The Ice Dye Cometh

Oh what wonderful things can be done with ice!! This experiment today with ice dyeing is done with Soy Wax resist. And....since I ran out of ice...other pieces are done with snow (which I'm not running out of) and Soy Wax resist.

First was to choose the items to use for applying the soy wax. I love to use things meant to be for other things.  This session I chose:

A potato masher

A computer part (something about a fan cover or something) Also just dabbed some spots on the edges with an old paint brush.

A small wire brush along with the computer circle part in the center

A metal can that used to be filled with loose tea

And finally, the tea can along with the computer circle part

I prepared the containers by putting grates or small cups or whatever would raise the fabric up so that it would not sit in a pool of melted ice. Then I scrunched the fabrics a bit and placed them on top of the raisers.

The piece using the circular computer part and the dabs of wax with a paint brush I crunched and put ice cubes to cover it. The rest were covered with snow at this point. All were then sprinkled with dye powder and then a layer of snow was added to keep the dye powder wet.

Then it was just a matter of waiting until the ice/snow melted. I always plan at least overnight for this process. My studio is warm enough to handle that or sometimes I place it in my batching closet where it is usually about 70 degrees F. 

The final parts are to rinse, wash and iron.  Then to see the wonderful results.....

Computer circles and paint brush dabs with Brushed Steel dye

The small wire brush with the computer circle and also the potato masher

with Turkey Red dye

The tea can and the tea can with computer circles with Victorian Blue dye

I so totally LOVE these results. You can be assured there will be more soy wax resist snow/ice dyeing in the coming days!!