Marbled scarf workshop

On the 25th July I headed to Edinburgh to the Festival of Making at Edinburgh Contemporary Arts. I had booked the Marbled Scarf Workshop, which was taught by Hazel Lethaby. The walk to Process Studios from the station was a lovely one, taking me past parts of Edinburgh I hadn't been for ages.

There were four of us in the class. Everything was set up, so we were able to get started quickly. The acrylic chiffon fabric had been pre-treated with alum. A substance called Methocel had been added to trays of water, and onto this we dripped acrylic paint which had been mixed with Golden GAC 900.

After dripping various colours of paint on the water, we used a teaspoon to create the marbled pattern. Then, with two of us holding it, the fabric was lowered gently onto the water. It was then rinsed and left to dry. I made three pieces in peach and mint, and another in pink, mint and yellow. While our fabric was drying, we all went off to explore all the other things that were going on in the building.

When the fabric was (more or less!) dry, Hazel placed it in a hot press machine for a short time. Then were were able to go upstairs and sew our pieces together (the size of them was limited by the size of the trays of water). I made my first ever attempt at French seams, and used an overlocker for the first time to finish the edges.

Here's a video of the marbling process!