Building myself a new website

I have a confession to make. I am a closet computer buff. This technology has had me extending myself to discover more of its capabilities for quite sometime now. This can be extremely frustrating at times, and I often feel I take the longest journey possible to get to where I want to be but I just can't let it beat me.
Recently I felt I needed to re-model my website. I like having a website but hiring a professional website builder can be expensive. This is how I first started with a website some years ago, and I have always been able to add/delete/alter its content. This is rather like unlocking the door to a house, going inside and shifting/adding/removing some of the furniture, then locking the door again on the way out. So I already have some skills in websites. With the desire for a new website, I decided that this time I was going to build 'the house' itself. And, I did.
An internet search revealed a number of website building programmes which allowed one to build their own website, for free. I chose VodaHost.com, from the USA. I had my new website content prepared, and downloaded their programme. A very comprehensive series of tutorials 'walked' me through each stage of the process. It was still one of the biggest learning curves I have experienced, but I finally had my nine website pages prepared. I then had to transfer my domain name from my NZ server, to VodaHost in the USA. This was achieved but then I couldn't work out why my email was not working, until I re-read all my instructions and of course I had to re-instate my email with my USA server! Dumb, I know, but true!
VodaHost has a very supportive customer programme and respond quickly and efficiently. I have installed their SpamAssassin and a comprehensive site meter. There are heaps of other features I can select from and install, when I feel the need for another challenge. And best of all, their annual fee is a fraction of what it had been costing me in the past.
My website is still www.dianaparkes.co.nz. Take a look, open up the nine pages and click on the smaller images for enlargements and their details.
Inbetween times I have been steadily working away on things textile. Here is an image of three metres of double weave crinkle silk recently dyed for a client.


Partway through, soya wax and discharge printing, dye


Overall discharge as I decided that the colours were too strong. Then I outlined the leaf design


Leaf shapes highlighted with additional colour

Next Blog: Signatures on completed works

Butter Yellow, Butter Yellow and more Butter Yellow

Recently I was given the task of dyeing almost 20 metres of white silk for five bridesmaid's dresses as the colour was not available in the shops. The colour, and garment style, was chosen from a wedding magazine but the photo had been spot-lighted and this bounced back off the fabric making it somewhat difficult to determine exactly what was the colour.
Most fortunately, more than the actual fabric required had been purchased, so I was able to sample colours to get to the correct colour ie butter yellow. I made it with the fourth sample. The first sample was very much to see how the colours appeared on this particular silk, as one dye bath colour can vary on different fabrics (see Blog 31 August). The second sample was still too strong; the third was better but too 'cold'. At this point I decided to reduce the yellow dye and add an ecru dye. The ecru dye is an odd colour and insignificant on its own but will 'warm' and give some depth to a pale colour. The fourth sample was successful; we were both satisfied.
Then, of course, I had to repeat this with the bulk of the silk. There was far too much fabric to dye all in one dye bath by one individual, so it was cut into four sections and the cut ends overlocked to prevent fraying during the dye processes. I always keep very good records when I know I have to repeat a colour. The weight of each length was recorded and the dye, water, salt and soda ash quantities, plus the time frames for working through the processes were carefully determined. The fourth sample was the 'copy' to repeat. I religiously repeated this four more times, physically working the dye baths so that the resulting colour had no resisted areas, and adding the chemical solutions in small increments. After rinsing and washing all lengths were ironed dry to give a professional finish.
Well, I did it! And I was delighted that the four pieces, and along with the original successful sample all matched beautifully. What a relief, whew..... The butter yellow fabric will now go to the dressmaker for her input. I am sure it will be a wonderful wedding.


