RE: cyanotypes on fabric

Isabella,

A few years back (longer than I care to admit) when I was still teaching I
did a unit on cyanotype for my advanced photography class for art majors. I
was coating paper when someone asked me if you could put cyano on anything
else and I said yes. Try wood and cloth. I cautioned then to use natural
fabric i.e. cotton, silk, etc. They asked about T shirts and I said it would
work. Of course you have to put something inside the T shirt so that the
sensitizer won't bleed through to the back.

They used plain, unwashed T-shirts and printed a little dense. For about
three weeks all the art majors were sporting T shirts of their own making.
Some even had my photo on them. People began refering to it as the great
T-shirt incident.

I don't recall that there was anything difficult about the process but check
your wash water to make sure it is acitic or neutral. Make sure your
detergent is not alkali since that would fade them.

Bob Schramm

Check out my web page at:

  http://www.SchrammStudio.com

>From: "Isabella M. Trauttmansdorff" <imt25@dca.net>
>Reply-To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>Subject: cyanotypes on fabric
>Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 12:37:55 -0500
>
>I am hoping to do some holiday gifts on a budget this year, and thought
>about doing some cyanotypes on t-shirts (rather than just prints on
>paper). I've never done cyanotypes on fabric, and I've only seen them
>on "tighter" fabrics-- like bed sheets or shirt fabrics. Has
anyone
>done this successfully on plain cotton tees? Any advice, other than
>pre-washing the fabrics a number of times to remove sizing? Any
>suggestions on kinds of fabrics to avoid? I'm worried that I will lose
>too much of the image in the washing process.
>
>Thanks very much,
>Isabella
>
>
Received on Thu Dec 2 20:18:20 2004