Batik on rayon

[tiedyejudy]

I was recently commissioned to do a batik design on a woven rayon poncho.  I hadn't done batik on this fabric before, but didn't think anything of it.  I pre-dyed to get the base color, traced on my design, then painted on soy wax to cover the design before overdyeing with a darker color.  I might mention that this is a process I use on cotton jersey quite often, and it comes out really well.  What I hadn't factored in was that the weave of the rayon is fairly loose, and even though it looked like I got good coverage with the soy wax, when I rinsed and laundered after the overdye, most of my design had been covered by the darker color of the overdye.  Lesson learned:  more wax is needed on open-weave fabrics.  I had seen posts before by batik artists suggesting that wax should be applied to both sides of the fabric, but had never had a problem with the wax not resisting on other garments.  So now I am faced with using discharge paste to restore the design, then possibly re-dyeing with thickened dyes to restore the original colors used.  I will post a picture of the final result... fingers crossed, it will work! 

[tiedyejudy]

Well, I'm going to declare this a save!  I was able to recover the leaves on the above project using Jacquard's discharge paste:

The overall design is more muted than it would have been had the original soy wax application worked, but I still like how it came out.  I just need to remember that wax doesn't work as well on rayon as it does on cotton!

[pburch]

Very nice save, Judy. That's beautiful.

I'm surprised that rayon worked so much more poorly with the soy wax. Thanks for the warning.

Paula

[tiedyejudy]

Thanks, Paula.
I don't know that I can blame the problem on rayon.  Could be user error... this is a very loose weave, and chances are the soy wax would have worked okay if I had put it on both sides of the fabric.  I'm kind of impatient, so I'm not sure I would bother ordinarily, but I might try it on the next one just to see how much better it comes out.  I'll let you know if I do!
Judy

[saguerogrande]

Hi Judy,
  You already know me from Paula's pages, Cactus Jammies... anyway that rayon top is really beautiful.  What ever you did works well for me, that's for sure.  I especially like the way the autumn leaves are so well defined at the top and across the shoulders.  Those details give the garment treatment traction, in my opinion.  The first thought that I got after seeing and appreciating your result is that you might want to think about four seasons themes along the same motif.  But I am sure you have an extensive idea board and project lineup already.  Someday I will get to batik, but I have so many techniques waiting for me to explore before I even think of serious over-dying.  And then there is the summer music festival vending circuit... so many tees... !  anyway, Salute!
cheers
Bob
tie dye is about hugs

[tiedyejudy]

Thanks for your kind words, Bob!  Truth about the leaves... I only apply them around the neck and down the arms, but the scrunch overdye when I apply the browns leaves some areas with the leaf colors showing through, so it looks like there are leaves (undefined) on the rest of the garment... sneaky, huh?
Yeah, I know about having a full load of techniques and not enough time!  Sometimes I actually get around to cleaning the house, doing some gardening, reading a book... right now, I am looking to shrink my shows so I only have a few a year... at my age, it's getting to be a chore to do set up/tear down, etc.  I love my onl-line store... lets me sell without all that effort!  Have fun on the music circuit... bet that's a blast!
Judy

[Jaja]

Very nice piece, Judy! I'm always fan of your experiments.

[2D4]

Love it Judy!


Jo

And I concur about the getting older and the physicality of the booth set up & tear down!!

[Releaf]

That is one beautiful poncho!  I love the way it turned out.

I also concur about setting up and tearing down at festivals.  We're always the last folks out of any event because we have to fold so much stuff before we can pack it up.  We have a flip-fold, but it still takes hours to get all the T-shirts back in bins.  I need to learn how to sell stuff on line.  It's payment methods and accounting that scare me.  Please tell me it's easier than I think it is!

[tiedyejudy]

Thanks for the kind words re: the Poncho!
As for shows, I actually have found ways to set up/break down quicker... a couple of hanging racks help.  But it's just a lonnnnnnnngggg day after set up, sitting for 6-8 hours, then the whole pack up scene.  I have had my shop on artfire.com for 2 years now, and it has done well for me.  It doesn't replace the sales I usually get at shows, but since I'm down to about 4-5 a year, and only two of them are really big sellers, it is a good way for me to keep inventory moving.  And yes, it is very user friendly, including the payment methods.  I have a paypal account, so people can use their paypal account or pay with credit cards, and paypal takes a small fee.  BTW, I will also tell you that artfire is a very reasonably priced venue compared to some other online stores.  I pay a flat monthly fee, with unlimited number of items I can have in my store... right now, I have 309 items listed.  At etsy.com, I would be paying a per-item fee, and the listing would need to be renewed about every 4 months, I think.  And they charge a fee when you sell an item.   My suggestion is to check out a couple of on-line stores to see if you like them.  Feel free to ask me questions about my store at artfire... I'll be glad to share my experience with you if you like.
Judy

[Releaf]

Thanks, Judy.  It's nice to hear the voice of experience.  Everyone says we should be on Etsy, but they sure have a lot of rules about what constitutes "fee avoidance".  We've been paying for web hosting for months but still don't have a web site up. I know it's my fear of the accounting that keeps me from really working on it. I need to check out artfire.  I've heard lots of horror stories about paypal -- has your experience been good?  I've used it as a customer a few times with no problems, but I've heard stories of sellers having trouble getting their money.  I guess I need to make myself research these things.  We need an on line presence, that's for sure.
Thanks again for your advice.

Releaf

[tiedyejudy]

Hi, Releaf.  I have had no problem at all getting my money from PayPal.  You may have to tweak your account if you have just been a buyer in the past... but I just go out and withdraw the money when I have had a sale, and it is sent to my bank account, minus their processing fee.  If I get a chance in the next couple of days, I'll see if I can find where on Paypal you can read up on the setup required.  I know there are a couple of 'confirmation' transactions they do, but if you are already connected by bank account, that may already be complete.  I'll post again if I find the information.  Truly, once you have that completed, getting set up on Artfire is pretty easy, especially if you have already set up an etsy account... very similar.  Best of luck to you!
Judy

[Releaf]

Thank you!  I went to your blog and checked out some of your videos.  It's so helpful to see hands-on demonstrations.  Your rope-wrapped shibori demo was especially intriguing and I'm excited about giving it a try.  Thanks for being so generous with your knowledge.

[tiedyejudy]

Thanks, Releaf!  I'm glad you enjoyed the video, and as for the sharing part, I consider it a small repayment for what I have learned here and on Paula Burch's forum... my skills have improved immensely since I joined these two forums and learned from other dyers.  And I think you will enjoy the rope wrap... sooo much easier than pole wrap!  I'm hoping to get a few more demos done soon and will post them to youtube when I do, so stay tuned!
Happy dyeing,
Judy

[ezri]

I'm not even sure I've posted before, I'm a bit in awe of most of you lol. But just wanted to say thank you for your video's Judy, always good to see how others do it and pick up tips (thanks for the tips too)!  I think I have the same book you saw the rope wrap in, but haven't tried it. Your items were gorgeous though so off to find a rope in the morning!