I have been reading information on dyeing with natural dyes. I bought two new books from Amazon and they will be good reference books for me as I experiment to see what colors I can get with food, flowers and leaves. So far I really like what I get with red cabbage, tansy flowers and jewel weed. I have rust dyed some silk scarves and after they are dried, I proceeded to bundle them with plants and flowers and put them in a dye pot to simmer. I'm learning about mordants, when to use them, when they aren't necessary etc. I tried dyeing some lightweight wool last week after soaking the wool in a mordant of alum and cream of tartar. I didn't get the result I was hoping for so I will work on that.
Here's a collection of some of the scarves I have made in recent weeks. The one on the left was transferred dyed using men's silk neckties. The third one was dyed using autumn leaves as the print material rolled up, tied and placed in the dye pot of red cabbage dye. These are all 100% silk and I'll be selling them at holiday craft fairs coming up soon.
It's been a beautiful couple of weeks with bright sunshine and the fall leaves. I have a new camera and I'm learning something new each time I go out to shoot with it. My other camera, also a Nikon served me well but I was ready for a challenge and with this Nikon D300S, I certainly have that. Here are a few photos I took with my new camera this week.
Remember to Play a Little Every Day!
Peace,
Diane
