Blank Silk Screening

A blank silk screen is very useful for quick screening. My next project requires a band of dyed and undyed calico (muslin) shapes. Because I would like the shapes to be very crisp I masked off areas with freezer paper. Then, using a blank silk screen ie no designs on the mesh, I have screened on background colour using thickened Procion MX dyes. Although the screen is fairly large, I couldn't reach over the whole area and I had to slightly overlap each application. Some brushing with a dry brush smudged the joins nicely. After the cold batching, I laid the cloth on the driveway and hosed with cold water. This helps to remove the initial surplus dye which just floats off in the water. It then went through the normal wash routine. The dye colour has not back stained into the undyed calico. Images show small portions only.

Freezer paper shapes ironed on to calico (muslin).

After silk screening with a Procion MX and Manutex (sodium alginate) mixture. The camera flash shows up on the still-damp freezer paper. The lighter blue being the freezer paper and the darker navy is the dye on the calico.

After cold batching overnight, and the removal of the freezer paper. Nice crisp shapes as intended!

Washed and ironed. It looks abit paler here, and some of the dye has washed out, but also photographed in a different light. No back staining. Folded over as a band which is how it will be used in this project.

Textile Pigments

As promised, the following is information about textile pigments/paints. To start, I repeat my previous description of pigments:

Pigments: These are colour molecules suspended in a textile base. This may be a thickened base (similar to yoghurt) so that the pigments can be used for screen printing and painting; or a liquid base which allows for the spread of colours as in silk painting. They are water-based. To bond pigments to a fabric they need to be heatset after air drying, usually by ironing. Pigments will alter the hand of fabric ie make it stiffer.

There are many brand names for the various pigments marketed. Jacquard, DEKA Silks, Stewart Gill, are some of them. They are like petrol with numerous brands eg Shell, BP, Mobil etc. Most of the pigment brands sell their products in small containers approx. 60ml / 2fl.oz. They usually offer a large range of luscious colours, and some may even have glitter and other novelty additions. These are great for those who use small quantities of pigment and who don't feel confident in mixing their own colours. However they are very expensive.

Because I use pigment on a regular basis, and because I am very familiar with mixing my own colours, I prefer to buy just a few basic colours in larger containers eg red, blue, yellow, purple plus black and white. I don't really need the purple but prefer to as sometimes just mixing red and blue does not give a 'good' purple. The white and black helps with mixing tints and shades.

I buy these from local commercial screen printer supplier (Blue Print Imaging, Nelson Street, Petone, New Zealand). They stock the colours in big pails but decant into 1 litre (approx 1 quart) containers for smaller users like myself. The brand they sell is Permatone. They are much much cheaper and last indefinitely. I also get 1 litre containers of gold and silver from them and have often added 'plain' colours to these to alter the tone eg yellow added to the gold will make it a bright yellow gold, or a brown mix will make it an 'old' gold.

I hope this all makes sense! As this is a blog I have tried to keep my explanations short and simple. There are plenty of books out there with much more detailed information. Create Your Own Hand-printed Cloth, Rayna Gillman

My 1 litre containers of commercial screen printing pigment with a selection of smaller brand containers.

Dyes and Pigments

Just in case you are unsure of what I was doing with my piece in last week's blog, I shall precis it here. First there needs to be an understanding of dyes and pigments. There is always confusion between these two products.

Procion MX Dye: a coloured powder which is dissolved in water, and along with additives such as soda ash, urea, and Manutex thickener (sodium alginate) if the dye is to be used as a screen printing or thickened paint application. The urea is there to slow the chemical reactions so that they process longer when cold batching. This needs to happen to allow time for the chemicals to react with the fabric, before washing to remove surplus dye. If Procion MX is used for immersion/bucket dyeing, then salt replaces the urea as there is no need for cold batching. Procion MX are fibre reactive dyes ie everything works together to react with the fibres.

Pigments: These are colour molecules suspended in a textile base. This may be a thickened base (similar to yoghurt) so that the pigments can be used for screen printing and painting; or a liquid base which allows for the spread of colours as in silk painting. They are water-based. To bond pigments to a fabric they need to be heatset after air drying, usually by ironing. Pigments will alter the hand of fabric ie make it stiffer.

The majority of the colour on my WholeCloth Banners is done with dyes and then they are often finished off with a pigment. There may be 10 – 15 applications of Procion MX dye applied using dye thickened with Manutex, each left to cold batch, and then washed to remove any surplus dye (yes, this does mean 10 – 15 washings!). I may also over-dye a whole piece (immersion with salt) and/or discharge portions with discharge paste.

All the in between washing means that when I apply some pigment, the dyes underneath are stable. So.... if I am leaving pigment to air dry, then wash out to avoid it being too over-powering, the dye underneath will not shift. I don't always do this, but it does seem to work on areas of solid pigment which I may have painted on, or screen printed. Any stiffness in the fabric has now been greatly reduced.

Here is another detail of my Three Brothers Tomb. The border on the right and the sweep below across to the left were painted with a pigment colour which I had mixed. At this point they blocked-out all the dye colours underneath. The pigment was left to dry, then scrubbed in the bath. This removed some of the pigment and now the dyes underneath are still able to be seen. I could have done this with the Procion MX but as this piece has had many applications of dye it has reached a saturation point and would have been ineffective.

