Batik and Dyed Fabric

To create this design I twisted the T shirt and wrapped rubber bands around it. I then sprayed certain areas with bleach. I let the bleach sit for about 5 minutes and then washed out the bleach. When the bleach is added to colored fabric the color lightens, and the longer the bleach sits on the fabric without washing the lighter it becomes.

Bleach was applied to both of these T shirts but there were different processes to create the patterns shown on the clothing items. Elmers glue was applied to this T shirt to make several designs. Then bleach was sprayed onto the shirt, and rinsed, then the glue was peeled off. This was an unsuccessful example of batik because the designs did not show up very clearly. I suspect in part this was because bleach was used rather than paint or dye.

These above images are examples of Batik dyed fabric using glue to create an image. A design was created by applying glue to the the fabric, the first image includes geometric shapes and lines, the second is written letters. I used the Elmers glue like a pen and drew out the designs on the canvas. Once the glue dried I applied the pink and blue dye and set them aside to dry. Finally it was time to remove the glue, and wash out the remaining dye. I rinsed off the dye and used a scrub brush to remove as much glue as I could. Once the lines of glue were removed, the design was left behind. However, the designs were blurred and not well defined, so it was difficult to make out. Another problem I ran into was that the two dyed batiks made contact with each other before they had finished drying and so remnants of blue and pink are found on both pieces.

To create the image above, a combination of toothpaste and lotion was mixed together and painted a design onto cloth and left to dry. Acrylic paint was then used to fill in the blank areas within the toothpaste and lotion design. After the acrylic paint dried the cloth was rinsed off so that the lotion and toothpaste wouldn't be left behind. What remained was the acrylic paint. Although some of the acrylic paint was washed away I would consider this to be more successful than the dye and glue fabrics. This is because the design that was made was more evident and there was much more of a contrast between the design and the paint than the dye and the glue.