Materials:
100% cotton or rayon fabric
tablecloth
Dazzle Dye (Yellow, Red and Dark Blue )
Dazzle Dye Batik Pak
applicator sponge
fine black permanent marker
latex or rubber gloves
paintbrush
stapler
staple remover
saucers or small tubs
tub of water
table salt
screw-top jar
cardboard
plastic trash bags
paper towels
iron (optional)
rooster design
Steps:
Fabric Preparation
- Mix two tablespoons soda ash fixer powder and one-cup table salt into a gallon of warm water until powders are dissolved.
- Soak the pillow fabric in this solution for about twenty minutes, and then line or machine dry. If desired, iron using a press cloth as the soda ash can scorch.
Resist Application
- Draw or print desired rooster design and enlarge as necessary.
- Cut a piece of fabric about four inches larger than the desired finished pillow . Cover a piece of cardboard with plastic and paper towels. Stretch the fabric over the paper towels and staple the edges (leave the bottom open). Slip the design under the fabric.
- Stir the bottle of paste resist; replace the top and practice drawing lines . Outline the rooster with the resist and slip the paper out. Let the resist dry thoroughly (two to six hours, depending on climate).
Dye Application
- Stir dye thickener powders into one-cup warm water in a screw-top jar. Sprinkle it in gradually while stirring; put the top on, and then shake vigorously. Set aside to thicken, which will take an hour or more.
- Fill each dye bottle halfway with warm water and shake to mix. Reserve half of the blue dye in a jar. Add thickener gel to the dyes--one part thickener to one part dye. Replace cap and shake gently to mix.
- Put one to two tablespoons of each color into a separate saucer. Mix additional colors:
Green: One part blue and one part yellow
Orange: One part red and two parts yellow
Purple: One part blue and one part red
- Paint most of the rooster body yellow, and then layer on the other colors. The featured cushion has orange shadings at the base of the neck, blue and green at the top of the legs and on the tail, a red cockscomb plus touches of red on top of orange feathers.
- Paint the fence purple. For the sky, mix one part blue with one-part dye thickener and one-part water. Apply it with a sponge and paintbrush.
- Let dry four to eight hours (or overnight). Remove staples and rinse with hot water. The batik lines will melt away and the colors will soften.
- Dye a coordinating piece of fabric for the back and sew a pillow.
Spatterware Tablecloth
- Soak the cloth in fixer as above and crumple it. Put the reserved blue dye plus an equal amount of water into the spout applicator bottle.
- Hold the bottle at an angle and shake it over the cloth so little droplets of dye come out. Flatten the cloth and crumple it again. Shake more dye on and repeat three or four times until satisfied.
- Let set four to eight hours, and then rinse with hot water.
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