and then...the UNEXPECTED happed

It was Oct 20, 2008 when I began this blog ....I did not know then where it might lead...one thing for certain, is that I have learned a great deal and continue to do so.  Most of the time it is simply out of curiosity, sometimes it is because I am asked a specific question. Today's post has come about because of a specific question, one that I was asked just last week.
The question was about dyeing fabric. I was asked about the supplies I use, the dyes.....and honestly, I am not quite sure what the dyes I have been using are ( they are old...from the 70s, maybe early 80's) they are a powder, come in a small brown envelope and are made up of very intense, concentrated colour...but I don't really know anything about them...are they "fibre-reactive"...or acid? I dunno....those of you who visit regularly, know that I don't worry about knowing the specifics...I don't get caught up in branding and terminology......I rarely follow instructions....I experiment, play...I "TRY" and from that, I find what works best for me.
The specific question was....can my recent dyeing experiments also be done using Rit dyes? (you know, those little boxes of dye that have been around forever and that can easily be obtained without having to find a specialty shop or order online) I happened to have a couple of boxes leftover from many years ago, back then when I used the Rit dye...I "cooked" it on the stove.....they always worked great that way...but could I use them the way I have been using these other dyes? I set out to find the answer.
This is a long post and photo heavy...BUT there is a surprise ending so if you are interested, come back when you have time to read the whole thing.
I gathered the basic supplies....Rit Dye, pre-washed 100% cotton, Soda ash, a paper mask, rubber gloves, plastic containers, freezer bags, and blue Dawn dishwashing liquid.
I am often asked about the soda ash...you can get it in a variety of forms, I found the Tulip brand at a major craft retailer, the Jacquard brand at an art supply store and the big container of pH Plus at a pool supply company...they are all the same thing  (Sodium Carbonate)....it is much MUCH less expensive at the pool supply store.

Soda ash (different packaging)

for this experiment, I used Rit dye,and prepped the fabric with pH Plus (soda ash)

here is the process I used, I began by soaking the fabric in a soda ash solution, the ratio of soda ash to hot water is 1 cup soda ash/gallon of water............for this experiment I used 1/4 cup soda ash in 1 quart of water as I was only dyeing a few small pieces.
Left it to soak for about 30 minutes.

I use this method to acheive nicely mottled effects....the soda ash pre-soaked fabric now gets placed into freezer bags....the more rumpled and scrunched, the better

Note: when working with the dye powder you want need to wear a mask (you do not want to be inhaling that fine powder)
As you can see, you don't need a lot of the dye powder

 I put a bit in the cup and then add just a small amount of water to create a wet paste....once I have it at that stage, I can remove my mask.

Next I need to add "hot" water, for this experiment, I did not bother to boil it, I simply used the hottest water I could get directly from the tap. What is most important is that you get all the powder dissolved.  Again.....you don't need much. (I did not measure but you can get the idea of volume....those are small sundae cups)

Now, I am ready to pour dye solution onto the fabric in the bags.....just a bit...it doesn't need to swim. If you like, you can use a few colours (keeping in mind that complimentaries will make mud) then you squish and squeeze to allow the dye to begin to work its way into the fabric. The more you squeeze the less mottling you will get.

I decided to test one piece by dyeing it without the benefit of the Soda ash pre-soak, it went into it's own freezer bag just having been thoroughly dampened with plain water....I expected that this piece would not suck up as much dye as the others....but....(something VERY interesting and unexpected happens)
Once I feel that I have the dye worked in enough, I seal up the bags.....cover the whole works with an old rag towel and leave it to sit overnight. (I leave it in my laundry room, where the furnace is, so it is in a nice warm spot)
The next day the bags can be opened and the fabrics rinsed....and rinsed and rinsed...(the dye process does use a lot of water) the goal is to remove all of the unused dye..(the fibers can only take in a certain amount of dye...the rest has to be washed away so that you will be left with fabric that will not continue to run/bleed......your goal is for the water to run clear.
I start this process by first rinsing each piece pretty well with plain water, then I use some blue Dawn dishwashing liquid...a few drops is all that is needed....it usually pulls out all that dye that did not penetrate the fabric

but wait!..it isn't working this time...to be specific...it isn't working on the fabrics that were pre-soaked with soda ash...I can not seem to get the water to run clear as I normally do...BUT it is working with the lone piece I dyed that had NOT been soaked in soda ash....hmmm strange but as you can see....I am always learning too.

