Something else I did do throughout June was experiment with a little fabric dyeing, using natural products.
All in all, I have to say this was somewhat disappointing. I used different mordants and left the fabric sitting in the dyes for several days, but most of them turned out very light. And, since then, some of them have even faded.
The other negative factor is the cost. Compared to commercial dyes, the amounts needed of natural products is high, considering that I could only dye small amounts of fabric (at the most one FQ each time). In comparison, using commercial dyes I am able to get bright colors anywhere from 2 to 3 years of fabric.
A pleasant surprise, though, was with the use of leftover irises, which gave me a soft, but nice yellow. The best results altogether were from turmeric.
Anyhoo… here are some of my results (click on each image for a larger view):
I am a self-learner. I taught myself to sew and to quilt. And I taught myself how to draw. I am learning how to dye my own fabrics and am dabbling with mixed media. I am a quilt designer and teacher, and design and publish my own line of quilt patterns. With this blog I would like to share the bits and pieces of my life.