dyed cheesecloth and fabric dyed with cheesecloth

I’ve been working back and forth with imagery, using doilies and cheescloth to both print with (positive image) and as resists (negative). For example, I used cheesecloth to create breakdown printing screens. I first coated the blank screens with thickened dye in two reds. I layed the cheesecloth onto the screen and let it dry overnight. When I pulled the cheesecloth off the screen it was coated in dye. I soaked some cotton in soda soak solution then laid the dye soaked cheesecloth on top, rolled it up in the fabric, and batched it overnight. Voila! Dyed cheesecloth and dyed cheesecloth pattern on the fabric.

printed with the breakdown screen

I then printed the breakdown screens. I added a little Moss dye to the print paste along with the fix mix to get a blended color in the prints. I knew I wanted to tone down the red after having seen the first set of dyeing. In these fabrics you see the print paste through the negative space where the cheesecloth dried on the screens. So again, I got three for the price of one: the dyed cheesecloth, the fabric “printed” with the positive image of the cheesecloth, and the breakdown printing using the cheesecloth as a resist.