notice that the water is still showing a lot of colour (this was after many MANY rinses)

managed to get to clear water pretty quickly with this piece (the one that was not soda ash soaked)

I don't know why....all I know is that with the RIT dye....it worked much better by completely eliminating the soda ash step

here are the dried and pressed pieces

This piece turned out beautifully......even without the soda ash...totally unexpected! click on it for a better look

You can see the nice mottled effects....scrunched and sitting in the bag, some of the fabric is exposed to a more concentrated pool of dye, so you get darker and lighter spots happening..the more "creases" the better the effect..the less you squish initially, the more whites you will have showing....if you wanted a more solid colour you would want to go and squish it a bit every so often in the early stages to cause a more even distribution of the dye.

This is really a super basic method....if you want to delve more into the dye process, and purchase all the recommended supplies and chemicals....go for it...there are a great many books on the subject and of course, workshops, classes, including online classes as well. BUT if you just wanted to try dyeing with just a few basic supplies, without all the up front investment...this is an easy, inexpensive way to give it a go....and as I discovered with this experiment...using the Rit dye, means you don't even have to get the Soda ash.

Perhaps you may try your own experiments.....But please....Do be mindful of safety!...use the mask, protect your skin with rubber gloves (unless you like multi-coloured hands)...protect your work area and your clothing.

Note: I did eventually stop "bleeding" on the problematic pieces....a final soak using a cap full of Retayne  did the trick.  

Wool

Wool............first I dyed some,

Then the embellishing began.

 

"Going to Seed" - a few details

 "Going to Seed" is the quilt I designed and created to enter into this year's Grand National Quilt show. The show has a different theme each time and this year, it was "Local Colour" instead of depicting a local landmark, landscape or culture, I decided to"USE" local colour

This is the Artist Statement accompanying the piece:

We often overlook the beauty of a bloom as it fades-- no longer fresh, vibrant and full of energy-- but nurture that which has “Gone to Seed” to be rewarded with new emerging and exciting possibilities. The transformation is complete. This quilt is made up almost entirely of “local colour”, unwanted and discarded items, their beauty and usefulness gone, banished to the thrift store.

It all pretty much began with a few cotton remnants and a wool coat I found at a rummage sale. A few more cast off garments went into the mix along with some discarded belts and costume jewelry.

I dyed the fabric to create that inky night sky background, the rest of the colour pallete was dictated by the things I found, a terrific apple green jacket, a deep plum skirt, as well as a light blue, cream and tan plaid one.

here you can see what the elements actually are

and a look at the quilting in the background.

next time I'll show you what I did to that wonderful wool coat to get that gradated look along with a few more details.
 
It's Friday so I am linking up to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays   featuring lots of inspiring artists to visit.

One thing leads to another

In addition to snow dyeing a bit of fabric, I just had to have a go with some threads as well.

of course, I wanted to stitch something with them to see the effect on cloth.
Deciding what to stitch?..... I drew this dragonfly

hand stitched with my new multi-coloured thread.....I like it!

 This one, blue/green dyed threads stitched on my dyed fabric, became a pin cushion.

Then,..... well...... you know I could not resist doing a complete doodle

linking up to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays

Overdye

Last week, I posted more results of my snow dyeing experiments. I mentioned that in some pieces, you could just make out a bit of extra patterning.  A few of  the pieces shown, were over-dyed prints.
You know, sometimes you pick up fabric and later wonder why.....other times, the price is just too good to pass up. These are generally fabrics that are good candidates for overdyeing.

In this photo, the piece far left, is the print as I purchased it, the middle shows the same piece after batching in the snow dyeing process.....the piece on the far left was actually dyed a second time. I prefer the new colours, but also like the layering that happens when the original print is still visible.

