R/Co. Project: Seeing Dots.

Man Friday morning just sucked big time. My alarm goes off way to soon, like it always does, and as I go to get out of bed the room just starts spinning... After a few attempts to get out of bed I throw in the towel and close my eyes and wait for it to stop. At one point I my bladder was so full that I had to get up and try to get to the bathroom. I made it ok but ended up falling into the tub and missed the toilet compleatly. So the whole day was a waste. I have so much that I need to get done, both at the 9-5 as well as what I want to get done out in the garage. Spending a day in bed because the world won't stop spinning when I get up is just not needed....

Anyway, for the last while the daily routine has been get up get ready for the day, go to the 9-5,  come home do the family thing, and then out to the garage till the wee hours of the morning, then repeat.
Well for the last 3 days of this routine I have been out making dots...
Yep, a whole mess load of dots.
Part of this little project I am building involves a shirt that is a navy blue ground with an allover dot pattern. Since I could not find exactly what I wanted for fabric I decided I would just have to make it....
Silly me. I don't think I will be making more than 1 and this is why....

Back in March I built a stencil.

Tried to use wax as a resist then dye the fabric blue.

Didn't quite work.
Was able to dye the fabric blue and then tried used the stencil with spay paint, but it was too light.
So then tried fabric paint and a large stencil brush, but my stencil is too thick so not enough paint was getting through, plus it wasted way to much paint on the stencil its self.

Finally just used a small brush and dipped it into each hole on the stencil. But then the brush wore out...

I finished the rest of the pieces using a Q-tip....

Yep this is going to be a one off. It will be a $500 cotton button down, if it was to go to market. How many man hours went into making the print? And it is just dots! Now still need too cut the fabric and sew the thing together. Oh yeah I also have hand painted and then distressed each of the metal buttons that will be used as the closure. *Sigh*

Man I am having fun! Even with all of the mishaps and false starts this is so much fun! I hope that one day this can be THE 9-5. That is the plan.... one day.

Why not just use a screen and screen print it? what fun would that be? I really do not know what is wrong with me but I just have something against wanting to do screen printing and I do not know why. I even own a bunch of screens. What I really want to know is how did they print those amazing, fine detailed, cotton calicoes back in the early 1800's?

Some of the small prints are very intricate and very detailed. Did they use screens back then? Did they use a roller print? Was it a discharge print? .... I have asked several fabric designers but none of them know. I do not have an answer. I would like to know because even the quality is way better than most of the calicoes you find on the market today....I bet they know in Japan!
There is this place but they are a little pricey.

So what have you been messing with?
 'Keep 'em Flying!'

Cheers.