Preparing for Binding

I'm coming down the home stretch with the stitching on the sycamore piece, and it's time to think about finishing the edges. Although there are a lot of alternatives, and a lot of opinions, floating around, I am a big fan of binding my work. I like the opportunity to introduce a narrow band of color, I like the way it stops the eye and directs it back into the work, and I like how crisply it finishes things off. I don't particularly like applying it--it's the one task in my processes that I find picky and annoying, and I would gladly farm it out to an eager intern, if I had one, but I persevere with as perky an attitude as I can muster. Into each life a little rain must fall....


The rain has finally stopped falling in the physical world; it's a bright sunny day and a good opportunity to paint some fabric I will use for the binding. I started with a nice piece of pfd (prepared for dyeing) cotton and drizzled it with fuchsia paint (above).

Next come some areas of green:

These are blended just a bit with a paintbrush:

It's all left to dry in the sun--as it dries, the paint will wick and move around a bit, producing cool effects. It looks really random and fun, and while it is a lot of fun, it's not really random. I am keeping in mind how it will look when it is cut into strips for the binding, and I want a certain ratio and patterning of the colors. From experience I have a pretty good idea how this will all play out, and that's guiding the dribbling and the swooshing.