Our last foray into dying was a smorgasbord of color.  Nancy brought me sea water for  mordanting and fireplace ash water which we used to transform turmeric – yellow to red.  My stash of natural dye fabrics is growing – some still a surprise.  We used amethyst, english red and an array of greens, browns, grays.

While I was waiting for Nancy to arrive, I started to tie my bundles in folded, clamped and rolled patterns.  The pearl cotton I had dyed the week before is used to tie some of the bundles.  I want to see if the indigo leeches out onto the other colors.

accordian fold

tied with indigo string

to dye and over-dye

I also mixed a batch of turmeric.  Boil for 1/2 hour to release the color.  So much turmeric remained at the bottom, but no worry, the color is still intense and so, so permanent.

turmeric bath

I also took out a stencil I’d been saving for something and dry-brushed flower patterns with turmeric.

We stopped for a deliciously colorful lunch (ginger carrot soup, almost the color of turmeric) to visit our local thrift where I found a beautiful white piece of fabric for another day.  $1. for 1 +  yards.

I am waiting for the bundles to dry a bit.  One that was dyed in logwood dried quickly and yielded beautiful patterning.  The piece I rinsed too soon, faded miserably.  These bundles also, accidentally sat out in an unexpected rain and  dyes migrated into interesting results.

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