Fiber Arts Dye Project
Bedford Middle School
February 2007
Cathy Bullington
Art Instructor
-1-
The purpose of the Bedford Middle School Fiber Arts Dye Project was to create a crosscurricular lesson plan that would encourage students to use higher order thinking skills. By
combining standards from the areas of Art, Math, Science, and Technology, students gain a more
in depth understanding of the dye process. The use of Inspiration and InspireData software gave
organization to the project and allowed for students to help develop that structure. The
ownership of the learning by the students is a powerful tool to motivate them to want to learn
more.
I was given the opportunity to teach Fiber Arts to 8th graders for a semester long class for the
first time after having taken a class in Shibori at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.
Although the focus of the class at Arrowmont was in learning the technique of shibori, we spent
a great deal of time learning how to dye. (Shibori is a type of stitch resist dye technique.) Our
instructor Joan Morris shared with us a project she had done with a Math Professor at Dartmouth
College where she is the master-dyer for their theater department. This sparked my interest in
doing a cross-curricular project with my students. I knew that students would need to understand
how dyeing is a craft in order to make sure their art created through shibori would have good
results. By having students understand the science and math of dyeing, they would become
“master-dyers” themselves.
Students were shown examples of shibori and the different techniques were discussed. The
students were then asked to think about what they knew about dyeing fabric. Many had done tiedye at camps or with youth groups or their parents. Most at least knew about RIT dye which is
readily available in supermarkets. I opened up Inspiration and displayed it on the SMARTBoard.
-2-
Students were asked to look at the mindmap I had started that shows the things needed for
dyeing. Students were asked to think about what they knew about “Fabric,” “Water,” “Dye,”
and “Additives.” Students readily came up with different things to say about fabric and water.
Using the SMARTBoard, students added to our Inspiration mindmap. Some preferred using the
outline view.
We conducted internet searches to find more information and we added the links into the
notes.
-3-
As students did more research, I helped them evaluate the material they found. Our Inspiration
mindmap grew as they learned more about “Fabric” and “Water.”
Students were then ready to learn more about “Dye” and “Additives.” We again used the
SMARTBoard to do internet searches, evaluated material for useful information and then added
it to our Inspiration mindmap. Students also started to see connections between the dye chosen
and the fabric used. Useful links were added as notes to the subtopic they assisted with.
-4-
As the second lesson, I demonstrated how to dye using the RIT Dyes. We also studied how to
properly measure the different materials being used. I reminded the students that accuracy and
precise measuring would be important so that our results would be repeatable. Safety rules were
also emphasized. The recipe was displayed as an Inspiration mindmap. I also explained that we
were going to conduct an experiment with the dyes. I asked students to think about what the
“variables” in the experiment would be. In other words, what things could be changed to see
how they affect the end result? Students brainstormed by looking at the RIT Dye mindmap and
the larger Fabric Dyeing mindmap. Students were arranged into groups for their experiments.
Each group was assigned to take one variable change and to write out the new steps and to circle
the change from the original recipe. Each group was given a fat quarter of 100% cotton fabric.
It was the consensus of the group that we should keep the fabric type a constant. It was also
decided that they could use different colors as long as the teacher dyed a fabric sample using that
color and following the original recipe.
-5-
The third lesson involved the students dyeing fabric according to the revised steps they had
written with one variable changed. Students were again reminded about precise measurement
and safety rules. Fabric was hung up to dry and students wrote notes summing up their
experiment process. Students were instructed to include anything that happened which varied
from their written plan, as it could affect the outcome of the experiment.
Students’ dyed fabric was displayed side by side on the wall for the fourth lesson. The
students were asked “What makes a good piece of dyed fabric?” Students were encouraged to
look closely at each piece of fabric and to touch them. Once again, we formed teams to
brainstorm how they should evaluate their results in comparison to the other groups. We then
used Inspiration to organize the ideas they came up with and to come to a consensus on what to
include.
InspireData was then opened up on the SMARTBoard and we discussed with students how it
is important to record your findings so others can repeat the experiment and verify its validity.
Additionally, the students would then know how to repeat results that appealed to them—(e.g.
they could create a streaky effect if they wanted. We looked at some examples of experiments
that were included in the software. To discuss the terminology they were going to use in looking
at data, we opened up the glossary in the User’s Manual. Students then looked for examples of
the vocabulary words in the software’s examples.
Student groups cut three squares from the bottom of their fabric samples and labeled them
with a permanent marker. An envelope (for the pieces to be kept from sunlight) was labeled and
each group placed one of their samples into it. A poster board was labeled as “Lightfast Test”
and each group attached one of their samples to it. The poster was taped up in the window and
the date was written on the back to track the 14 days of light exposure. The samples for the
“Washfast Test” were placed in a dark plastic bag (to avoid light exposure) and were taken home
by the teacher to wash with laundry detergent the required twenty times.
-6-
The fifth lesson began with InspireData open on the SMARTBoard. Students helped to create
the questionnaire for filling in their data from their experiments by using the dye evaluation
mindmap we created. The criterion for completing each field was included in the notes section.
The groups took turns filling in the responses to the questionnaire. The “Lightfast” and
“Washfast” fields were not marked as required. They would have to be filled in after their
requirements were completed.
Each group was given a grey-scale finder to help them evaluate the intensity of the color of
their dyed fabric piece. We had learned about color and how each has its own intensity value in
prior years of art class. Students understood that some colors would naturally have a lighter
value range than others. Each groups’ hypothesis for their experiment was entered as a note in
the field for what change they had made. After entering their results, we looked at different
ways to chart the information to see what would be most useful to an artist. Students were asked
-7-
to think about what data should be compared. They were also asked to consider when results
labeled “poor” or “bad” might be useful for a fiber artist.
The sixth lesson involved looking at the data we had entered in InspireData. Students also
looked at the samples again to see if they agreed with what each group had entered. If students
questioned one group’s findings, we reviewed their notes for that sample, and also the actual
piece to verify the data.
We began working with the different plot types and learning how to change the ways we were
looking at the data. Students looked at how different plots types worked better for different
types of comparisons and how labeling the data was very beneficial.
-8-
Students decided that we needed to separate some of the information into a new table to simplify
what they were looking at. They wanted to look at how much change the exposure to light had
caused.
We discussed different ways of plotting this information. When the students found a particularly
useful chart, we printed and laminated it to keep by our dye station.
-9-
The students also wanted to see how washing the samples (twenty times in laundry soap) had
changed the value of the samples.
After looking at the data and the fabric samples, students had lots of suggestions for future
experiments. One suggestion was to use only one color of dye and find out at what point adding
more dye would not make a difference in the value of the resulting color. Another student
suggested creating a rubric for evaluating each piece and using that to input data. Some also
were interested in conducting a similar experiment using natural dyes.
Students also had suggestions for improvements they would like to see in the software. One
idea is to be able to center data in the columns under the fields. Another suggested being able to
print the questionnaire directly from the program would be helpful. Some students were
surprised they could not do some formatting as they are used to with Excel. For example,
changing font size or being able to zoom in were things students wanted to be able to do.
Students also wanted to be able to adjust the plot views so the labels would not be overlapping or
hidden.
I plan to have students add to the dye database each semester and to keep printouts and their
fabric samples in a binder as a resource for future classes. Overall, InspireData was very easy to
learn for myself and my students. I heard many inquisitive students asking “What if?” It
allowed the students to start thinking “outside the box” and generated many new and creative
ideas.
- 10 -