A few more steps and I was met by this glorious sight.
I felt pure happiness.
I believe that I’m severely colour-starved. For the last 4 months my world has just been brown, grey, black, white, muddy, slushy, dull, uninspired. Don’t get me wrong, I like winter. It can be absolutely beautiful. But you don’t get a lot of colour, do you? I’ve been reminiscing about last year’s trip to Thailand and all the gorgeous colours you see there. Playing with dye the past couple of days has made me realise how much I have missed colour. When I saw these tulips in the supermarket yesterday, I grabbed them. I love the combination of orange, purple and green.
On Tuesday I started dyeing a 12-step gradation. I’m following Frieda Anderson’s instructions from her book ‘Fabric to Dye For’, and I started right from the beginning with a medium value gradation based on lemon yellow, fuchsia and turquoise. First of all, let me tell you that I grossly misjudged how long it takes to dye fabric. I’ve dabbled in dyeing before, in a happy-go-lucky style, but this time I decided to be a bit more scientific about it. (I even keep a dyeing notebook!) So, my first ambitious plan was to first do three gradations of a bright colour scheme, and after that three gradations in a warm colour scheme. Well, reality forced me to think again. I was knackered on Tuesday, and woke up with a splitting headache on Wednesday. I had crammed so much new knowledge in my head that it was practically bursting. So I gave myself a break and went out for a walk in the sunshine instead of carrying on with my over-ambitous plans. In the evening I rinsed out the fabrics and here’s the result of the first gradation (brights, medium value).
These skinny quarters of fabric will be great as the base for further surface design techniques, such as printing, overdyeing, discharging and so on. Or I might make them into a little rainbow quilt for my wall. They make me happy.
Look, even the trash looks great.
However, my favourites are the mystery fabrics I created out of leftover dye.
Tonight I did the second gradation, with light values. The fabrics are happily batching in their little tubs right now, while I'm relaxing with my blog. I'll rinse out the fabrics tomorrow, and will probably do the third gradation (dark values) on Saturday.
In case you wonder what has happened to the Emo-experiment, I can reveal that it went well, and that I will report back within soon.
Thanks for visiting my blog, and see you again soon with more results from my dyecation. - Annika
I have been thinking about using dye lately too. Maybe I too need some color in my life.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have been thinking about making clothes too, so I might just tag along with your sew along, if I have time to spare. Time always seems to be the issue with me...
DeleteLooks like spring is blooming in your apartment. I especially loved the mystery dyes. And the tulips. I can't believe how warm it's been here. Bulbs are pushing up already.
ReplyDeleteOoh, bulbs are still far away from here, sadly. We've had lots and lots of snow for about a month. Today, however, it's a bit on the rainy side, so there is hope that King Bore (a Nordic personification of winter) will give up eventually. Meanwhile I'll do my best with tulips and dyes.
DeleteHejsan! Vilka fina läckra färger du fått fram, det får mej att undra vilken typ av färger och tyg du använder.
ReplyDeleteGunborg
Jag har använt en typ av reaktivfärger som heter Procion MX. Jag har tyvärr aldrig stött på dem i Finland, så de här har jag beställt från England. Fördelen med dem är att man inte behöver koka något, utan de reagerar även vid lägre temperaturer. Tyget är bara vanligt lakanstyg från Anttila. Jag skulle vilja använda tyg av högre kvalitet, men jag fick nöja mig med ett billigare tyg för kostnadernas skull och för att jag inte vet var jag ska få tag på t.ex. bomullspoplin. Jag har frågat efter det i ett flertal tygaffärer i olika städer och folk ser bara ut som fågelholkar när jag frågar efter det. Det här är lakanstygets land... Jag har beställt några tygprover från England också för att ha något att jämföra med. (De hade faktiskt ett riktigt bra tyg vid Eurokangas... för 19,90 € per meter. Multiplicera det med 15 meter... Man blir ju ruinerad med mindre.)
DeleteDet var som attan var du har varit aktiv :) Och snyggt blir det också.
ReplyDeleteTack! Det är spännande tider! :D
DeleteI love the rainbow in your apartment! I also picked up some tulips at the store - bright orange with some deep purple statice for contrast. I love that a little color can brighten our lives. I think Paula Burch has info on parfait dyeing on her dye website. It is a wonderful way to create multicolored fabrics. Ann Johnson's book is a great resource.
ReplyDelete