So my current plant-based dye experiments are done for now. My aim was the elusive color blue on a non-woolly fiber. I knew going in this was an uphill battle (as my resources are very limited) so I was mostly looking to experiment and find alternatives. I might have gone far from the blue, but I gained some valuable info on processes! I'll show you.
The 1st test strip happened using the remaining water after boiling red cabbage. I had to boil the fabric in a moderant (in this case a vinegar solution) first so th
e color would fix better. The fabric is still a little damp here. The true colors are not quite as bold as this.
My second tester. This time I used blueberries. Definitely not blue! For berries the moderant solution is salt. This image shows the true color well.
So I was pretty unimpressed with the hues from my blueberry dye. While lovely pinks and lavenders I was looking for something deeper. So I mixed some of my remaining cabbage dye in with the blueberry dye. I am very novice at all of this, so I'm not sure if mixing dye baths and moderant baths "works," but I tried it anyway.
I still was off though. Simmering the fabrics in the dye baths for hours or letting them sit in it all day still wasn't saturating the way I hoped. I had been trying to achieve a nice gradient on the final fabric pieces, and in doing this I was leaving parts of the fabric to hang on the d
ry sides of the pot. Funny thing; the places I wanted to have the palest hues where getting some rich and interesting coloration and patterns. So I ri
gged up a new system with the cookie sheet. It's sitting on two burners both on medium setting. The knife under the glass lid to let steam escape (don't need to explode anymore glassware). The dry areas are where the dye would burn into the fabric.
Using this technique I got
fairly nice saturation and had so much fun with my discovery that I could
over look the lack of blue results. Besides, the medium dictates where the final piece is supposed to go regardless of my preconceived ideas.
Below are the two dried fabric pieces. They look very similar for the most part, but the "burned" experiment one (bottom-most on the right) is a bit brighter than pictured. It's fibers also feel very crispy.
I am doing all this for a project so I'm not intending the pieces should ever be washed. Through this process however, I've learned that washing these is out of the question: the color will fade.
Other disclamier stuff: the fabric "burning" is something that requires constant adult supervision and even then it's tricky. Be really careful with this if you try it; I don't want to hear someone burnt down their house or something. Also I was only using materials and solutions that are food safe. Most sources recommend separte containers for dye processing. This is espesally important if you use a synthetic or metal-based soultion.
