Lunar Eclipse

Lunar Eclipse

Still showcasing Candy G.'s favorite analogous color palettes from her Fabric Dyeing 103 class on multi-color fabrics.  I'm rather fond of this one myself.  ;-)  Blue to black.

 

Here's the sample swatch, accordion-pleated in the dye pot. 

 Her'es the larger half yard, accordion pleated, batching in the dye pot.

Here's the scrumbled half yard, batching int he dye pot.

 Results of Lunar Eclipse with the 3 individually dyed fat quarters 

staged atop the scrumbled half yard.

 Detail shot of the scrumbled Lunar Eclipse.

 Another shot of the Lunar Eclipse Pallette.

 Her'e shte accordion-pleated half yard, unfurled.

Moss Green

Moss Green

Still showcasing Candy G.'s favorite analogous color palettes from her Fabric Dyeing 103 class on multi-color fabrics.   Green to black.

Here's the sample accordion pleat batching in the low-water immersion dye pot. 

Rich deep colors gave me a lot of hope for this one!

 

Here's the scrumbled half yard batching in the dye pot.

Here are the 3 isolated colors dyed on individual fat quarters atop the scrumbled half yard.
You can see a fair amount of yellow in the green.  I'd forgotten to re-mix the dye before I poured it.  The yellow has a tendency to settle out.  Not quite what I was hoping for.

Here's another view.

 Here's the accordion pleated half yard.  Again, the light was a little odd when I took the photograph, so it' doesn't quite look like it does in real life.

Here's a detail shot, with truer colors.

Tints of Grape

Tints of Grape

Just documenting my homework in the Candy G's Dyeing 103 : Multicolored Cloth.

Here's the sample accordion fold 5-inch square batching in the dye pot.

This is low-water immersion, so it's not actually a dye pot.

Here's the scrumbled half yard in the dye pot. 

You can see how deep the colors are in the pot, and how much gets washed out by the end ...

I am using Roclon muslin for the class.  No-- it was not recommended by Candy.  That's my fault.  I didn't realize it had a permanent press finish on it.   That important fact was not stated in the online description, or I would have chosen something else.  That may be why my final product is not as brilliant as I'd hoped.

Here are the scrumbled fat quarters batching in their bins.

It's a nice visual of the depth of color between the different tones.

 Here's the 1/2-yard piece in the folded accordion format, batching in the bin.

Detail from the washed and dried accordion-folded half yard. 

 Here's another shot of it.

Here's the scrumbled half yard, staged with the individually dyed fat quarters.

The color is kind of washed out here, but I hope you get the idea.

Dyeing Again : Revisiting an Old Class with Candied Fabrics

 Tints of Grape

Tints are where you mix in white -- or in this case -- water, to lighten the base hue.

I purchased access to this online class, Dyeing Multicolor Fabric, back in 2014 or 2015, but haven't taken the time to really dig into it.  Candy G. provides many hours of expert video instruction coupled with the recommended hands-on time in our own studios.   On top of that, she is very accessible, and responsive to questions.  Since I bought the class all those years ago, I've decided that winters are just too cold to be in the basement slogging through the lessons, and summers haven't been hot enough to drive me down there (the only cool spot in our house)-- until this a few weeks ago.  Yes -- you've seen me dyeing yarn and some clothing recently.  That gave me the push to learn more about creating multi-color palettes, and combining colors.

If you want to mix your own colors from primaries, I highly recommend Candie's Dyeing 101 class for Controlling Color, where you create The Candiotic Table (Think of The Periodic Table of Elements) and develop color mixing recipes from 3 or 6 primary colors.   This single class was a game-changer for me, and blew the door open on being able to mix and recreate specific colors.   I often refer back to those tables as references for what colors I can mix myself, without buying multiple prepared colors.  Then again -- The serendipity approach can be fun to experiment with, too!

Last summer I had good intentions -- bought the supplies and prepared the fabric.  I think I might have even watched some of the first lessons.  But I never quite got around to dyeing ...  I'd also forgotten just how much preparation needs to happen BEFORE you can get to pouring color on fabric.  Most of this afternoon was spent cutting the fabric into the required parcels (It was already pre-washed / scoured from lat summer), soaking it in soda ash solution, mixing up the dye concentrates, and pleating or scrumbling the fabric parcels to get interesting textures. 

This weekend, I'm starting with the monochromatics -- That's where you take 1 color and mix varying intensities of that 1 color from darker to lighter, and throw all of that onto the same piece of cloth.   This technique alters the value of the color.  You never have to worry about the colors clashing, because it's always the same base color, just different depths of tints, shades, and tones.

Past supper time, I was finally getting to where I could measure out the dyes in the required tints to finally pour the grape tints on the fabric.  These will batch overnight.  Hopefully, I'll get through 4 more sets tomorrow night after work--

Worked through Tints of Grape (see photo at the top of this post)

and Shades of Turquoise.

Shades are where you add black to darken a base hue.

Next time, I'll show you the mixed color pallets!

