Introduction: Hand Dyed Fabric Painting
I did a lot of fabric dyeing in school, and had a ton of scraps from various projects. Some of them had some really interesting dye effects, and my friend gave me the idea to make a painting out of them. The fabric is all silk charmeuse, but I'm sure most thin fabrics would work fine as well.
The steps I used to make it are pretty straightforward. I used store bought canvas for a base, and painted the strips on with a diluted glue mixture and a wide brush. The glue should be a thin, soupy consistency (enough glue to feel a slickness when you rub your fingers together, but thin enough to pour like a liquid). I soaked the fabric completely with the mixture, and let the strips wrap around the sides by about a half inch or more (enough to lay flat, depending on the stiffness of the fabric). Once the top of the panels was complete, I cut strips to cover the sides in the same fashion for a clean edge.
Happy painting!