BEYOND BACKGROUND: Compositional Cloth

Claire Benn & Leslie Morgan | April 26-30, 2010

SUPPLY LIST

Supplies Fee

Feedback from previous classes has indicated that many students would prefer to ship or transport less equipment. As such, in addition to supplying the media, we’ve planned to provide access to other items such as tools. The supplies fee of $75 will include use of the following media and materials:

• Mx Dyes: Magenta, Scarlet, Acid Lemon, Golden Yellow, Turquoise, Royal/Mixing Blue, Black and Dark Brown. If you wish to use specific colours outside of this range, please bring them with you, although we will provide help and guidance on colour mixing from the ‘Power Eight’ selection.

• Discharge Paste: made with Formosol and Print Paste.

• Fabric Paints: Magenta, Scarlet, Acid Lemon, Golden Yellow, Turquoise, Royal/Mixing Blue, Black, White, Transparent Extender Base, metallic Gold, Silver and Copper.

• Chemicals: Urea, Resist Salt L/Ludigol, Sodium Alginate (for making Chemical Water and Print Paste), Soda Ash, Salt and Formosol.

• Materials for resists, temporary designs and stencils: lightweight interfacing, freezer paper, cover film, emulsion paint, masking tape, Tyvek, thread, drawing fluid, washable glue, soy wax, basting spray, sheet plastic.

• Tools: a selection of tools will be supplied for general class use including; foam and bristle brushes, scrapers, rollers (textured & plain), monoprinting plates, sponges, needle-nosed bottles, mixing pots and wax-pot tools.
  
  

STUDENT REQUIREMENT LIST

Cloth

Bring 10 yards of natural fibre cloth (cotton, linen, silk, rayon) and please scour it.  It may not all be used – this is dependent on individual working styles and remember, you’ll be re-working the same piece of cloth several times.

We will be working to 3 different formats, although the exact size will be determined by the width of the cloth, for example:

Square: 38” square
Rectangle: 38” x 70”
Long & thin: 24 x 60”

You may wish to consider pre-dyeing a couple of yards in pale-to-medium values of your colour choice, although high-water immersion dyeing will be available at any time.

For dye paints, we prefer to work on soda-soaked cloth rather than putting soda ash into the dyes (the benefits of this approach will be explained).  As such, please ensure you have one length of scoured, soda-soaked and dried cloth ready for use on the first day: don’t iron it or fold it once soda-soaked – just stuff it into a bag once dry.  A soda vat will be available for on-going soda soaking throughout the workshop.  To soda soak scoured cloth:

• Pre-scour it, then dry it or spin-dry it.

• Create a soda vat large enough for your needs; the basic recipe is 3 tablespoons of soda ash to 1 litre of water. Dissolve sufficient soda ash for your needs in warm (not cold or hot) water and top up with the appropriate amount of cold water.

• Place the scoured, dry (or spun-dried) cloth in to the soda vat and leave for between 10 to 20 minutes (heavier weight cloth will need longer).

• Dry by drip-drying or spin the soda-soaked cloth before line drying (if you have a spin dryer, recycle the run off back into the soda vat). DO NOT TUMBLE DRY.

• Once dry, stuff it into a bag (don’t fold or iron).

General Supplies & Tools

Whilst the supplies fee will include the use of media and various tools, you’ll still need to bring some stuff of your own:

• Silkscreens: please bring 3. A variety of sizes is useful, e.g. 8” x 10” (small), 12” x 18” (medium) and 18” x 24” or 24” x 24” (large). Screens can be purchased from Dharma Trading (www.dharmatrading.com) or Dick Blick (www.dickblick.com).

• Tools: you’ll see that a good supply of tools will be provided but if you have specific tools you wish to use, then bring them.

• Favourite thermofax screens if you have them. We hope to have access to a thermofax machine for the class and will advise as soon as this is confirmed.

• A 4’x10’ drop cloth of cotton drill, or something similarly sturdy. Please pre-wash it.

• Rubber gloves (suggest 2 pairs).

• A good-quality mask. This is important if you wish to undertake discharge work. A normal decorator's mask will not be sufficient for this purpose. Discharge work will take place outside.

• 1 x box of ball-headed or T pins.

• A small cutting mat.

• Craft knife (preferably with a nice, pointy, sharp blade – such as an Exacto knife).

• 1 x small cat or kitten litter tray.

• 1 x black Sharpie or waterproof pen.

• 1 pair of scissors, suitable for paper and fabric.

• Cloth apron (or wear the equivalent of gardening/decorating clothes).

• Comfortable, rubber-soled shoes (you’ll be standing a great deal).

• Notebook: handouts on recipes and some process will be provided, but be ready to take notes on the order of process and media used for each piece of cloth.

• Sketch book or white paper for on going design work.

• Pen and pencil.
  
  

Additional Media

If you wish to use media outside of that specified in the class description, please bring it with you.

Please email Claire or Leslie if you have any queries or questions:
Claire Benn: cb@committedtocloth.com
Leslie Morgan: lm@committedtocloth.com

> Close this window to return to the main site [Nancy Crow] | Questions? > Email