Permission to Play with Cheese Cloth

Have you ever played with cheese cloth? Have you aver used it on your scrapbook pages? I think it is a fun addition to scrapbook pages and the best part is it can be dyes to accent the colors on the page.

I love dying,painting,coloring and adding pigment to cheese cloth so that I can add it to scrapbook pages or incorporating it in art work. You can do something as simple as glue it on top of paper, mix it with gesso, paint it so that it actually becomes a part of the art medium. It can be a soft flow able art form or actually have structure and design. It can be as varied as your imagination will allow you to be.

You now have permission to play...

Here is a small list of some supplies that you may want to put together to begin your project.



Supplies-
1.Cheese Cloth (I purchased mine from Walmart in the fabric section)
2.Dyes or colorant to color the cheese cloth. Try product that you have on hand.

For my projects I used -
Luminarte paints and Luminare Fabric Paints
You could also use Rit dye
3. Zip lock bag (sandwich size) I add the colorant and a few drops of water to the inside of the bags and mix the solutions. You can then add the cheese cloth. If you need to add additional water or paint you can add it directly to the bag. As you are sealing the bag remove most of the air from the bag. You can then squeeze and push the fabric and paint around in the bag. Once you have the fabric colored the way you want you can remove it from the bag and lay it out on to paper towels to dry.

1. Cut cheese cloth fabric into lengths that will fit in the zip lock bags. You may want to experiment with mixing colors or adding color so start with small pieces.

2. If you are using powdered dyes or concentrated paints, put a small amount of paint in the zip lock bag and add water.

3. Close the bag and mix the paint until you have the color that you want and it is partially or fully diluted. The fabric will absorb most of the liquid when you place it in the zip lock bag. It may be necessary to add additional water to the zip lock bag and squish around the mixture.

4. You can allow the fabric to sit in the dye for a few minutes, hours or longer if you want. Before I remove the fabric from the bag I try and squeeze some of the liquid from the fabric. You can do this by pulling the fabric to the top of the bag and squeezing it while it is still in the bag.

5. I then lay the cheese cloth out on paper towels to dry. This allows the dyes to pool in areas and create striated color, which I consider desirable. I allowed my fabrics to air dry but you could speed drying by using a heat gun or hair dryer.

This is what your my bags looked like with the cloth and dye inside the bags. It is not necessary to have the paint or dye all one color. I actually like the colors to have a little variety. Once the fabrics have dried I store them for use at a later date. They can be used in scrapbook pages or alter art projects.



I used the finished products on some of my scrapbook pages as a layering element. It is fun to to try and use it to simulate water or other organic elements in nature. Try using it for a beach page and add small shells in to the gauze for visual interest and dimension.



You will need to start with a small bulb of fabric in the center. You do this by creating a loop and leaving the loop up like a bulb. Next you will wrapping the left over section around that loop. I try and hold it all in my hand like a bow. If you are not comfortable doing that you can tack it down with a needle and thread or glue each turn.

This is what you are going to do

Create the loop, twist the fabric lightly and wrap loosely around the edge of the loop . Twist loosely again and add your next petal. Continue this routine until you Your are going to continue to turn the fabric section each time you wrap. This will create the petals of your flower. Once you have finished the desired sized of your flower you will need to glue it together or stitch it together so that it will hold it's shape.


On this page I created some floral clusters from some of the pink and peach cloth.









This is another page that I used a small piece of fabric along the bottom of the page for a more contemporary look.



I also included a piece of cloth under the photos.

By selecting a small branch or floral stem and choosing some relevant colors you simulate moss on a tree and have a nice masculine package decoration.

I used the same floral elements as a package decoration on this package.



This is a small ornament that I made for my mom. These people are my mother's sister's and brother, so I know she will appreciate it. I have a piece of gauze under the glass.



Have a GREAT Holiday Season, play often, take lots of photos ( note to self... take photos of self) photograph people, food, presents, toys, family weather.