Silk! Colour! Pretty!

So today I planned to go into town and do some random fun things like go to the library, buy fabric and play around with costumes... but the weather is rank. So I'm at home again today, itching to go outside but put off by the nasty weather. The weather keeps changing from Winter to spring to winter to spring with a little summer chucked in. Spring is mental! Tomorrow is set to be warmer, calmer and drier than today.

Anyway, I got around to finally dyeing that silk I bought I while back and the results are incredible!

Started off by tying many rubber bands around in circle patterns... I wanted to get an all over kind of design.

It helps to soak the fibre before adding the dye, it helps the fibres soak them up more easily. I mixed up three different combinations of food dye mixed with vinegar, bluey green, purple and plain blue. Set up the steamer and placed the silk tie side up in a glass dish. I really wanted the colours to blend together so started by randomly dyeing different points with the three different colours and then started to fill in the gaps and overlap them. Then to avoid getting a murky colour underneath I let the fabric drip into the dish and poured the extra liquid out. I think that really helped.

Before steaming:

 
I steamed it on low for about and hour, that usually does the trick. Rinsed in cold water and un tied all the rubber bands. Every one was a new surprise! One final rinse and.......

 Isn't it beautiful? The camera doesn't quite capture it's beauty, but you get the idea. It looks particularly good held up to the light! I love how the colours blended and especially like the purple spots, they seemed to have the most contrast. It's almost organic really... could be more so if I had made the shapes a bit more meandering rather than so circular. I have another piece of fabric, so expect more dyed fabric soon. Not sure if I should hand paint or do more tie dyeing... Tie Dyeing tens to be more reliable I think because it fits better in the steaming dish. A big piece of fabric folded over itself would just bleed colours and become a mess. So perhaps just stick with the tie dyeing for the moment. But some different colours perhaps.

And here are some flowers (I can't remember what they are called, but I've seen them before in the Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne) and they grow like weeds here. Such vibrant colours! Similar to the dyeing in fact...

Well right now seems like a good time to go for a walk, the sun is out, so I think I'll make some lunch and head out while I can. Then it's knitting time! I would really like to finish a knitting project.. I have 6 on the go at the moment...

N