Hope this helps. Next blog will explain the pigments I use.

Breaking the Rules

One more image of The Three Brothers Tomb. Currently the sides are hand hemmed, and the tops and bottoms are awaiting stitching when my machine becomes available.

My WholeCloth Banners are dyed using Procion MX cold water dye. I am able to achieve all sorts of outcomes with these. However, there does come a point where yet another layer of dye will not be effective, the fabric has absorbed all it will take and/or another application is not going to give the depth of feature I require. This is when I move on to using a textile pigment/paint (the screen printing type). I have fairly large containers of pigment in just a few basic colours as I prefer to mix my own colours.

When pigments are applied to an already dyed piece, and because they are opaque, they will often appear too heavy particularly if painted as a block of colour. To overcome this I will leave the pigment to air dry for a few hours (but no heat setting at this point), then take the piece to (depending on the size) the bath and while it is soaking, scrub the pigment painted area. Surplus paint will come away leaving a much 'softer' appearance, allowing dye colours underneath to show, and will not make the fabric stiff which is a disadvantage of pigments. Then the fabric is dried and the pigments heat set.

The white area behind this mummy is pigment, initially very opaque. Scrubbing has left it transparent and, in reality, it does show more of the dye colours underneath than appears in the photo.



Everytime I go to the library I like to grab an art book to browse during the following week or so. I deliberately don't choose a textile-related book. It is surprising what one can learn. Last week I brought home a recently published book on John Drawbridge, a well-known New Zealand artist who died in 2005. The book is full of paintings and artworks, quite inspirational.

Re-visiting piece

During the last few days I re-visited my piece on the Three Brothers Tomb (Palmyra, Syria). It is always a good idea to put some pieces out to rest, and to get on with something else for awhile. It seemed to work this time and I have managed to move it on from 'blah...' to something with much more panache. I am now about to do the finishing.

Edges measured carefully and trimmed and ready for the hand rolled hems on the sides. Selection of threads to match the various colours in the piece. The top and lower hems will be machine stitched. The top hem will accommodate a clear perspec flat rod with nail holes already punched in either end. This becomes almost invisible when hung. The lower hem will have a strip of curtain weight secured within it. This piece has no lining, wadding or stitching, so the weight helps to make it hang nicely. It will measure about 125cm(length) x 100cm (49" x 39").

A couple of details of the piece. I will not be publishing the whole image as I prefer to wait until it has been exhibited in public.





The rata flowers outside my studio window.

Last Holiday Photos

When in Syria I purchased one of those wooden printing blocks 'passed its use-by date'. I chose this one because it was simple, but it needed to be rejuvenated. Last two photos from Syria and Egypt follow.

Printing from the block as purchased, rather patchy and thin.

The printing block sitting on a piece of sandpaper securely taped to my bench before.....

....massaging it on the sandpaper. The edges are now much more defined.

Ahh.. that's better - printing after it had been sanded.

Here are the last two photos from my visit to Syria and Egypt. They are two of my favourites because they show a different aspect of these fascinating countries, along with balance and simplicity. For those who might be interested to learn more about this tour, here again are the contacts:
Jenny Bowker
Tarek Mousa


I turned my back on the pyramids in Giza, Egypt, and spotted this humble construction nestled in the sandhills. The bird on the pole obligued by staying there while I fumbled for my camera.

Socks on the washing line are just the same anywhere in the world. Except these socks were behind the Bag(h)dad 55 cafe on the journey to Palmyra, Syria.

It is amazing what a spot of rain can do! I won't ask you to guess what these are - they are of course lupin seedlings in my vege garden. They do look abit like layers of stitching though, don't you think?

Carpet Makers

Today I am showing my new printing pad which I needed to sort so as to take the bigger printing blocks more successfully. When finished I can wash and change the top towelling layer and wipe down the plastic underneath. It works very well. Also I am nearly at the last of my Syrian/Egyptian photos; next week I will show a couple of my very favourites....

Basis of printing pad. A plastic tray (with pen to show size) and two pieces of thick foam trimmed to size.

All is covered with two layers of strong plastic which is taped securely underneath.

Covered with old towelling which has been secured underneath with safety pins.

Ready to start. Finished pad with printing block on top. Note that I have written 'horizontal' and 'vertical' on the top of the block; this may be obvious but it is easy to mis-print when doing a big piece.

Not a very good photo but shows used printing pad with sponge roller on top.

Printing using my two blocks shown in the previous blog, plus the sponge roller. Circles of freezer paper added to create resisted circles. These are part of a full circular skirt, printed as quarters using Procion MX dye and Manutex (sodium alginate).

We visited a carpet making workshop in Egypt. Young people start working here and usually continue for life. The carpets are all handwoven or hooked, and are quite spectacular.

At last, a clean and tidy workspace. Young apprentice in the foreground who will have attended morning school and then spend a few hours each afternoon in the workshop. He has a future.

This chappie has been in the carpet workshop since his early teens and has reached such an expertise that he is now entitled (by the Govt) to sign his carpets with his own name.

Next Blog: Favourite Photos