Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Hand-dyeing mohair again
I've had 17kg of dye sitting in my work room for the last month, just waiting for the right mood to strike me to get some mohair dyeing happening.
And today somehow became the right day! lol
It was a LONG process, as things like this often are. But oh my goodness me - what a lovely way to spend a day.
I ended up doing 13 fat 1/4m pieces, which will probably get cut into 26 x 1/8m pieces for resale (or can stay as 1/4m bits if desired). There is an assortment of rainbow stripes, sunset stripes, dots, swirls, arty abstract patterns and a few tipped/crush-dyed pieces. This was the table as I was doing my 'sunset' thing... I just love these colours together on a bear too.
As it was the first time I'd opened the new pots of dye, I wasn't 100% sure what to expect from the colours. Then purely by accident I made a kind of colour-chart on the paper towel where I was resting my mixing spoons! So this has been carefully labled and put aside so I'll have a quick reference next time the dyeing mood strikes me.
I always find it so fascinating to see how different the dye looks before it's mixed in with the water and fixatives too. I bet you wouldn't have guessed that the yellow/orange dye would make grassy green!? Me either! :P
And what do you get at the end of a long day of playing with dye, and not wearing gloves... 'Avatar' hands! lol
What a fun day you have had. It is always exciting to see how it turns out. Must say the hands don't look good. I revert to putting bleach on them, and then smothering them with hand cream.
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Beautiful stuff here Emma. What kind of dye are you using, may I ask? It looks like fun stuff to work with.
ReplyDeleteLovely and the pieces all turned out so nice too! Should I send you a nice pair of gloves.... heehee! It's a new fashion statement!
ReplyDeletelol, thanks for the comments guys! This dye is Tintex dye, manufactured locally here in Brisbane. Visiting the factory a few months back was like visiting a magic-land! Brilliant colours everywhere! And you know, I think even if I had thought ahead and purchased gloves, I probably would have broken them/ removed them/ forgotten them anyways! The dye was 90% gone by the next day. It was just my nails that held the colour the longest!
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