The four samples, the top one being the chosen one


Ironing a silk length dry after dyeing


The four lengths, and the sample, awaiting collection

Next Blog: Building myself a new website

Washing, but not you or your laundry

Washing fabric for creative work, whatever it is destined for, is a common practice and specific care is required to achieve a good outcome. Here are a couple of my best practices.
First of all, unbleached calico (muslin for those in the USA). This basic cotton fabric is a mainstay in every textile lover's stash. I might confess here that I do love the musky earthy smell of unwashed calico, odd I know, but perhaps it is the promise for what it might become. I buy this in bulk and because it comes heavily coated in a fabric dressing it needs to be washed well before use and I prefer to do this in about 10 metre lengths. Calico does need plenty of washing to remove that dressing, and my method is to soak the 10 metre length in a hot bath overnight (I did take a photo of this when doing my last lot but it qualified for this year's most boring photo!). Next morning the bath water is ugh! Rather like dirty pond water. The soaked calico then goes through a hot wash, no detergent, in the washing machine. Then it is draped over the washing line, not pegged so as to avoid peg marks, before being rolled on to a tube. Each piece then gets ironed before it is used.
Secondly, and this may not be relevant to everyone. When working on my WholeCloth Banners I often paint on a (manutex) thickened dye which, at this point does not cover all the white fabric. This is left to cold-batch (more about this at a later date) but will need to be washed to remove any surplus dye. I often want the white fabric to remain white and not get back-stained during the washing. Although the applied dye may be dry at this point, I still handle the fabric carefully and spread it out on my driveway. Then with a strong jet on the garden hose,I blast the fabric. Any surplus dye simply lifts off and floats away. Then the fabric is given its normal wash, and ironed dry ready to start the next procedure.
This week's photos show the beginnings of a piece stretched on a frame with design structure lines applied using Procion MX dye and manutex; plus two uncompleted pieces, dye painted and washed (one still on the driveway), with their white areas remaining unblemished.

Lots of white fabric here

No backstaining at all...

I've just been hosed!

Next Blog: Butter Yellow, Butter Yellow and more Butter Yellow

The World of Wearable Arts (WOW)

The 20th season of The World of Wearable Arts has once again delighted the 35000 plus enthusiastic audience. Whilst acknowledging the input of those in the Nelson region, the shift to Wellington has certainly allowed the show to 'fly'. I recall Suzie Moncrieff saying in a radio interview that in Nelson performers could only come up from under the raised performance area, while in the TSB Arena they can now also come down from the gantries in the ceiling. And fly they do! The performers and the behind-the-scene team are incredibly slick and play a major part in carrying the show. And the overall winning entry never seems to fail, it always deserve the honour; and the viewer's choice does the same – who could resist Perfect Pins!
With any event that continues over a lengthy period of time, the 'goal posts' need to rise to keep that spark which is its very essence. What we considered had the wow factor five years ago, might not pull the same punch this year. Trends and creative design skills constantly shift and reflect the maturity of not only its designers (people who submit garments for selection) but also the designers of the supporting acts. Getting these all to come together is surely a mighty challenge.
It has now been confirmed that WOW will be continuing for another four years in Wellington. I can't imagine anyone being upset with this!
The images following here have no connection with WOW whatsoever, they are simply details from a piece completed this week. I am pleased with the outcome. However, I often wonder whether this satisfaction reflects relief that I have finally resolved and completed the piece, rather than the quality of the outcome. If I still feel the same satisfaction in a few months time when I re-visit the piece, then my feelings are justifed. Time is always the best judge.




Next Blog: Washing, but not you or your laundry

Vat Dyes, what are they?

In 2005 I attended my first Surface Design Association http://www.surfacedesign.org conference in Kansas City, MO, USA. I was lucky to get into the master class on discharge techniques ie selective removal of colour from an already dyed ground cloth. Among other things, we worked with Vat dyes which were completely new to me.
Vat dyes are similar to Indigo. The dye powder is soluble in water, but has no affinity at all for fabrics, until it goes through a reduction process. This process involves water with a temperature of 50ºc – 60ºc, Vat dye powder, Lye, Soda Ash and Thiox (Thiourea Dioxide). The reduced dye is now in its leuco form and may differ in colour from the original dye itself. After dyeing the fabric is re-oxidized when exposed to the air again and regains the intended colour. Magic!
The beauty of Vat Dyes is that they simultaneously remove the original ground colour from a fabric and replaces it with a new colour. Do not get confused here with overdyeing which will be affected by the original ground colour ie blue dyed over a yellow will produce a green. Blue Vat dye over yellow will remain blue, it has removed the yellow and replaced it with the blue. As you can imagine Vat Dyes are great for resist techniques where parts of a fabric are bound to avoid any colour reaching within the folds.
The photos show this process on some silk seersucker.


