In full bloom

  

I managed to keep the dyeing momentum going and turned out another cotton jersey tank top, bringing together several large flower stencils that I already had made for other projects. Nightshade is what Dharma Trading Company calls that lovely blue-cooled purple of their Fiber Reactive Procion Dye. I also used their Plum Blossom to give some variation on the blossoms. And, of course, Golden Yellow for the centers. 

 

 

After the dye had cured, I re-stenciled over the flowers with resist before silk screening on the foliage in Avocado green, so that it would be behind rather than over the flowers. (This was not entirely successful.) This foliage is another design from Dover's Chinese Stencil Design book. The foreword in the book only says that the designs are from a rare collection of Chinese stencils, without giving any specific dates or eras. Old enough, I'm sure, that their creators would be astonished to see their designs being brought to life via Photoshop and the Silhouette Cameo cutting machine that I used to make the silkscreen film.

 

When all the washing-out was done, the yellow centers were not quite as distinct as I wanted, so I embroidered them with a simple satin stitch, on the front only. 

So, voilà, another new top ready for next summer.  And more dyeing and printing practice to get me ready for my next project...whatever that may be.