Dyeing to be different

Melanie Brummer of Slipstream Dyeing came to Swaziland last week to run a dyeing course and team building for our staff.  It was successful on all fronts:  we were able to identify some methods which work well with some of our woven product; our staff immersed themselves in the creative process and made some astonishing patterns on t-shirts and we all felt inspired, revved-up and converted to a simple process that delivers unique and special results.

Mel collects children’s t-shirts which are donated to orphans through her schools training programs.  One of our tasks was to dye a child’s t-shirt and each staff member did their own t-shirt and some pieces of fabric that have become colourful headscarves.  The process is so simple that out of our 45 participants there were no flops and smiles and confidence soared as the results were unveiled. 

I like the attention to detail that each piece of fabric gets from the dyeing process: the real appeal for me is the one-off nature and the hint of a printed pattern that is left on the fabric.  I like the squares and stripes and gentle grading of colours.  I like the swirls and bursts of “cobweb” patterns that we create – like a bull’s eye on the middle of a cushion cover.  Circles on a woven piece are never easily achievable, but we have found a way here.  I like the colour mixing you can do when different halves of a piece are dipped in different colours.  The story is in the colour and the process and it adds another level of creativity, attention and design to the resulting piece.

I took so many photographs as the effect of all these bright and swirling pieces was mesmerising, kind of like a Swazi Woodstock but without the music, only a lot of proud and happy purveyors of new dyeing skills.  It was a lot of fun, and we hope to do a Christmas session where we can make some more t-shirts that convey such colour and energy to some deserving souls.