Been Dying to Snow Dye!

Helen, my cohort in crime and all things fun, keeps me on my toes and learning! So when I got the signal for snow dyeing I answered with an enthusiastic Yes!! We've had lots of snow around our parts this winter. We did all our dyeing in her kitchen which I thought was a dangerous idea with her kitchen being mostly white! I kept thinking she's the expert, I'm just following her lead...and will be REALLY careful not to spill anything! Oh geez, I sure hope I DON'T spill anything!!! It didn't take me long to forget all that when she pulled out all the pretty dyes and we started mixing them with water...I was so caught up in all the colors and potential projects I never gave the pristine white kitchen another thought!! It was all covered with clear plastic tarps and bags, all but the floor so all the color was pretty contained.

Procion dyes, powder added to water.

So following Helen's lead I started picking fabrics and dyes and just did what she did...we had so much fun drizzling the dye over the mounds of snow and fabric. We did a few different techniques to dye, we poured dye directly on the fabric in a tub, used the snow to cover the fabric suspended by a screen and frame above the tub and then drizzled dye on the snow and then we painted Lumiere paints by Jacquard onto silk scarves and pieces of fabric with foam brushes.

That is snow on top of a mound of fabric with dye drizzled all over it, the white fabric has a white leaf printed all over it.

Helen painted fabric she can use for a sunset sky background. This is the Lumiere paints painted on wet  cotton fabric, we sprayed water over the fabric as she painted. We should have heat set this in a dryer or with an iron, but we didn't, we soaked it in synthrapol and rinsed....most of the color out! Read directions before you begin, this is a public service announcement!!!

This is a piece we both painted we're going to cut it up and use them  as a challenge project.

I used old fabrics that I didn't like anymore, they aren't too much improved, but I believe I can use them for an upcoming project. I also used plain white fabric and made them more interesting. Our colors were really washed out and lighter than they should have been...I hope to develop much deeper  richer colors next time. Below are the results.

The middle fabric was supposed to be black, the top right fabric has glitter, lower right was a tan color with red hearts, the bottom left was plain white, and the two top left fabrics were printed fabrics with a light background. I like all but the black, I'll dye that one again next time.

Close up of the printed fabrics I like how the print is a resist.

I will definitely try this in my craft room, I already ordered some supplies from Dharma Trading Co. mostly painting supplies. I will share our silk scarves in another post because mine is so washed out you can't see much color. I have a wax resist applicator I am going to try on it and then paint it with Lumiere paint and HEAT set it this time! Stay tuned for that post!

Thank you Helen for teaching me more fun things!

I have been reading up on procion dyes and I found a tip that is supposed to make the colors more vibrant. It says to use urea granules in the water you add the dye. They call it chemical water. So I bought some urea granules and hope to get to try it soon. It's March 17th and we just go 8 more inches of snow in South Jersey!!! Snow reason not to dye!!!

Go make something!!

Nini~