Sunday, January 10, 2016

Kitchen Resists with Julie B. Booth: Knotted and Wheat Flour Paste Resists


Create a Valentine's Day gift wrap with the fabric you create in this tutorial!

Hi there...It's Julie B. Booth again. I hope you enjoyed my first blog post on January 3rd. Welcome to my second post about Kitchen Resists! Today, we'll focus on using two resists to create fabric that you can use to wrap up a Valentine's Day gift for a special someone. Just a reminder that leaving a comment on this post, last week's post or my final post of the month (on January 24), makes you eligible to win a copy of my book, Fabric Printing at Home: Quick and Easy Fabric Design Using Fresh Produce and Found Objects, as well as one yard of Prepared for Dyeing cotton. For information about additional Kitchen Resists and a variety of techniques on how to use them, see Chapter 6: Irresistible: Fabric Resists Using Kitchen Ingredients in my book.


Valentine's Fabric Gift Wrap
In today's project, I'll show you how to make a Valentine's Day fabric gift wrap using two different fabric resist techniques. The first technique is a knotted resist, the second technique is a wheat flour paste resist.

Knotted Resist
For the knotted resist you'll need:
  • A flat work surface covered with plastic. I like to make Portable Work Surfaces with foam board covered with plastic film. Go here to learn how to make one.
  • Fuchsia and red transparent fabric paints (I like to use Pebeo Setacolor paints). Add a small amount of water to slightly dilute the paint.
  • Plastic paint containers and spoons to mix the paint. 
  • (2) 1" foam brushes
  • Plant mister with water.
  • Iron and ironing board.

1. Lightly mist the cotton fabric so the paint can penetrate the fibers. Start at one corner and roll the fabric on the diagonal into a tube.


2. Knot the fabric in several places and paint with the fuchsia and red paint.


3. Immediately, unknot the fabric and let it dry flat. When dry, iron the fabric to remove wrinkles.


Wheat Flour Paste Resist
You will now add the second resist layer to the 15" x 15" piece of fabric. 

You will need: 
  • The fabric you just made.
  •  An additional piece of 15" x 15" cotton fabric to use as a blotter when applying paint to the resist.
  • A flat work surface covered in plastic or a Portable Work Surface (see above).
  • White wheat flour.
  • Water to make the paste resist, dilute paint and remove the resist.
  • Container to mix up the wheat flour paste (I used a 1.75 qt Pyrex bowl).
  • Measuring cups (dry and liquid).
  • Wire whisk.
  • Large metal spoon.
  • Plant mister with water.
  • Plastic spreader.
  • Masking tape.
  • Wooden skewer.
  • Paper towel.
  • (1) 2" foam brush.
  • Plastic paint container and spoon to mix paint.
  • Wipe up cloth. 
  • (2) Pressing cloths (or pieces of cotton or muslin).
  • Iron and ironing board. 

  •  Plastic tub (that fits in your kitchen sink) to put fabric in to remove resist.

Mixing and Applying the Wheat Flour Paste Resist
1. The recipe for the wheat flour paste resist (from Jane Dunnewold) is 1 part white wheat flour to 1 part cold water. Pour the water into a container first, and then add the flour. Use the wire whisk to mix. The paste should be the consistency of pancake mix (you may need to adjust the ingredients to get the correct consistency). 

 2. Tape the 15" painted square of fabric to the work surface.

3. Mist the painted fabric with water. This will help the paste to better penetrate the fabric's fibers.

4. Spoon the wheat flour paste resist onto the fabric and use the plastic spreader to spread a thin even coat over the surface.


5. Let the paste-covered fabric sit for a few minutes. Then use the flat end of the wooden skewer to draw into the paste. You can draw designs or write words. Occasionally, wipe the end of the skewer on a paper towel to keep it clean.



Painting Over the Resist
1. Let the flour paste resist dry completely. Optional: After the paste is dry, carefully manipulate the paste-covered fabric to form small cracks.

2. Slip the extra piece of fabric under the paste-covered square. This extra piece of fabric will act as a blotter to absorb excess paint.

3. Mix the blue transparent paint to the consistency of light cream (about 1 part paint to 1.5 parts water). Paint over the dried resist. If the paint starts to pool, use a wipe up cloth or paper towel to soak up the excess paint. Occasionally, lift up the resist-covered fabric to view the back to see if the paint is reaching the fabric's surface.


4. Let the paint dry completely. 


Setting the Paint and Removing the Resist
1. See the instructions from my first blog post for setting the fabric paint.

2. To remove the wheat flour paste: Place the resist-covered fabric in the plastic tub. Add some liquid dishwashing soap and cool to warm water. Let the piece soak. Rub to remove the resist. You will need to occasionally dump and refill the tub until all the resist is removed.

3.  I like to put the fabric through a delicate machine wash (cold water with some detergent), just to be sure that all the resist is removed.

