Machine-stitched resists

I've been trying out a different way of putting pattern onto dyed fabric - machine-stitched resists. Here are my first few trials.

I have used Scollata cotton fabric from Whaley's for these, it is quite lightweight and prepared for dyeing. I cut approximately half metre strips and then divided those into four. I used old polyester thread for the stitching.

I started by pleating each piece with about 3" pleats, then stitched:

* straight lines of zigzag stitch with a short stitch length

* V shapes in both a zigzag and stretch stitch

* battlement shapes in zigzag

Here they are before dyeing.

And after dyeing.

Then I pulled out all the stitching, rinsed and dried the fabric and got these results.

The top one didn't work as well, because the stitches weren't close enough together, but the others produced clear patters. Now I've convinced myself that it can work, I'm going to try some more samples.