Deconstructed Screen Printing with Natural Dyes and Stencils!

Materials List: 

Silk Screens

Squeegee for Silk Screen

Stencils

Natural Dye Extracts

Gum Tragacanth Binder

Containers to hold natural dye extracts/binder I used paper cups.

Plastic Spoons

Newspaper

Masking Tape

Fabric or Watercolor Papers

Products Used:

Black Birds in Tree Inverse Stencil

Links:

How-to make the Gum Tragacanth Binder Video

I am here today to show you how to use stencils with a silk screen and natural dyes for screen printing.

Instructions:

Mix up Gum Tragacanth with Natural Dye Extracts; see video for specific amounts and mixing instructions.  I made a little card with the names of the extracts I was working with and daubed a bit of the color next to each name, for future projects.

The Natural Dye Extracts blended with the Gum Tragacanth are now ready for printing!

Most silk screens won’t be the same size as your stencil, however, I have an easy fix for this problem.   Measure your screen and your stencil and then block off the required space for your stencil by taping news print to the FRONT of your silk screen.  Then tape your stencil to the front of the screen making sure to overlap the stencil onto the newsprint.

Blocked off silk screen, as seen from the front.

Blocked off silk screen as seen from the back.

Black Birds in Tree Inverse taped to the FRONT of the silk screen.

Place your natural dye binder medium onto the screen, towards the edge, this is known as “the well”.  Using your squeegee pull the medium in a firm manner across the screen, once you have reached the other side, pull the medium back towards yourself, do this several times adding more of the natural dye binder medium if needed until the color on the screen looks even.

Gently lift up the silk screen from your substrate, I used 300# cold press watercolor paper for this sample.

For this sample I used the same stencil and screen to print the image onto cochineal dyed cotton fabric that I had surfaced using my hand and earth pigments and fabric paint.

Printing onto cochineal dyed cotton fabric.

If you wish for your fabric images to be free of bumps, etc., tape the fabric to your surface to keep it from moving, etc., while printing.  I prefer an organic and whimsical look and therefore don’t tape my fabric to my table.

Birds in Tree with Madder Lac

Madder lac natural dye extract screen printed, using deconstructed screen printing techniques with my Birds in Tree Inverse Stencil, onto cochineal dyed cotton fabric.

Birds in Tree Inverse Stencil taped to the front of a traditional silk screen for deconstructed screen printing!  Stay tuned for more on this technique!!!

Learn more about these techniques in my eBook and Video series 

Mark Making with Nature!!! 

Extreme Hearts the Beginning

Constructed cloth with silk throwster's waste dyed 
Cochineal, madder, and lac dyes.

Academy Membership Special Pricing Ends Soon!!!

The Natural Surface Academy

Membership Special

 

Natural dye painted cotton fabric. 

Cochineal, osage orange, and charcoal.

 

Offer Ends January 1st, 2014!!!

Learn more here

 

Madder root, cochineal, and logwood

on silk charmuse and silk crepe de chine fabrics.

 

Deconstructed screen printing with newsprint and ink on cotton.

 

 

I'm listing some natural dyed silk fabrics, and hand painted silk fabrics in my shop, enjoy!

Hmmmmmmmmmmm Lost and Found???

Or simply neglected?  I found this piece hiding in a corner, I started it back around 2004ish and it went AWOL.  This is what happens when you dig into the deep recesses of your studio closet, goodies are to be had back there, oh and spiders.

Silk crinkle crepe top fabric, wool batting, cotton backing.
Natural Dyed with Cochineal and then compost dyed as an overdye.
36 x 60 inches, an approximation.
Soon to be machine stitched.

Red Hearts

Base heart is started using silk dupioni, dyed with cochineal, wool quilt batting and cochineal dyed cotton backing fabric.  I machine stitched the edging and am now set to start embellishing the heart with natural dyed vintage trims, lace, yoyo's etc.  I enjoy the hand stitching portion of heart making it's a very nice respite between projects.

Five Year Old Cochineal Vat

I found this cochineal vat buried in my wet studio, it's been hiding in a corner for five years now!  I brought it outside thinking it'd have a good coating of mold on it but it didn't, I think I may have modified this one heavily with citric acid.

Revived Cochineal Vat

I scooped the mold off the top carefully and refilled the pot with water, the cochineal vat revived beautifully.

Overwintered Cochineal Vat

Cochineal Vat

4 ounces of Cochineal was used to dye alum mordanted silk velvet, dupioni, and organa fabrics.

Cochineal

Dried whole cochineal bugs.

Cochineal extraction vat day six.

Dyeing with Cochineal

Copyright Kimberly Baxter Packwood 2001

You can perform multiple dye extractions with cochineal bugs to obtain a concentrated dye bath.

Day One: I used two ounces of the bugs, cover them in water, then heat them to near boiling. I then turn off the heat and let them sit overnight, in the same pan. (one these days I need to buy another one of these pans as it is my favorite).

Day two I strain the bugs in a hand held sieve, into a much bigger stainless steel pan (about 8 quarts I guess).

I then place the bugs back into my smaller pan, cover with water and reheat them to near boiling. I then turn off the heat and let them sit overnight.

The next day I strain them again, placing the dye liquor into the previous days extraction. I repeat this process upwards of 20 times.

NOTE: You will need to heat the dye liquor every few days or so to prevent mold from forming on the dye extractant. When you are done it will be blackish in color.

This dye liquor is a super concentrated cochineal dye bath.When you are ready to dye just remove a smallish amount, about one quarters cup worth, from the dye liquor and place it into your dye bath water.

NOTE: If it's still blackish just add a smidge of Alum and it'll redden right up. I do this all of the time.

This is an excellent way to get the biggest bang for your dye resources. I do this all of the time with cochineal and other dye materials. Most dye materials lend themselves to only one or two extractions, beyond the original dye extraction.

Copyright Kimberly Baxter Packwood 2001

Glorious Red

Reds