Then there was this fabric...clearance priced...a cotton twill, almost a denim. It was the perfect weight for the project I had in mind...but the colour?  Oh No!  I don't do pink.....EVER!

This is what it looks like now, all cut up and ready to stitch

Also last week, I was interviewed for the Canadian Quilter's Association.....if you are interested, you can read it here

Warming up to Snow

I really dislike Winter, yes, I am Canadian.....but still......not my favourite season. Up until now, I could not think of one good use for snow, that is until I began experimenting with the technique of snow dyeing.
Earlier, I did some dyeing using snow and ice, this time around, I kept the process super simple. Soda ash soaked fabric, scrunched into the bottom of a plastic dish pan was covered with a layer of snow. On top of the snow I sprinkled my dye powder directly from the envelope. Because the powder remains dry and does not react until the snow begins to melt, I kept my mask in place until I could slip the whole works inside a large plastic bag to be certain I would not be breathing in any of those particles. I left it to "batch" for 24 hours. (that is a tough wait)

Here is a look at some of the resulting pieces, the first 2 are my absolute favourite....(they are about a half yard/metre  in size.)

along with a collection of others that are roughly the equivalent of a fat quarter in size. You might be able to detect some "extra" patterns happening in a couple of them, more about that in another post.

I also tucked a bit of size 5 cotton threads in with the fabric and got some terrific variegated results.

 alright.....so now I have found one good use for that white stuff.

Snow, Ice......and a little Dye

There is no snow around here right now, but I did manage to run and scoop some right before our January thaw. This was an experiment and I am pleased with the results.  I have seen web pages on snow dyeing, once tried using ice cubes....but this time I wanted to combine the two.

I started with fabric that had been soaked in soda ash, I placed it, scrunched in a plastic dish pan

added a couple of inches of snow

poured some premixed dye  (this was leftover stuff that had been sitting around for about 10 days) I wasn't certain it would work, but did not want to pour it down the drain either.

next, I layered a bunch of ice cubes on top of the dye soaked snow. On to those cubes, I sprinkled some dye powder straight from the package.

 It looked so cool as the cubes began to melt

melting

 this is what it looked like after 24 hours and I was ready to do the wash out

 The final results

I will definitely be trying this again.....but.....don't really want it to snow.......maybe I'll just go to the local arena and see what the Zamboni left for me

I am linking this to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays

Fold - Stitch - Dye

Last week, I decided to try something different. Did I have a clue what I was doing? absolutely not....never let that stop me, not knowing exactly what will happen IS what makes it FUN!
I took a piece of cotton and folded it just like I do the paper for making those papercut snowflakes. What I did then, was thread a needle with heavy thread (jean's thread actually) then I randomly began stitching through all those layers, pulling it all up good and tight, creating lots of deep creases.

Soaked the piece in a soda ash solution and then placed it in a ziplock bag with some dye

After, batching, rinsing, removing the stitching and unfolding......this is what I got.
 

Not fabulous, but interesting all the same. I think I know where I may have gone wrong and will definitely try this again.............got a little "ink blot" thing happening  :-)

Lesson Learned

Last week I decided to try something I had read in the June/July issue of Quilting Arts magazine. It was an article on dyeing fabrics using ice cubes. Even though I do not have "Procion" dyes, I thought I'd give it a whirl with the dyes I did have, and see what I might end up with.
.
I soaked the fabric as instructed, layered fabric, ice cubes and dye powder (as instructed)

The article tells you to place this container inside another in case of overflow as the cubes melt....hmmmm, it is a "volume" thing, I was certain it wasn't going to overflow, but did as instructed and I am quite happy that I did because very soon after I placed my jar of fabric/cubes and dye into the second container I heard a loud CRACK!  that did not sound good at all but I did leave the whole works for 24 hours (as instructed)

well it did not overflow, but it did LEAK!.......This could have been an awful mess

here is the hole in bottom of the jar.......was it the warm fabric-ice cubes-glass combo?

Even though the dye ran out the bottom of the jar I still got some interesting pieces, I especially like the way the middle one turned out

Top layer

Middle layer

Bottom layer

 so.....lesson learned?  Sometimes it is good to follow the instructions   :-)