Fabric surface design for scenic: how to dye the ocean...

In Shipwrecked, there are a couple of scenes in which china silk serves to create bodies of water onstage. Set designer Robin Vest wanted the silk to be mottle-dyed to look like waves of ocean water. I knew it was going to be a very similar project to the dyeing of the sunset silk yardage for The Little Prince, two years ago.

The only place such a thing could happen is in my dye shop, and even though these lengths of fabrics are not costume pieces, i always gladly agree to dye such things for the folks in sets/props, because that's part of what being a member of a collaborative team is about!

Here's a quick pictorial on how crafts artisan Claire Fleming and i dyed the ocean.

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