Saturday, February 20, 2010

more snowdyeing





The above was not too exciting from batch one, so I overdyed it in batch two:









There has been discussion about whether to freeze your fabric or not.


I do, but because I am lazy. I put my wet fabric (soaked in soda ash) outside in the containers overnight and let the snow fall on it. (Here in North Carolina we prepare for snow in a big way! Make sure you don't wait until the last minute to go to the store for milk and bread: the shelves will be empty!

The first snowfall was wet and slushy so I just poured my dyes right on to it.


The second snow was lighter so I packed it down and added more on top.


My dye recipe: 1/3- 1 tablespoon of dye in 3-4 oz of warm water. let them come to room temp and pour over the snow. I saturate the top of the snow.
The containers have 2-3 holes in the bottom. The melted dyes drip into another container with another yard of fabric and dyes this piece too. the bonus fabric is just a basic hand-dyed. I haven't frozen the bottom layer. Maybe next time, we should get another snow in three or four years!

Then I let the fabrics sit in the garage over night, or in the laundry room. Then rinse rinse rinse rinse until clear in the sink and 2 cycles in the washer.





these a just a few of the last batch:



from a beige mottled print:


from a fabulous black and white:



from a white on white, both sides:




4 comments:

Sherryl said...

These are yummy!! No snow here... I tossed a piece in the freezer yesterday... will see how it comes out tomorrow.

Norma Schlager said...

Very nice! I love the black and white.

JYA Fiberarts said...

I love your results! The former black and white really stands out. The over-dyeing has turned out well. Guess artists everywhere are giving this a try.
I love your heron piece!

Robin said...

WOW!! They all turned out great. What a sense of satisfaction you must get from doing this...it seems mind boggling to me:)