Day 4 - Dying

I'm done with the Jacquard acid dyes for now. I ran out of silk velvet! I only had a yard of it to begin with because it runs $20 per yard. Acid dyes are definitely a good way to go for immersion dying.

All you really need are:

1. your materials for dying (I used silk velvet, dupioni silk, laces, and white silk ribbon),

2. a sauce pan (I bought one at goodwill special for dying),

3. a measuring cup to get an idea of how much water works,

4. the acid dyes (all I had was red, blue, yellow and black),

5. measuring spoons (again I bought some especially for dying),

6. some plastic gloves and some large flat plastic containers, and

7. some vinegar.

8. Paper towels and a

9. drying rack come in handy for letting them dry.

I bought a yard of white silk fabric, a yard of silk velvet, and a roll of every width (2mm, 4mm, 7mm, and 13mm) silk ribbon I wanted ahead of time. The acid dye worked best on silks and not so good on some of my laces - probably all the synthetic laces. Luckily for me my Jacquard paints and Jacquard silk dyes worked well on them. So I started with 4 cups of water which I brought almost to a boil, then used a color wheel to select my mix of dyes (just got an estimate - nothing scientific!). I poured my die into my plastic container, added a little dye (less than 1/8 tsp for light colors and more than 1/4 tsp for dark colors), and a little less than 1 Tbsp vinegar. Stir and add your dying materials, then let sit for 30 minutes. Rinse in warm water. I saved the dye by pouring it into another container. Then I added a cup of water and reheated to a near boil to get a lighter version of the same color. That worked better if I started out with a fairly dark dye the first time. Some of my second dye attempts turned out very light. So, then I squeezed them out and laid them out to dry on my drying racks. (Shari - turns out I do have some - wasn't sure that was what you were talking about!) Anyway, I'll tell you about the Jacquard silk dyes and paints another day.

I did try to dye beads and they turned out really nice - one I dyed red and the other blue using the Jacquard silk dyes and they have a slight red and blue glow to them.

I also tried to use a resist, but I have to wash out the resist yet, then I'll post a picture.

I also tried to use salts on fabric to get a burst of color. First the instructions tell you to paint some Jacquard silk dyes on your silk fabric, then sprinkle on the salt and let it dry. They do warn you about using too light a dye and they are right about that! I'll have to try again with a darker bit of dye.