Thursday, November 4, 2010

Dyeing

It's always fun to do simple projects, and today I am doing just that, with dyeing some doilies for my current project.   Usually working on my patio with plastic bags draped on the table is what I do most often. But, today it is very windy and I have draped my kitchen with plastic bags.



A few years back, I got some silk dye, that is iron-set, from a friend who bought it in Switzerland.  The dyes are very brilliant in color.  I needed some turquoise, purple and pinks doilies today. .  The process is very easy: 1) you spray the doily with water. 2) Put small amounts of dye into an artist pallet dish, using a large eye dropper. 3) Using an soft, brush from the orient I dab color onto the doily.   I let the colors run into one another, and I also overlap them for obtaining other colors.  The result is always surprising!   I dry them on a large plastic bag -- don't use paper towel or this will soak up all the color. Do this only if you want very light pastels. When dry they should be heat set with an iron.

The photo above is some of the finished project drying.

I use paper towels for my mop up after each doily is colored - I save them - who knows what surprises I could get using them in another quilt.
Thank you Karen and Christa for the doilies you added to my collection.

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