More snow dyeing

Waking up this morning to see it snowing.. after a few days of mild temperatures that melted almost all the snow we had left... actually got me excited!  My first thoughts? ... I can do another batch of snow dyeing!  Sick, I know... after being so tired of winter... but this technique works best with snow.

I put my pans out in the back yard on the barbeque to collect snow.  Unfortunately, after about 3 hours, the amount I'd seen accumulating earlier had started to melt.  The weather was forecast to turn mild, 3 degrees and rain.

Crap... I had to move fast.

The fabrics had already been pre-soaked in the soda ash water.  Now to get enough snow in the house to fill the 3 pans.  I'll tell you, there was more than enough on top of the suv to fill the pans.  I'm sure the neighbor would have been delighted if I'd taken the snow off his car as well.  :)  Anyone seeing me, scooping snow off my truck with a dust pan and putting it in a bucket to take INTO the house would have thought I was nuts!  hehehe

So, I now have 3 more batches sitting in the laundry room melting.  This time I did 2 yards in each pan.

Tomorrow morning can't come soon enough to see the results.

Snow Dyeing Experiment - Results

Well, (fellow reader), are you as excited to see the results as I was?

I'll warn you now... my camera is good, but given the lighting in my small space, the pictures really don't do these justice.

Each picture is the full yard of fabric.

Seriously, these are way more vibrant in person.

The orange I figure I'll use in a quilt that my sister in law wants.. chocolates and browns.

The green, I'm not sure yet.  Hubby saw it before I put it in the washer and said he'd wear a shirt made with it.  Understand, this is a man who enjoys wearing bright, bold, hawaiian type shirts.  The backing on a crib quilt would be a nice idea for it.

The purple... well... it's so beautiful I almost don't want to cut it!  Hmmm.. possibilities.  I could do a whole cloth lap quilt with a beautiful quilt pattern to enhance it.

Either way, this whole experience has been great and I want to do some more... I think this is the first time I've actually wished for fresh snow!  :)

Snow Dyeing Experiment - Stage 2

I swear, the hardest part of this process is the waiting.

Picture taken last night before bedtime.... snow is melting.

Pictures taken this morning... all the snow is melted... now just waiting for them to sit some more, supposedly to about room temperature.

The colours are bright, vibrant... but I'm worried that they will turn out too solid versus the varigated, bleeding effect that I'm expecting.

After they sit for a few more hours, it'll be time to rinse until the water runs clear, then hot wash with synthrapol.

*hint, purple is already washed and in the dryer, green is in the washer, orange is waiting to be washed*

Pictures tonight of the end results after drying and ironing. :)

Snow Dyeing Experiment

So.... I wake up this morning to this....

It was still lightly snowing, Jake had a blast making fresh tracks all over the backyard and bouncing around like a gazelle!  Look at the bird feeder!  It was about half full two days ago, apparently the birds knew that this downfall was going to happen and stocked up when they could. Don't worry, I've refilled it for them.

And yes, the first thought that came to mind was.... "I can try snow dyeing today!"   I had purchased the items I needed from PRO Chemical and Dye a few weeks ago, but of course we haven't had much snow fall lately, in fact, it rained quite a bit to the extent that most of what we had left was ice.

Good thing I bought those bolts of muslin from Jo-Ann's the last time I was there... one bleached, one unbleached, 44" wide and 15 yards on a bolt, for $30 a bolt.

First step... cut three one yard pieces of bleached muslin.

Soak in soda ash water for at least 10 minutes... done.

Placed the fabric in three individual pans (unfortunately I didn't have any plastic tubs to use, so used my roasting pans).  Set them outside for about a half hour so they could partially freeze.

Mixed up the dyes... done.  Yellow, red, emerald, bubblegum pink, indigo blue, ultra violet.

Next, fill up the containers with fresh snow... best snow was on top of the truck... safest too... no "yellow snow" or "surprises".. lol

Ready to add the dyes:

First one - lots of yellow with some red to try and get an orangey fabric.

Second one - emerald green with a good dose of yellow.  I want a nice bright green so we'll see how it works.

Third one - here's where it'll be interesting... ultra violet, with some indigo blue and just a few swirls of bubblegum pink. :)

Supposedly, certain colours in the dye line will separate into their component colours.  So all the dyes I purchased are varients of the primary colours.. therefore, they should all "bleed" well.

I'm going to keep watch on the process, the melting of the snow.  In total it should take about 24 hours for it to all melt and the fabrics to come to room temperature.

Then it's a matter of rinsing each individually, thoroughly, to get the remainder of the dye out, then setting it in a wash with synthrapol to set the dye, drying and ironing.

I'll take pictures of the stages.... can't wait!