Micro Music Genre: Process - Dyeing

Below shows the process of dyeing the tote bags, the first practice design didn't work well at all. This was because the dye that was bought wasn't deeply saturated or strong enough (Figure 9) and the dye got underneath the wax so the batik effect didn't work. However after repurchasing different Dylon Dyes (Figure 1) which were a lot more pigmented the designs started to work better. However on a few of the designs especially the text or smaller motifs, the dye got underneath the wax and therefore the design wasn't as visible. This could have been because the wax wasn't hot enough, therefore it didn't penetrate through the cotton bag properly (5,6).

Different dyeing techniques and colours were experimented with. The colours chosen were green, red and yellow which are colours associated with West Africa where most of the salves came from. They are also very bright, celebratory colours to contrast the bleakness of the history of slaves. 

Solid colour was experimented with, this worked well, the green was the most pigmented however when the bag was left too long in the dye the dye started to seep underneath the wax. The yellow solid colour worked the best, as the red was quite pink as well. 

Dip dyeing and multiple dye colours worked well as it replicated the flags of the likes of Kenya and Ghana, it made use of all of the colours and made the tote more interesting and celebratory in nature. (2,3 and 7). 

The tote bags with text on didn't work very well, probably because there was too much detail. However it could still work as the concept of the designs were hidden messages, therefore maybe it doesn't have to be completely legible. 

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Figure 9