West Side Story

Hand finished fabrics are not only useful for creating striking catwalk creations, they are also useful for making costumes for the stage.

In 2006 I made these T-shirts for a production of West Side Story at RAU. We started with plain coloured T-shirts and I created patterns over the top that differentiated the warring gangs in the production from each other.

Each gang had a theme of its own and with dye I was able to give each actor their own identity while still identifying them as belonging to a particular group. Naturally, the lead actor had to have something really special and I had tremendous fun making his T-shirt.

It is one thing to dream up the designs in your head, and quite another to see them coming to life under the stage lights. I really enjoyed working on this project.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

www.dyeandprints.co.za

Stoned Cherrie 2007

In 2007 I was commissioned to produce this hand dyed chiffon silk for Stoned Cherrie. I was given one piece of silk to manufacture, which left little room for error. I had 24 hours to turn this order around. The client supplied me with swatches of the colours that she needed me to match (grey, royal blue and purple) so that the finished work would be holistic with the rest of the collection.

This piece will always be memorable for me. As luck would have it, I had to have my ancient old Siamese cat put down on the same day. She had been my constant companion for 16 years and it was an emotional day for me.

I always found it very interesting how sometimes my work reflected my inner feelings. This stormy piece was a reflection of my inner turmoil on this occasion and whenever I see it I am filled with bitter/sweet memories. I remember standing and dyeing this fabric through tears that streamed down my cheeks.

I used what I call a Split Technique to create the different bands of colour. It is created by gathering the fabric along the selvedge and then binding it with tight elastic bands at the point where you want the colour change. After that I syringed the different colours onto the different sections before heat-setting the dye in the microwave oven.

In spite of the challenges on the day, I still managed to deliver the order within the client's deadline and a couple of days later this garment walked down the catwalk.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

0835689150

www.dyeandprints.co.za

BFine

This is a lino block print that I carved in the 2001. This ornate block took me more than 3 weeks to complete. We printed it onto a black cotton twill for JJ Schoeman in a metallic charcoal ink for an evening gown. Later we printed it in olive green on green leather for BFine. It was used to upholster these beautiful chairs for suites at the Montecasino Hotel.

The original block was carved on old-fashioned linoleum tile. It is made from a linseed oil base. It is better to use oil based inks with such blocks so that the oil can continue to feed the base material and stop it from drying out and becoming brittle.

We did not think about this when we printed this block using water based inks. A year later, when BFine wanted to re-order this print, the block had become so brittle that we could no longer use it.

I am going to frame it one day as a reminder to think things through carefully in future.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

0835689150

www.dyeandprints.co.za