Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Acid Dyes

The thought of using "acid dyes" had always made me a little nervous. I had never really considered that the "acid" was only white vinegar. I had taken a couple of silk painting classes in the past, & love how the dyes flowed & colored the silk, but honestly never actually "got it" until yesterday, when my friend Sandy Winfree invited to come over & play at her house, & do some silk dying.  I forgot to bring my camera along for the the process, but here are the results so far......

Here are the silk wrapped on poles, Shibori style, with the 3 to the left including rocks & small stones to add texture. Today we will be adding another layer of color, then I have to wait a few days for the fabric to dry completely before we can see the finale results.


Sandy's process involves ironing & pleating her fabric before wrapping on the pole, which I did do for one small piece, but the others I just did the wrapping, scrunching & rocks, for what I hope will be a more organic result. Below is one of Sandy's breath-takingly beautiful quilts. She came to quilting from a doll-making background. 



6 comments:

The Calico Cat said...

It is amazing how much vinegar can do - when you think about it.

Delighted Hands said...

Incredible dye adventures-very cool!
(I think 'natural' dyeing is scarier!)

Stephanie said...

that quilt she did is beautiful.

Vicki W said...

Oh what fun, I am very jealous!

Melodie said...

I love the results! Dyeing is fun ....I'm just too lazy to figure it all out.
I was telling Floyd about Kathy & Johns dyeing adventure out west and he said it sounded like fun!!! Can you believe it!!?!! Is he about the most perfect guy?!

Kathy -MIQuilter said...

Wow, the scarves are beautiful, take more pictures during the next round. I'm not familiar with acid dyes, I thought they were chemical dyes, I know they use them on wool.
The quilt is wonderful, what a artist.