Tints and Tones : Another Dress for Dyeing Day

 Hand-dyed skirt and blouse set.

I sometimes find these otherwise white clothes on the clearance racks at great bargain prices.  While I don't think I'd ever where them white, I hoard them away until I can add some color by dying them to my own palette of colors!   You can also buy "blanks" from Dharma Trading Company, which I also have done in the past. 

This is that I was going for -- from my Candiotic Reference Table of Tints and Tones --
See the square in the lower right corner (the one with MLM on it)?  That's what I was going for. 
Even with my older dye, it came out pretty close to what I wanted.  ;-)

.33% Deep Navy + Strongest Red Tint
which basically means that the full-strength dye concentrate is cut with water (white) to lighten it up.
     >  A Tone would add black to make it shadier and darker, as you see the the left of the labeled squares.

Reference Cards
Candy has calculator in the form of a spreadsheet to do the math in terms of how much dye to mix for a certain weight of fabric.  It works like 2 charms!  Takes all the math out it for me -- which I'd be 2nd guessing myself on. 


I've been writing down the necessary numbers on an index card (actually and old Library card catalog card, because I have them ...) that I can take down to the basement with me.  Once the colors are mixed, I like to add a dollop to the card which helps to put the numbers in context and completes the documentation record.

The scrumble technique gives a wonderful texture reminiscent of blue sky dappled with clouds.
You sort of scrunch/crumble the soda ash-soaked fabric into your vessel, and then pour the pre-mixed dye over to top.    The many peaks and valleys of the scrumbled fabric provide the texture. 

This is the low-water immersion technique, so there's not a lot of wasted dye going down the drain.    The draw-string cord on the front of the blouse was not a natural fiber (like cotton or rayon or silk or wool, so it did not soak up any dye at all.  You'd have to use a different type of dye to color that cord.

 Here's the skirt scrumbled and batching in the bin.

Once the dye was applied, I put each bin into a large plastic bag, and set it on the driveway to batch in the hot sun for an afternoon.  The heat helps to speed the chemical reaction of the dye bonding with the fabric.  I let them sit for a full 24 hours, then put them in the microwave (an old one in the basement, no longer used for food) for a few minutes to make sure they got the needed dose of heat.

Then the rinse out :

Rinse them out in cold water first.  I learned this the hard way.  You have to get the soda ash out, or any loose dye may still bond with your fabric.  Not such a big deal in this case where I'm only rinsing 2 items that are the same color.  It is a problem if you're rinsing multiple articles of fabric, dyed different colors.   Once that slippery soda ash is rinsed, you can start rinsing in hot water.  I usually fill the bin with hot water and let it sit over night.  I do this for a few days until the water runs almost clear.  Then I put it through the washing machine to get rid of any last bit of loose dye.

It's also interesting to see how different materials take the same dye slightly differently.
The blouse vs. the rayon skirt vs. the cotton under slip :

 

 Detail of the blouse dyes with 0-9-1 Deep Navy + Strongest Red .33% Tint

This one seems to have come out slightly green.  The blouse originally was not perfectly white, but slightly cream-colored -- hence, the little bit of yellow makes it show slightly green.

 Detail of the rayon skirt dyed with with 0-9-1 Deep Navy + Strongest Red .33% Tint.

Here's a detail shot of the lace on the broomstick skirt.  

I love how the dappling came out on the lace, too! 

Here's a shot from the hem.  

This is the thin cotton under-skirt that was built into the skirt.

Here's the back of the set, where you can sort of see the slightly different colors between the blouse and the skirt. 

One more "blanks" skirt to go ... 
Should I try for another batch of purple?  Or is that a rut I should break out of?   And try a whole new pallette of colors?   I do want to finally start Candy's multi-colored fabric class which I purchased several years ago and have not yet watched.  It's hot enough now to drive me to the basement (the only cool part of our house in hot summers)  to play with color again. 

I'll wait for dreams of color to inspire me ...