4. Machine or air dry.



Turn Your Fabric into a Gift Wrap
To wrap the fabric around a gift box, see the directions here (from my free online newsletter, Julie B Booth Surface Design News. Sign up at my blog if you want to receive future issues).

Hope you enjoyed this post. Be sure to leave a comment to be eligible to win the giveaway. See you on January 24th for my final Kitchen Resists tutorial.

50 comments:

  1. Oh this is so cool! Can't wait to try it!

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  2. Thanks again. Another fantastic idea..

    What a great idea to personalize gift wrap!!

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    1. It's really fun...even just doing the knotted resist makes a nice wrap. One year for Christmas and Hanukkah gifts I did all my wrapping with fabric I'd made with the knotted resist.

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  3. Great tutorial! I pinned for future reference

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    1. Thanks Chris...Maybe someday I'll do my resists class at Judy's :)

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  4. Love this!! I'm always looking for new ways to incorporate text in my projects.
    I'm new to your bee and am loving going backwards to learn new things.

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  5. That is beautiful. Going to have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. You're very welcome. So easy...esp. since you probably have wheat flour in your kitchen!

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  6. Thank you. You have given me an idea for my next project. Thank you for sharing

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    1. So happy to help with a new idea, Yvonne...you'll have to post the results!

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  7. What a great technique and a lovely way to wrap a present.

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    1. Thanks, Sophie. Follow the link to see how to use the fabric to wrap the gift. Here's a link to another one of my newsletters that shows you how to do a different gift wrap with fabric:
      http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d8b51cbd7b9847f09709a5144&id=080514e9ad

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  8. Fun colors and amazingly easy roll-it-up technique! thank you, I'll be trying that one!

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    1. It IS fun and so easy! When I want a quick, fun background I love to do the knotted resist.

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  9. This looks like so much fun. Thanks for the instructions. I can't wait to try it.

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    1. Super, Karen! Give it a shot and post some pics!

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  10. I so like the idea of writing on the surface of the fabric!

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    1. Hi Gabriele- Thanks for commenting. I did a small series of fabrics with words like Peace, Joy, Harmony etc. But I could also see writing a letter. What's fun is the subtle cracking you can get with this technique.

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  11. Excellent instructions. Thank you.

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    1. You're welcome Teresa. Hope you give the techniques a try!

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  12. Thank you for the fantastic idea! I certainly will try this.

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  13. This looks like fun! Have you made resists using rice flour?

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    1. Hi Cris- Yes I have tried rice flour but best to cook a rice flour/water mixture on the stove. When I was experimenting with resists for my grant, I tried adding just water...but no gluten meant a soggy mess...like wet sand!

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  14. I really must have a go with the flour!
    A great tute, many thanks :)

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  15. This is wonderful! I like that there are no toxic materials. Thanks for sharing your process!

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    1. That's my "big" thing...all the stuff I like to use (excluding the fabric paint) is non-toxic and stuff you can find in your house...my book is loaded with ideas :)

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  16. Wow! What a lovely result! First time here, thanks for sharing! Stunning!

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    1. Hope you come back...the members of the Bee will be posting tutorials all this year!

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  17. Wow! What a lovely result! First time here, thanks for sharing! Stunning!

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  18. Thank you for sharing a couple of techniques with items we have around the house! I have done flour resist on plain white fabric then painted over when dry with black paint. I "crackled" the fabric when dry and I was very happy with the results. As yet I haven't used the fabric in any project. Maybe a gift wrap??

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    1. Yes! Gift wrap! or maybe a little stitched mat. You can get directions on how to do that here: http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d8b51cbd7b9847f09709a5144&id=e16330ca2d

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  19. This looks like a good and messy project to try when I host my 11-year-old grandson this weekend! Only challenge is whether I can make it gluten free -- Ha! Ha! We maintain a GF household and don't have any wheat flour here, but we do have substitutes! Or I could buy a little and confine it to the studio! Your results are great!

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    1. Yes...definitely NOT gluten-free! There are cooked rice flour paste recipes and I have a recipe using baking powder and one using gelatin in my book. Have fun with your grandson! I love doing art projects with my nieces and nephew (my son is too old and not interested :)).

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  20. Way cool.... & a lot less calories than using the flour to make cakes & cookies!

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  21. Looks like loads of fun, looking forward to your next class. Kathie Lostan

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    1. It will be out a week from this Sunday, Kathie. Glad you're enjoying the posts.

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  22. I love the knotted fabric! Will have to try that in my upcoming dye party!

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  23. Love the knotted fabric technique -- produces such lovely patterns, and the colours are so vibrant. Thank you for sharing

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    1. You're welcome Frances. I find that the knotted technique is a really fun way to get a first layer of paint down on the fabric.

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  24. This is very affordable and very nice idea for the print design. I really like the way you explained it. Thank you so much for sharing this idea. print management services

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  25. We want to say thnx to you 4 creating this cool weblog and keep going the good work!
    DVD Printing

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  26. Thanks again for inspirirng me!!!

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