Deliverables¶

GANTT¶

Below is a rough gant chart of the timeline for my project.

DETAILED SCHEDULE¶

These are the goals I hope to have done by next Tuesday Jan 20th end of day:

Thursday Jan 15

Morning:

scour cotton with soda ash
Extract dyes from japanese knot weed, avacados, cabbage

After Lunch:

Alum treat cotton

Time dependant:

shopping for wool / cotton options

By 2:30pm

Start making lake pigments
Add dye modifiers to dyes
package and clean up

Tuesday Jan 20:

Dye tests with existing mushroom and kombucha waste samples
Dye tests with treated cotton
Set up mycelium growth / and or kombucha growth if possible
collect lakes and dyes for trip to Ontario
Leave cotton test swatches in window over Quebec break to test colour fastness

BoM¶

Below is a working list of materials I have / will need to purchase listed in $ CAD

Qty	Description	Price	Source	Notes
1	Wool / Silk	130.00 $	Local Supplier	Natural Dyes
1	Kombucha Starter	20.00 $	Mycoboutique (Local Supplier)	Leather
1	Alum	26.00 $	Amazon	1LB Mordant
1	Sodium Carbonate	9.00 $	Canadian Tire	For Scouring
1	Glycerin	8.00 $	Amazon	For Kombucha Leather coating
1	Citric Acid	12.00 $	Amazon	Modifer
1	Small Waterproof Speaker	30 $	Amazon
1	Large Speaker	50.00 for pair $	Amazon
1	Aluminum plate	1 $	Dollar Store
1	Surface transducer	28-50 $	Local Supplier
1	Wood Base	free	-	at lab
1	Amplifier	89.99 $	aMAZON
1	Large tray to catch salt and water	free	at lab
1	Indigo Powder	18.95 $	Julie Sinden For the Love of Colour	50g
1	Sumi - Ink	5.00 $	Kama Pigments	180ml

Below is a list of materials I already have:

Qty	Description	Price	Link	Notes
-	Avacado Dye Materials	-	Grocery Store	Food Waste
-	Japanese Knotweed	-	Home	Invasive Plant
-	Muslin Fabric	-	Home Stock / Amazon	Test Fabric
-	Coffee Filters	-	Home	For Lakes

Machines Needed¶

I will be making my own cymatics rig. There is a very simple version I have seen done with a speaker, a bottle cap to block water from entering the cone, and a petri dish. I may try this for early experiments if it seems worthwhile. See it below:

📱 YouTube Shorts — Cymatics Experiment¶

Below is one tutorial on making an even bigger cymatics tray. I may opt for an aluminum tray as I have seen in other tutorials. However I'm going to consider 3d printing this one.

Visualize Sound Using Water (Cymatics)

I may also follow this process which doesn't involve 3d printing at all:

Exploring Cymatics - DIY First Attempt

Support Needed¶

Because I have never worked with cymatics, I'd love tips on building the rig, and someone to ask electrical questions to should they arise. Any guidance on the best methods of generating the cymatics would also be helpful.

I'd also love to know any tips for the optimal kombucha and mycellium leather processes as this will be new to me too.

Midterm Presentation¶

Cymatics captured by Erika Weitz and Thomas Noya

I'd like to give a little context as to why I ended up here. In university I studied theatre production and costume design.

My favorite class was costume history. It completely opened my world. This was when I realized that fashion is about so much more than just beautiful things. It was this centrifugal subject around which so many others revolve - politics, economics, technology, history etc... Suddenly when I looked at 18th century French Macaroni's for example, I easily remembered historical facts I'd usually never been able to retain. And I better understood why things were happening at the time, politically, economically and culturally.

The most important lesson I took from this class was that sometimes I just need a more social angle to get interested in things I previously thought "weren't for me" - like math or economics

After this, I recognized fashion's unique potential to spark new connections, both persanl and intellectual ones. I love that it's a social art by default, because it has a life out of the home. It goes everywhere we go. We bring it to others, they don't need to come to it to see it.

This is what I love about strange combos. I think curisoity is the key to the best kind of innovation. I've also learned that when I use my brain in different ways and have variety in my life, this is when I'm the happiest and most motivated for a sustained period. So I've been trying to build a lifestyle where I can do this more often.

So my final project is a test run. In the future, I see myself running workshops that combine science and fashion, with a focus on process as much as product.

For those who are unfamiliar, Cymatics are made by sending a tone to a metal plate that transforms vibrations into visible patterns. Last year I also fell in love with ebru. It's both technical and intuitive and it's always surprising.

Formerly I was calling this “Full Circle Fibres”. The hope is that every step will be a collaboration with nature, including fibre creation, colourants/ dying, pattern printing and cutting. This is still my goal, but I changed the title to "Beneath the Surface Pattern" because my focus is really on the surface pattern design*.

So what have I been up to....

Starting with Fibre ... It was important to me to see if I grow my own fabric, so I tried making kombucha leather. I also bought other materials derived from nature for testing, such as:

- cotton

- wool

- silk

And I created a number of lake pigments including:

- madder

- safflower

- Japanese knotweed

I built my first cymatics rig and spent time learning it's limitations and strengths

I've learned that every plate yields different results. In my current set up 4 - 6 " platforms are best. Styrofoam worked well for salt. I'm using cookie tins which seem to be effective for water.

I now know how difficult it is to get my pigments working, so moving forward I'll work with only two colours, and lean into the theme of duality by using one fugitive dye (safflower) and one colour fast dye (indigo).

I've learned how to achieve water grams using synthetic paint.

For the final garment I would like to create a jacket that can fit multiple people.

