I have a virtual drop-in meeting with someone from the Textiles department Tomorrow. I have been hesitant to order any actual supplies for dying fabric because I haven’t been able to find much information about how well Transfix—the product that is supposed to make it possible to print on natural fibres with disperse dyes—actually works.
I think this meeting will help a lot. Not only with answering my question about transfix, but also whether disperse dyes are the best way forward with what I am hoping to do.
Traditionally, quilting is done with 100% cotton fabrics, and I was hoping to try to stick to traditional fabrics to begin with. That being said, synthetics aren’t something I am absolutely against using, as I am hoping to turn the idea of domesticity on it’s head a bit, and using non-traditional materials will eventually be where I am headed—I think—but I have long been a believer of learning how to follow the rules before breaking them.
However…. if transfix is not going to work, I think that leaves me with two options:
- Forge ahead using disperse dyes, but on high-quality polyester… Downside to this = not a green material, and not terribly nice to work with.
- Switch to using Procion MX dyes and ask for guidance from the textiles department gurus.
- (unless there are affordable, high-quality, recycled polyesters? Note to self: Ask about this tomorrow).
- (Note to self: Learning new things does not need to be scary. You are a student. The entire POINT is to learn new things, dodo head!)
Materials aside, I am almost ready to start writing my study plan. I have a few different ideas about what I would like to work on, but essentially, I will be exploring the idea of traditional gender roles, historically female handicrafts and how textiles have been used for centuries to communicate with the world.