Northern Lights Hand-Dyed Swing Dress

Northern Lights Swing Dress 

Dancing with Sophie, who doesn't look so impressed.

I am so pleased with the way this turned out!  It was a pleasant surprise, too.
It looks like the Northern Lights shimmering in the night sky!
I think I might add some beads to the collar line -- maybe some hematite with a few sparkles.

Here it is from the back. 

The dress is a simple Swing Dress blank from Dharma, made of rayon.  These are cool and comfortable in summer.  I have a few others I've worked up before. [See the Watermelon Dress.]

PHOTO Sketch
This is what i had in mind.  Purple on top and a turquoise / ice blue on the bottom with some white in between.

Dyer's Notes

I soaked the dress in soda ash solution while I mixed the dyes. The soda ash fixes the dye, so that it doesn't wash out.  It's an important part of this process, and one you can't skip.

I picked one of the many pre-mixed purples (Grape?) from my old stock of Procion dye.  I didn't like how it mixed initially, so I added some deep navy until I liked what I saw.    For the blue, I went with the teal blue that gave me such a nice denim blue on the wool yarn a few days ago. 

I  tied off the waistline with a plastic bag around it, so that it would resist the dye.  It didn't work very well, and I absolutely love this bit of serendipity how the colors bled and mixed with each other!

Northern Lights Dress in the Dye Pot

On the low-water immersion dye board, it looked so saturated that I didn't think I'd get any texture out of it at all.  I had it scrunched up on the board to make lots of peaks and valleys for the dye to penetrate (or not).

Once I added the color, I let it sit for about 18 hours.  If you want any texture, it's a good idea to let it sit, and don't disturb it too much.  Otherwise you'll get a very uniform color saturation with little or no texture -- sometimes you want that, but it's good to know how to get it when you want it.

I probably flipped it over when I got up in the morning.  Since the dress is a double layer of fabric, I didn't want one side to be too different from the other -- which can happen with a double layer.

Into the microwave for 2 minutes to help it heat set. Yes-- I have an old microwave relegated to the basement for non-food purposes.  Perfect for dye jobs like this.

The next step is to do an initial rinse in COLD water to wash out the soda ash.  Once that is rinsed out (It feels slippery), you can begin rinsing in hot water.  Some instructions will say to keep rinsing until the water runs clear.  I tend to fill the pot (or at least enough to cover the dyed cloth), and let it sit a few hours.  Then dump the water, and repeat with another round of hot water.  I do this until it runs nearly clear.  It seems like that's a better use of water.

Then it goes into the washing machine for a proper wash to get out any remaining dye.
I used to use that special Synthropol soap for this stage, but it seemed like it was very hard on the new color I'd worked so hard to add, making them come out kind of tired looking and used.  Now I save the Synthropol for scouring only (That is pre-washing your dry goods to remove anythng that might interfere with it taking up the dye.)

Since this dress is made of rayon, I let it drip dry.  The fiber sort of tenses up when it's wet, but relaxes when dry.  Quite a phenomenon, really.

I could add some additional surface design -- stamps or stencils.  I'll have to think about that ...
I think the beads around the color is the way to go.  Keep it simple and elegant!

 

I love these summer Swing dresses from Dharma. 
They are so comfortable, you can dance in them!

Voila!

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 ... 
 

When I am Old, I Shall Wear a Purple Dress

Remember this photo from last summer?  I finally chose a purple swatch, mixed up a batch of the colors and dyed this simple sun dress.

My dye is getting old, so I wasn't quite sure what I was going to get.  Lovely purple ...

 This is in the washing machine after the final rinse-out.

 It was a much lighter tint after it dried.

Here's a detail of some of the embroidery, which I knew would probably dye to different colors, being a different material content.

 Another shot of the embroidery.

 Detail of the purple I wound up with in the final dress.

I love the texture you get from this technique -- like clouds, or ever-changing skies.

 

The texture is from the "scrumble" technique, where you scrumble (This may be a combination of crunch and scramble?) the wet soda-soaked fabric into your dye pot, then pour just the right amount of dye concentrate over the top.  Careful not to mix it in too much, or you'll lose the patterning.

I started with Sky Blue (8 parts) and Boysenberry (2 parts) to get this lovely purple that broke into some beautiful blues.  Makes me want to try this as an ice dye to see how the colors will "break."

In the photo at the top of the post, I used my Candiotic Table of reference values.  Colors dyes from 3 primaries.  The purple I chose in this set is the 2nd one up on the diagonal--sort of at "rib" level on the dress.  It's pretty close -- especially when it was still wet.   This dress was probably not meant for dying, so it likely had some bleach or fixatives in it that prevented the dye from coloring it as well as I'd hoped -- or blame it on old dye again.  I'm still happy with the results.

The index card shows some of my calculations, the weight of the fabric, how much dye I need of the primaries to make the particular color I wanted.  Candy has a wonderful calculator that does all the math for you.  Her class was so worth it!   I also like to put a dollop of the resulting color on the card--for future reference-- the purple blotch.