I completed my first mixed media piece of needle felting onto tie dyed silk. I had tried batik on it, but wasn't too happy with the results. I ended up needle felting raw silk fibres around that in the background of the piece and I quite liked the results.
I made the teddy bear to look like an old fashioned teddy using a variety of wools and alpaca.
It turned out really well.
My second piece will be donated to a silent auction in order to market my work.
This was my second attempt at batik and I was trying to figure out the best way to incorporate shibori inspired tie dye techniques with the batik. For some reason I wasn't initially getting the effects I wanted with initial experimentation until I discovered that the steaming step is actually what sets in the tie dye effect. so the next challenge is my use of wax for the batik. Next time I will do the batik areas to protect them from the dye I am using for the tie dye area and then cover that area with a plastic bag or wrap that is microwavable. Once I apply the dye I will iron off the wax, and put the bag over it into the microwave. I'm not sure it would work to let the wax melt off in the steaming process. These are different things I will have to test out. It seems that no one has done this method of fabric dyeing. So, once I find the best and most effective steps I will share it with others.
The results are a little bit different than my initial plan for this piece because of the tie dye challenges with the batik, but it is going to still look amazing when it is complete.
I will post it here and on my website when it is done.
Here is a picture of the teddy bear (at top).
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