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    Warp Painting Workshop
September 11, 2010

Some of you may recall we had a warp-painting workshop with Marjie Thompson, September 2007. We had a lot of fun and decided to do it again on our own.

We will be using Pro MX Reactive Dyes to paint warps made of plant fibers, for example cotton, bamboo, rayon, and Tencel. We'll have two sets of primary colors, plus black, which can be mixed to get other colors.

Bring your prewound warps, with the cross securely tied and the opposite end tied with an overhand knot. If you want to have any choke ties, be sure they are loose enough for the dye to penetrate the warp. We will be spreading the warps out on a long sheet of plastic wrap, like Saran wrap, so be sure your warp isn't too wide or long to handle.

You should have your warps labeled with a water-resistant paper tag, such as Tyvex, with at least your name on it. We will be putting everyone's warps into two presoak solutions, Synthrapol and soda ash, so you want to be able to identify your warp. When I am painting warps, I write on the label the fiber, the number of ends and the length of the warp.

If you haven't done this before and want to read about it over the summer, there is a brief article on warp painting by Darryl Lancaster, in Handwoven May/June 2006. She has a very good recommendation to wind off and paint extra ends in case of breakage. There is another article on warp painting in Handwoven, April/May 2000.

In September before we start to play with the dye, I'll give a brief talk and give you a handout of instructions. If you have done this before, I would appreciate you bringing some examples of articles made with painted warps to show.

For this workshop you will need your labeled warps, plastic gloves, and plastic bags/boxes to take your warps home in. Wear old clothes and/or an apron.

We will be using a lot of paper towels, plastic cups, sponge brushes, plastic wrap, and plastic drop cloths for the tables. If you have any of this stuff, please bring it along. Let's hope for good weather, so we can do the workshop outside!

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