the garment into another same size pan to dye the other side. If you want a lot of patterning, don't squish the fabric about.
The theory is that starting with wet fabric makes the dye spread in more interesting ways, and applying the soda ash some minutes after dye, keeps the dye moving before setting it (except for fuchsia, haha).
There is no "right" way to do this; the clothing/fabric can be soda soaked before the dye too. I've floated fabric in soda ash solution and squirted dye on, for example.
If your dark colors are overpowering, start with the lighter colors and use the dark sparingly (more light, less dark).
k. taltre

[Jaja]

Yep, many ways to achieve that...I have mine too. I use wet shirt and I tuck in per-partes into cut-out PET bottle (make sure it fits in advance!) gradually adding water, dyes, soda solution as I continue tucking.
This is what I get this way (I've put link here since the pic is bigger than usually)
http://staff.utia.cas.cz/jaja/textilni/mix8/tn/HPIM3724.med.JPG