A recent dye I wanted to add to the gallery

[brixter]

I'm always looking for new ideas and while browsing the discussion boards here I came across a picture of a moth. While the real moth was far prettier I'm still very pleased with how this guy turned out for me.

[ktaltre]

yes! that's a incredible tie! a wonderful moth shirt!
is it all tied? what material (s) do you tie with?
PhatDyes has a dvd on tying a butterfly...........
k. taltre

[Jaja]

Excellent - it is perfectly recognizable.

[brixter]

Actually I use rubber bands and hemostats almost exclusively while tyeing. The hemostats give you the ability to fold as much of an intricate pattern as you can, clip on a hemo and start folding from where you left off. I probably have 40 pairs which I've collected over the years...3 inch to 6 inch. I use the 5 inch size most often. Ebay has them available for around a dollar each. They've allowed me to do a lot of pattern work I could never do before I tried them.

[ktaltre]

oh! it's snoopy!
i'd like to see a picture of, oh, the moth, all tied and hemostated up.
would you, could you, post that, Brixter?
thank you for showing your work.............
k. taltre

[TieDyeTodd]

"Just when you think you've seen it all..."

Those patterns are incredibly precise.  If I hadn't seen them in this forum, I'm not sure I would believe they could be achieved just with tie-dye techniques.

Very, very impressive.

Add my voice to those who would love to see some step-by-step instructions on "How It Was Made"!

Tie-Dye Todd

P.S.  BTW, what's a "hemostat"?

[brixter]

Actually, I happen to have a request for two shirts with moths so I'll do my best to record the process. A hemostat is also called a locking forceps. Used in the medical field but adopted by many for a multitude of uses. I've even heard of them being used as a roach clip! I'll take several pictures as I work.....but I've only figured out how to post a single photo at a time here. I'll add one more picture now of another example of what I do with this process.

[Jaja]

I guess this is it:

We call it here "pean".

[TieDyeTodd]

That would explain the surgical precision!

Tie-Dye Todd

[TieDyeTodd]

BTW, brixter, here's how to post multiple pics (to the best of my recollection):

- Upload your images to a free image host.   There are many to choose from online.  I use Photobucket, which is free but requires (a quick and simple) registration, which allows you to organize, notate, and store your images online.  Or you can even use an image host that requires no registration at all (such as picturepush.com), but you won't be able to organize your pics into albums.

- Embed your images into your forum post/text.   For this message board, when you're ready to embed an image, mouse over the second icon from the left in the second row of icons, which will say "Insert Image".  This will place the following HTML code on the next line:

<img></img>

(Note:  The "<" and ">" above will actually appear as bracketts, "[" and "]".)

All you need to add to the middle (between the two bracketts) is the URL (web address) of the photo you want to appear there.  You get this from your Image Host, which will provide a link to copy/paste in the following format:

http://YourImageHost.com/TutorialAlbumName/Image01.jpg

You can embed as many images as you want in this manner, separated by explanatory text.

Before I "Post", I usually hit "Preview" to make sure everything looks right, including the images...

...but I haven't had any problems yet.

Looking forward to your tutorial,

Tie-Dye Todd

[brixter]

Ok....I'll do my best to describe the process I used for tyeing the moth. This picture is of a presoaked damp shirt that has the front side folded in half ( I'm doing a butterfly on the back) also the picture of the moth- also folded in half. I hand draw what I see in the picture with a washable marker. A better artist probably wouldn't need a picture but I sure do.

[brixter]

Next... I put rubber bands on the areas which I can secure this way. In this case it would be the eye spots on the wings and the body of the moth.
Just saw your recent post Todd and I thank you! I'll try it that way next time but since I'm started I'll muddle through like this for now.  

[brixter]

In this picture...which is a bit hard to make out... I've folded the outline of the upper most wing and added two hemostats/peons along the fold line. The thing I like about this process is once I had as many folds as I could easily manage I clipped one hemo on and just started folding from where I left off. I've also added a hemo to the fold line at the top of the wing.

[brixter]

Here, I've folded the bottom edge of the other wing and added another hemo. I've gathered the material along the line inside the wing where the dark blue band meets the lighter color of the wing pattern....added a hemo to both of these. I fan folded along the line of the antenna and clipped a hemo cross-wise over this line to give it a moth like effect (hopefully).  Since you can outline almost any shape in this manner it gives you a lot of freedom in your designs. I've had some luck with steal your face designs, peace signs, dancing bears, butterflies, teddy bears, gee the list just goes on. You can get them easily for a buck each on ebay and a dozen would be more than enough to get you playing with them. Is this cheating? The shirt is still batching but it should look somewhat like the first one. If you'd like I'll post a finished picture tomorrow.

[ktaltre]

oh no, not cheating at all - whatever works!
thank you so much for the pics - i shall now try a moth!
yes, the hemostat is a most wonderful tool, used in many alternative applications, not too mention as a roach clip.
the hemostat was probably originally developed as a medical/surgical tool.
haha
k. taltre