Work in progress

I thought you might like to see something of the process that I go through to create one of my artworks.

I start with undyed silk fabric and threads.  In this case, a fine Chinese dupioni silk fabric with mulberry silk 60/2's thread and a flat dupioni thread.  The dupioni thread has a very high lustre and although slightly slubby is still beautiful to stitch with.

This close up image gives you a good idea of the nature of the materials.  The dupioni thread is about twice the thickness of the mulberry silk 2 ply.

Fabric dyed and waiting to go into the microwave.  I use Landscapes dyes, both for their ease of use and the fabulous colours you obtain on silk.  These dyes will also dye wool and nylon, ie protein fibres.

Threads dyed, microwaved and ready to rinse.

Fabric after dyeing and drying.  The dark areas were not as "dark" as they needed to be (even though they look ok in this photo), so I used Shiva oil sticks to adjust the colour balance.

Base fabric after darkening with oil stick with dyed threads on top.

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