Ann is a great lover of Hua Li silk. She started by using Resistad dyed with red, decided she didn't like it as a resist and then worked on into the scarf to create a textured piece with wax and dye. The red from the initial work sort of "happened itself" into the composition as she did not iron the Resistad to set it. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised at the final result as it hadn't been a promising start! Unusual colours which reflect well from the fabric and actually blend well into the whole.

Sylvia very skilfully painted two backgrounds with this rainbow blend. She decided to work on one (see below left) and save the other as a pure-colour scarf.

 

Sylvia used some studies she had made in the grounds at Denman to overpaint a pattern on the rainbow gorund. I suggested she try using black dye thickened with Manutex. She practised her brush strokes carefully on her sample (see right) before painting the final piece. I was very anxious to preserve the scarf without staining through its first wash. See the entry in my February log for the methods I used.

She worked hard to achieve the kind of mark she wanted by practising on a habotai sample. You can see the type of staining that I was worried about on this sample. Some of the Manutex drifted around as it was being cleaned off and stained the surrounding colour.

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