Thursday, April 26, 2012

A Day to DYE For!

What to do on a wet and miserable day?  Dye of course!  Which is exactly what I did…I hauled out the wool that I had bought on my holiday and set to work! 
I used a medley of dyes…no I didn’t mix them but I did want to try all of the different brands…I had Cushing, Gaywool and an Acid Dye that Claire lent me (G & K Craft).  Gaywool was by far, the most expensive…for a medium pill bottle size (2.5” or 6.5cm) it was over $20!  This wool hobby is not cheap…but then again, there is nothing cheap about anything sewing..is there?

So boil, boil, toil and trouble…TROUBLE?  Nah…no trouble here!

Out came the rubber gloves, newspaper and dyeing supplies…

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This colour is called Turkey Red and I loved it!!  This was my last batch…you can see that I have used up a lot of the water…

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Next came the green…pea soup anyone??  Yum!

P1180185    Then came brown and then a final dip in black!  I really wanted some big chunks of dark mottled brown/black for backgrounds.  The Wool Lady was selling this background black/brown wool…gorgeous stuff but VERY pricey!!  I bought a small piece and love it BUT it was $22…and did I mention small…So now I want to recreate my own…only BIG pieces!P1180189 Here it is…now the flash highlights anything light…it is MUCH darker in real life!!  Almost black with brown highlights…yup, I did a happy dance!! P1180191 P1180192

I over dyed this green piece…I know it LOOKS like I spilled ink on it but in REAL LIFE it looks like it’s a subtle mottled black with bits of green plaid showing through.  Yup, another happy dance here…

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More over dyeing….  P1180196

Ahhhhhh red…Turkey Red…Strawberry Red…Lovely mottled RED!!

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Now if you don’t work with wool, you are probably wondering WHY I want splotches?!  It’s called mottled wool and gives a whole different dimension to your wool work.   The petals on flowers look more real when they are mottled…or leaves look more like leaves when there is a variation of green. 

   My favourite red piece…I will have to save this one for something special!P1180200

And the greens… ahhhhhhh!!!! P1180203  I could have done this all day… P1180208  BUT…the dogs wanted a walk…(you KNOW that LOOK!)  and well the kitchen looked like a wool bomb had gone off!!  But not a bad days ‘work’ on a rainy morning!!

As far as the different brands of dye go…they ALL worked great!  They were easy to use and I got great colours! 

Have a Thrilling Thursday and Happy Quilting!~P

18 comments:

  1. Great job, especially like the reds. I'm going to be doing the same thing next week. Can never have to many different colors of wool.

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  2. Loverly, loverly!!!!

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  3. Very nice.....and I'll bet it was fun..
    Was the cheapest dye as good as the most expensive one?

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  4. Thanks for sharing. I have done kool-aid dyeing but that is it. Guess I'll summon up the courage to try actual dyes.

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  5. Wow! What a great stash you dyed up! I haven't tried dyeing wool yet... but i might soon as you sure made it look easy! :-)

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  6. Lots of nice shades and mottling, great for your future projects.

    Debbie

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  7. Looks like you had a great time. I love to dye fabric, wish I could come play with you.

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  8. My order for yarn for dyeing arrived yesterday along with the new set of dyes I ordered.
    Hubby and I are looking forward to doing some self-striping yarn in the very near future.
    Hope our adventure is half as successful as yours, Paulette.
    Oh, happy day.
    hugs

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  9. I have always wanted to try dyeing wool too. Yours turned out great! I love the look of overdyed anything, esp. wool!

    Tanya

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  10. Fabulous!
    (But what's for dinner?)
    ;o)

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  11. I love your pieces! There's something so rewarding about overdying! I love when I can do that!

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  12. Oh my gosh they are gorgeous! Love the reds and greens! Have a happy day!

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  13. That looks so fun! And yes, I do love mottled fabrics, they give such life to a project!

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  14. You can save yourself some $ and die with KoolAid! Although the colours are very candy-like compared to the lovely muted colours you've died in this batch. The reds are divine!

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  15. Well someone was busy in the kitchen cooking up some yumminess. Love the colors. Dying is on my "to do" list at some point - lordy knows I have enough wool to give it a whirl lol.

    Karen

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  16. It looks like you had great fun.

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  17. Paulette, you did such a great job! I can't decide which one is my favorite because I couldn't pick just one. Gorgeous!

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  18. Oh my fave pic is all your hard work folded and stacked - it looks like wonderful! All that potential applique :o)
    Ab

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