Monday, September 01, 2008

Green Lace - Dyeing is Done

Here you can see the Before and After pictures of the lace I dyed.


Photo Link

Photo Link

I am very pleased with the results. I used Procion dye from Dharma Trading, and did it in the washing machine. It took me several hours last night, and I ended up washing it numerous times after it was dyed, to remove all the excess dye. I think I'm finally done with that, and I love the color. The color I used was Sage Green.

I'm ready to begin 'auditioning' things to use as an underlayer, and as Els suggested, silk organza is first on my list of possibles, and I have some loden organza that may be the perfect color.

I have a lot of colored organza, as at one time I was sort of planning to try to copy a technique I'd seen that had a dress with a doubled organza skirt (fold at the bottom.) It had organza shapes within the skirt in various colors. It was very pretty, and looked a little like an underwater scene. I collected colored organza in a desultory fashion for a while, and the mood seemed to pass before I tried it. I still think it would be fun to use it for something, probably something much smaller in scale.

Even though I love the results of the dyeing process, I am not eager to do it again. It was a lot of anxiety about the result, along with worry about using somewhat toxic stuff in my home. If I'd been able to do it in a bucket, it might have been less worrisome, but I knew the lace wouldn't have room enough to move freely, and the washer was my only choice, and actually was probably a lot less mess than anything else would have been. I have to say if I have to dye something again, I will probably chicken out and use Rit. Before this, the only thing I'd dyed for quite a while were lingerie findings, and I saved my old crock-pot to use for this in future. It has a Teflon interior that was beginning to flake off, but I don't think that would matter with dye, since Teflon is non-reactive.

I did have a birthday recently, and I wouldn't normally say anything about it, but I got the most darling little Birthday Sewing Bird from my mother, and I had to share him with you. He stands by my computer and I smile whenever I see him, he's just so cute and silly.

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13 comments:

Rhoto said...

Your mother "seams" to be lots of FUN!! THAT's a birthday present, in itself!!
The lace is more-than-beautiful!!
Rhonda in Montreal (PR)

Salinda said...

your lace is beautiful. i've been eye-ing that lovely lace skirt from the runways, but i just found something i might like better--did you see the lace jacket on page 334 of the september issue of "lucky" magazine. divine!

loopylulu said...

The color is beautiful and I'm glad to hear that everything turned out with the dyeing. I can't wait to see what you make with this.

Nancy Winningham said...

The lace turned out beautifully! Great color

Anonymous said...

Wow on the lace, it looks perfect. I am glad you shared your gift with us.

cidell said...

What lovely looking lace! Happy belated birthday too. Oh, that lace, I can't take my eyes off of it!

Anonymous said...

Your lace turned out beautiful, congratulations on your birthday.
Tacking the lace to the silk organza ( by invisible hand stitches) will prevent the lace to sag and makes it a less fragile fabric to handle.

Summerset said...

Your lace turned out lovely! I love dyeing fabric, and I've been dyeing fabric for quite a few years. The washer was the best way to do such a large piece - I've done some large pieces and it makes it so much easier not to deal with a sloshing bucket, etc.

Anonymous said...

A very belated Happy Birthday... I just love the sewing bird!

Nancy K said...

Great lace. I love the color you dyed it. I am about to buy some Procion to redye my lace because Rit just didn't make it black enough. Sometimes Rit works well, others not so well.
Happy Birthday. Cute bird.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Any good thing takes time, a little stress and effort to produce great results and I think you've accomplished that with the dyed lace. It is going to make an amazing skirt! Love your birthday bird too!

Anonymous said...

The color you chose for the lace is really pretty. It will make a beautiful garment. Belated happy birthday!

Sheila said...

The dyed lace is beautiful, you did a great job. Happy Belated Birthday!!!.