Hand-dyed blue thread on coordinating quilter’s cotton

New Mending Thread Color

January 4, 2021

My indigo vat is having it’s winter hibernation (translation: it’s too cold for either one of us to be outside) which has inspired me to explore coming up with blues using synthetic dyes. Living in an area that is always either in drought or expecting one to come I’ve been looking at the water footprint my dye processes leave. Natural dyeing takes a lot of water. I was able to dye this fat quarter using less than 1/2 a cup of water, versus setting up a short term indigo vat of a few gallons. It’s definitely lacking the nuance I get from the indigo vat, but it’s a pretty qood substitute for small quantities in a hurry.

You can learn more about, and order, the thread here.

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November 16, 2019

Sourdough crumb cake. Another way to use that discard.

The third of ten books collaboratively created by a group of @textileartsla artists. This one was started by @sdhaskell and worked on by @liz_nania_art and @charlottebird2776 before me.

Sourdough discard biscuits. Nothing goes to waste. Flour is precious.

Took advantage of this warm sunny day to dye up swatches for an upcoming reactive dye workshop. It should be fairly easy to dye together in a socially distant and healthy way. We work outside anyway and gloves and masks are essential for mixing dyes

My second book page for the @textileartsla quarantine book collaboration. The book was made by @liz_nania_art, first page by @bird5902 and I used a matte medium transfer of one of my repeating pattern designs for my page.

Pandemic cooking discovery of the day: you can make chocolate cake from sourdough discard.

Swatches of cottons dyed with carrot tops.

@textileartsla sponsored Quarantine Book Collaboration. Charlotte Bird created the cover. I did the first two page spread with water colors and stitching on indigo dyed cotton.

Figuring out this whole sourdough thing leaves you with a lot of discard, and with flour being a precious commodity, and with no decent crackers on market shelves, I'm happy to discover discard crackers. Another store bought product that won't be rea

I’ve been very lazy in posting to my blog because Instagram is so much easier. As I look to my 2020 goals and plans, my website is high on the list. So here’s a little experiment on blog posting. Clicking on an image will take you to the Instagram post.

carlyn-clark-shibori-dyed-tissue-box-cover

Arashi Shibori Dyed Tissue Box Cover

February 26, 2018

I've been away from my blog for months now as I set up my new workroom. My dye shack is still to come, so in the meantime, I've been trying to use up all my scraps and bits. I found this wooden tissue box cover and had a scrap of arashi (aka pole wrapped) shibori cotton so I used some Modge Podge and attached the fabric to the box. I've made a commitment to work through my art supplies and fabrics before I buy anything new. This got rid of three things, the box, the fabric, and some clumpy old Midge Podge. And it looks pretty great on my countertop on top of my navy blue cabinets.

If you're looking to try this yourself, Amazon has unfinished wooden tissue box covers. I gave this one a coat of gesso so the wood wouldn't bleed through. White primer would work just as well, but I had the gesso handy so I used it. I gave it a light sanding after the gesso and sanded between coats of Modge Podge. I did 4 coats of Gloss Mod Podge and a final coat of Matte ModPodge. I find that more than one coat of Matte Modge Podge looks milky and obscures the shibori

Handwoven cotton by Ginny Mateen dipped in the indigo vat by Carlyn Clark

Indigo Dye Services Available

April 25, 2017

One of my fellow teachers at Quilt 'n Things, Ginny Mateen, had tried weaving a few pieces in the style of Catharine Ellis's Woven Shibori. She hadn't had access to an indigo vat and I was happy to toss her work in with mine. She used Perle Cotton, which took the color very nicely. After dyeing I let them oxidize completely while they were still drawn up, then did an acid wash (to balance the ph after the iron vat) and let them dry, still drawn up. After they were completely dry I pulled out the binding threads and found that the puckers and pleats added an interesting texture. I pressed the square on the lower left, but left the others for Ginny to decide how she wanted to finish them.

Do you have something you wish was indigo, but don't have access to a vat? Let me know, I'd be happy to provide a quote to dye your project. There are many possibilities. Let's talk!