Friday 31 July 2015

More natural dyeing/tinting

Flushed with success, I continue my kitchen dyeing experiments. All my original fabrics were pretty much white - so if you compare them with the page background it's a good indication of the tone.  This time I didn't mordant the fabric.  As I couldn't wait (typical) I followed Alex's tips and tried using avocado skins and stones (I had to  rescue some from the compost caddy!) She got some gorgeous shades here. Note to self - get more avocados! I got a very pale copper-pink colour on the old tea tray cloth and cotton . On the silk though it's much more gold brown -  interesting......


Had a bit of an upset with the black beans. Janice got a really, really lovely shade with these here.  I dipped the fabrics, but following the car accident I left them damp and squished up  over night.


You can see more clearly on the silk below I got these brown marbled bits where the fabric was squashed together - but  dry they look  much more subtle. I like it! The linen produced a  grey rather than blue, not so keen on that. Next time I'll user more beans to achieve a darker blue -and might try the soy milk mordant.



Finally, I went rusty! I folded and tied some sheeting around an old rasp  and left it out in the rain for a few days, which produced some interesting marks. I'll try this again.The crocheted lace - (a charity shop find) is just dyed with coffee.


Here's a little Floweri- pop doodle on some of the black bean dyed cotton, which was an old  pillow case - gorgeous for stitching on! x


10 comments:

Rachel said...

Very interesting experiments there...

Boud said...

I particularly like those unintended effects with naturaldyeing, too. You just have to stay loose on results and enjoy surprises!

margaret said...

I can tell your are really enjoying your dyeing experiments it is interesting how different fabrics react in different ways

CC said...

Wonderful, Jules! I love rust dying! Turns out fun! Your embroidery is beautiful!

Tammie Lee said...

so fun to see all your results.
I have always wondered about rust. Seems rust is when something is a disintegrating process, so i wonder if it will do that to the fabric.

sweet little flower.

Anonymous said...

Some great experimenting! And love the little flower too.

Valerie Gardiner said...

What an interesting experiment, love the delicate shades, especially the pale blue you embroidered the flower on.



Deb said...

Wonderful experiments Jules, love the marks you achieved with the black beans and the rust and your stitched flower doodle is so pretty, love all the little seeds blowing away in the breeze!

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

Oh! I can't understand why your black bean dye came out as subtle as that. Perhaps you didn't use as many beans as I did. I used a whole packet and we ate the resulting casserole over two evenings. You're making me want to do it again!

Avocado stones is something we have a decent supply of, so I must try that.
Your little flower is lovely.

Starr White said...

Lovely results, Jules! and sounds like you've been having fun as well. I'm so glad you are feeling better! and I absolutely love the little flower! I spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon gathering dried seed heads from wildflowers and my zinnias, so that little stitched illustration is especially sweet to me :))