I’m working on another Photograph on Fiber piece and needed a piece of fabric with a crackle finish. Here’s the very basic flour resist process I used to achieve the effect.
First I painted a piece of Pima cotton the lovely color Citron.
Next I brushed on a flour paste of one cup water to one cup flour (mixed well and no lumps). Sorry I don’t have a photo of this step.
I left that in the sun to dry. It was a really hot day and so only took a couple of hours to be completely dry. Then I rolled and squished the fabric to cause the flour to crack and shook it to remove loose dried flour bits. Next I painted on top of the flour with black acrylic paint, making sure to get it in all of the cracks.
I made sure the black was getting into the cracks by checking the back side of the fabric.
I let this dry completely, then soaked the piece in a container of hot water, rubbing gently until all of the flour was removed, not difficult but it took awhile. Raised more in a container of clean water and rinse, rinse, rinse! I want every bit of the flour gone before the piece dries. After it’s dry I iron it.
It came out perfect for what I’m using it for… A piece (along with many new pieces) that will probably be included in the January/Feb exhibit – More information about that gallery exhibit coming soon.
I’m looking forward to playing with more surface design ideas. Have you created a wonderful piece of surface designed fabric? Please do share!
