Dying to create

I briefly mentioned that Meri and I had attended a Dying class on Sunday afternoon and learned how to dye fabric. Due to a church potluck we arrived late and had to scramble into our yucky clothes after we got there.

Our brave leader had a face mask on and was mixing dyes when we pulled up chairs. We had about 16-20 women there. We dug out our scraps of fabric that we brought, which wasn't much and put them on various piles of samples that were going to go into different pots for different colors. Red, (supposedly) teal and ivory.

Each pot had a huge amount of salt added and dissolved before the fabric could be put in. The fabric had to be soaked good and wet before the dye could be added. The salt helps the fabric open up and be ready for the dyes.

After weighing all the samples for each of the colors, our teacher got the right amount of dye, had someone stir it until dissolved, then we poured it into the pots. We had to stir every so often and Meri jumped at the chance to do the ivory pot.

The pots had to sit for about 20 minutes, being stirred occasionally, then about a one cup mixture of water and 1/3rd cup soda ash were added to stop the dying process and then we had to let it sit for another 20 minutes or so.

After the soda ash had been in it for the right amount of time, some ladies went into the kitchen with a pot and started rinsing each piece of fabric until the water ran clear.

Here are our samples.

Before
After
The pink lacey bit was synthetic fabric, we decided and eventually all the dye will wash out of it. So that's a wash... But I love the color behind an otherwise bland piece of fabric. I have several yards of that striped stuff, so I think I might dye the whole thing and make a dress or blouse out of it. Red might not be the final color of my big piece... But it looks pretty.

Before
After
This dye was for organic based fabrics... Silk is animal based. So the dye can be unpredictable and boy was it! The lace dyed the right color, the silk not so much. But the thread must have been nylon because it didn't dye at all. I'm glad the beading didn't dye! Meri is planning on dying her dress a peacock type green so it will be interesting to see how that turns out. She likes the thread being like that, so ok.

While the rinsing went on, everyone else got to play with stencils, silk screening or painting the dyes directly onto fabrics. Since I hadn't read the instructions that the teacher had emailed out a few days before, I didn't bring any extra samples... So I asked a few ladies if they had some to spare. Meri was mortified that I did that! She wanted to use an extra pair of pants that I'd brought for her...

Can you imagine? A child embarrassed of their parents behavior??!

Anyway, she was pleasantly surprised when she ended up with about 10 little pieces of fabric. The ladies were too generous and had all brought way more than they needed.

Meri played. and played. and played. She had a great time!

Here are her creations.

Aren't you just dying to join us next time we go??!