The silk dyed chartreuse (Procion MX), and portions bound


The same piece after it has been in a navy vat dye bath


The resulting cloth being unbound, and revealed

Next Blog: The World of Wearable Arts (WOW)

Determining Fibre Content

Unless one is dyeing fabrics there may not be any need to know the fibre content of any fabric. The colours, patterns and the intended use for a particular fabric, are the prime considerations.
In dyeing fabric however, determining the fibre content of any fabric is the first consideration before any fabric hits the dye water. If the right dye for a particular fabric is not used, all will be in vain.
Recently I purchased a piece of fabric labelled linen/polyester. I knew that my dyes (Procion MX) would not touch the polyester but it would be interesting to see what would happen to the linen component. Nilch, nothing, not a hint of colour! Obviously no linen present. This piece of fabric did have a 'linen' look so perhaps that justified its 'linen' classification. All was not lost however, and Plan B had me painting a repeating motif on to this fabric using a textile pigment (see photo below).
Many fabrics in shops of course do have labels stating their fibre content, and proportions if more than one type of fibre is blended in the fabric. However, it is not always quite that simple and standard practice is to burn a small snippet and observe the burning characteristics. I have discovered a good Fiber Burn Chart on www.ditzyprints.com/dpburnchart.html. However, I am not sure when this was written as she states that she carries in her purse a pair of collapsable scissors and a lighter in an old candy tin. Um.... not sure whether I would like to have such items found in my purse at Customs, or anywhere else in fact! At The Fabric Warehouse, Sar Street, Thorndon, Wellington, they have their own cigarette lighter for this very purpose.
Earlier in the blogs I refered to an url to use if you wish to receive this blog as a regular email. This site, despite originally being accessible, seemed to go awol. It is now back, and 'beta' (better) so they say!. Visit http://www.beta.rssfwd.com and follow the three simple instructions. If this site doesn't open by clicking on the url, copy and paste it into your Google search and go from there.


FL16 Painted 'Linen'/Polyester 150cm x 1.4m


And just to be cheerful in this time of early spring. This photo came across the internet. Wouldn't we all like to have roses like these in our gardens!

Next Blog: Vat Dyes, what are they?

Using Your Digital Camera as a Design Tool Part 3

This is the third article on using your digital camera as a design tool. The first posting was about using your camera to record the progress of a project and allowing it to be viewed in another form. The second outlined how an image can be cropped on the screen to assess whether portions would be best removed for the overall benefit of the project. See Archives for these postings. It is now time for Part 3.
In the second posting I showed you a piece of my work which I cropped on the computer. I am sure you will agree that cropping made a huge improvement. I was still concerned about this piece and although I was happy and familiar with the colours I had originally used in dyeing this piece, I was not convinced that they were right. In trying to determine what I might do I printed out a colour image of the cropped piece on to ordinary computer paper. I then mixed some dye colours with water (no chemicals were added) and painted over the coloured print. As the dye water is transparent the image showed through. What this did was to alter all the colours in the coloured print. This was an eureka moment and everything blended together in a far more appealing manner.
It was then a matter of overdyeing the whole piece in an immersion dye bath with the chosen colour. I also thought ahead and dyed some plain white fabric at the same time and this was used to bind the edges. I was finally satisfied with the outcome.
The strong orange colour reminded me of the headwear worn by the Sikhs on their pilgrimages in the lower slopes of the Himalayas which I visited in 2007. The piece is called Out of India and reflects the paths and tracks used for the journey to the shines, and the rest stations along the way.
I am showing the cropped image again in its original colours, and the final piece.

Out of India, cropped, original colours


Out of India, overdyed, 190 x 46cm


A Sikh gentleman in the Himalayas (Ref: Pilgrimage to Hemkunt, Sondeep Shankar)

Next Blog: Determining Fibre Content