I was quite satisfied with my first two dyeing experiences. Quite simple really, but then they were just solid color baths. They didnt dye evenly but that didnt matter to me. They will be cut into strips and a little variation will only add to the rugs beauty in my opinion. The two shirts I dyed came out fine. The sweater did dye evenly and I was quite happy about that. The shirt...well who could tell with that pattern on it? This picture does not do the color justice. It looks faded and instead its a really nice soft blue. I probably would have liked them darker but the shade is quite fine.
So now that I feel comfortable with the simple procedures I decided to venture out into new territory. I chose someting called a crystal wash method from the Dharma Dye website http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/653691-AA.shtml
I have this wonderful old heavy sheet that D's mother gave me that had a few holes and stains on it. So I tore it into four pieces and started with one of those. First I soaked it in a soda ash solution, scrunched it and stuffed it into the bottom of this plastic lined bucket...
Then I took two small squirt bottles and placed a spoonful of sapphire dye in one and cotton candy dye in the other (making sure I wore a mask for this part!) Then I added warm water and shook the dyes well. After they were thoroughly mixed I just squirted away till the cloth was completely covered and the bottles were empty.
I squished the material around a little to push the dye deeper in areas then wrapped the plastic around the top tightly (to help keep the cloth moist) and I let this sit for 24 hours. This morning I rinsed it, threw it in the machine to wash and voila! my beautiful new material. This picture was taken with the cloth hanging in front of the window so its kinda hard to see the true colors but I will take another pic tomorrow when it is dry so you can see the piece better. Isn't it pretty though?
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