September 2018 Ikat Warp Dyeing Day
Jane Deane led an Ikat warp dyeing workshop where members made up warps containing bundles of warp yarns that were wrapped in protective plastic to stop dyes affecting the original warp colour. You can use strips of plastic bags, ordinary string, strips of cling film, etc.
If you want a random effect on a warp, then you wet the warp, soak it in the appropriate fixer - vinegar for protein fibres, washing soda and salt for cellulose dyes - and apply small amounts of dye
in two or more colours, remembering that where the colours overlap they will create a third. Then you gently squish the dye through the warp to ensure it is where you want the colour, wrap it in
cling film and steam it.
Strips of plastic bags are tied on warp sections to create a large diamond shape by building a frame to support the entire warp.
It takes a lot of patience and care to align each plastic wrap.
And some warps are very thick.
Fill a piece of plastic guttering with clingfilm then lay the warp in it.
Or line a cat-litter tray (if the cat does not mind)
Use a syringe filled with a dye solution and create regular patterns by squirting a line of dye across the looped warp.
Fold over the cling film edges and squeeze to make the dye flow evenly along the warp threads. Turn the flat package over and squeeze all over again. Roll into a sausage and fold before taking it off to the steamer for 45 minutes.
Lots of dyes to choose from....
That's nice....
Then again, maybe some more yellow.
Meanwhile in a section of plastic guttering, start with some pink.
Add some orange and carmine
Ooops. May have overdone this one.
This warp is less busy.
Meanwhile an indigo vat is used on the plastic-wrapped warp sections
After steaming and cooling the warps are unwrapped from their cling film and rinsed and dried.
The final colours only emerge after the dyed warp has dried in the sunshine.
And this final warp is made from paper.
Print