Taking inspiration from The Selby, personal-style portraits of people in their homes, I would like to photograph other's wearing my garment in their own individual way, as a method of collaboration.

Final Video Storyboards¶

How-Tos & Tutorials¶

Model Pigment Marbling Recipe:¶

After much trial and error, the following recipe proved to be the best starting point for every plant and mineral colour I tried. After this, they were each adjusted “to taste” based on how they reacted to the carageenan bath.

Hydration:

Ingredient	Amount
Pigment	2.05g
Hot water	0.75ml

Make a “crater” shape and add a few drops of water in the middle to hydrate the pigment. Mix until fully wet.

Mulling:

Ingredient	Amount
Water	10ml
Gum Arabic	2 drops

Once hydrated, add more water for spreading.
Then add binder such as gum arabic.
Mull the pigment with a glass muller on a glass plate in a figure-eight pattern until smooth and fully blended. It should be the consistency of “mayo” or gouache.

Marbling Prep:

Ingredient	Amount
Ox Gall	2.05g
Water	2 drops

Collect a “cherry-pit” sized amount of pigment and place in an airtight glass jar.
separate the rest of the remaining uncollected pigment into separate small jars the same way.
In the jar you will use first, now add 2 drops ox gall and 2 drops water.
Mix with a paint brush. You're ready to test it out.

Careageenan Bath¶

I used the Jaquard brand of caregeenan. There are different types of carageen so if you use another brand look for Lambda carageenan. As per the package intructions I started with this recipe below:

Basic ratio: 4 teaspoons (roughly 19g) of carageen powder per 1 gallon of water (3.79L).
Slowly add carageenan to warm water in a big jug or bucket. Mix with an immersion blender or hand mix vigorously and pour into a regular blender to mix futher until fully combined.
Pour mixture back into big jug / bucket and let solution sit for up to 12 hours (or at least 1 hour) until all the bubbles are gone.

Waterproof Cymatics Rig How-To:

This is the instructions for my preferred cymatics rig set up. It's essential to be super careful with this setup. Zero liquid should come in contact with any of your electronic components. Always keep everything unplugged until you know your carageenan tray is secure and will not tip over. Also keep all electronic parts away from where the tray could accidentally spill.

Supplies:

Cut the top off a plastic bottle. Keep the lid aside.
Cut a hole in the lid of your container. The bottle top will feed through this.
Carefully strip back the plastic covering on your speaker wire.
Solder the negative an positive speaker channels to the speaker respectively.
Drill a small hole (for your wires) in the side of your plastic container.
Position the speaker in your container. Glue the bottle base to the cone of your speaker (only the part that pulses). This can cause it to degrade over time which is why it's good to use cheap speakers. I used tape in my first iteration, seen here but it was not stable enough.
Run your cables through the drilled hole. (Here a second container is seen inside the first which I used to stabilize the speaker and make it sit snug, but it is optional. It didn't help that much.)
Cut a hole in the center of a plastic sheet. The hole should be slighlty smaller than the bottle top base for extra water-tightness. Drape it over the protruding base and container.
Now attach your cables to the amp ( keep it switched off)
Glue the bottle cap to the bottom of your tray. Make sure it is dead centre and level! This is essential. (If you have multiple bottles you can put caps on different trays and swap them out. Different tray sizes and materials have different optimal resonant frequencies).
Now you can screw your tray on the bottle top securing it to the rig.
Add additional "liquid catch" containers on the sides of your tray. Once you start filling it with liquid it can easily spill. Also plan to use a bigger screw lid / base combo to stabilize a bigger tray (an old peanut butter jar etc...).
Fill your tray with carageenan slowly. It should be just enough to float the paint but not so heavy that it tips the tray or weighs down the speaker cone.
using an RCA cable connect your phone to the amplifier. Pull up an online tone generator. What I used is listed at the end of the tutorial.
Start at a frequency around 20hz. It will be faint. Move up from here.
Keep the volume of your phone consistent and only adjust the volume on your amp or vice versa. Start at low volume and gradually turn the volume up.
Now you can play with different frequencies, and marble away!

Open Tone Generator

Kombucha Leather Recipe:¶

Ingredient	Amount
Vinegar	10 ml
Sugar	70g
Tea	700ml
Kombucha mother	One portion cut from mother
Starter liquid	3 spoonfuls

Full disclosure my self grown kombucha leather was mouldy when I uncovered it. I'm not sure if this was because it had not been adequatley covered or if it was contaminated at the start. My recipe may yield the same results, so be wary of this

Steps:

Mix vinegar tea and sugar in a pot and bring to a low simmer. Let cool.
When sugar disolves and tea is room temperature (20-30 degrees celcius), transfer to a glass or plastic container.
Add liquid starter and a piece of kombucha mother (reserve some for other batches if desired).
Mix gently with non metal spoon. Kombucha will change colour where it contacts metal so be wary of this.
Place clean muslin cover over container and tape down. In theory this keeps things breathable but prevents mould from forming.
Put container in dark place with a temperature of around 25 degrees celcius for at least two weeks.
After waiting period, remove kombucha from container and gently wash with non abrasive soap, using gloves. The concentrate is like vinegar and acid burns are possible from the concentrated liquid. (Also wear clothes you don't care about. Liquid splashes can leave a funny smell.)
Lay washed kombucha flat on a sheet of MDF.
Rub glycerin on kombucha sample to ensure it stays pliable once the trapped liquid evaporates. The more glycerin used the more pliable it will be. Too much will make it sticky. Too little and it will be prone to snapping. I applied mine without measurements but you can try different ratios.
Wait one week, or until excess liquid in kombucha evaporates.
Peel off kombuhca leather slowly. Now you can make something!