Wherein I discuss the dyeing of many things.
Like my skin and my bathtub.
I'm making a circle skirt for dancing, and my mom is making an Irish dress for the PyrateDaze festival on the Queen Mary next month. I decided I wanted something that looked dirty and aged. At Costume College this year I took a class on fabric manipulation, and the teacher talked about dyeing fabric with rusty objects, so I jumped on the chance to use it here. My mom wanted rust-colored fabric, but uniformly dyed, so we went with powdered RIT dye for her.
I started with mine Saturday evening. I used heavy linen and cotton canvas. I dipped them in water, then in distilled white vinegar. I wrapped them around the few rusty objects I could find in my backyard (most of which were sharp and maybe I need another tetanus shot). The woman I learned this from had said that after this I needed to put them in plastic bags, seal them, and leave them in the sun, but since I had neither sealable plastic bags nor sun, I went with sticking them in a bucket and leaving them there overnight. Sunday morning I came out and found that they were still wet, so I put them in plastic bags and left them out for a while.
Saturday evening
Sunday morning
Some of them came out a little better than the others (some of them weren't done with shovels). When I went back to them Sunday evening they still weren't dry, so I unwrapped them, wiped off the objects to get a little more rust onto my fabric, and then used my blow dryer to dry them. Then I stuck them in my washing machine and rinsed them out. When I took them out they were a lot lighter than I wanted them to be, but I think that's a battle for another time.
Pre-rinsing: a large disparity due to the length of time they were exposed to the 'dye.'
Post-rinsing. This picture makes the different colors almost impossible to see, but there is a noticeable discoloration to the fabric. It looks like the negative of when I tried tye-dyeing black tank tops with bleach. Also, it had occurred to me before sticking the pieces in the washing machine that they would fray if I didn't do something with the edges, but it was something I decided to forgo (mostly because I am so lazy). I actually really like the way they look, so I think I'm going to incorporate them into my design.
My friend's dad promised to bring me some small rusty objects the next time she came over. Future projects will hopefully be more successful the first time around.
For my mom's fabric I started with a peach linen. I preshrunk it and then stuck it in a plastic box full of very hot water, predissolved dye, what salt I could find, and an arbitrary amount of detergent (sort of per the instructions on the box). Joann's didn't have any rust colored RIT dye (do they even make it?) so I cleaned them out on dark brown and tangerine.
The instructions said to agitate the fabric constantly for 30 minutes. I'm not sure if I made it a full 30 minutes, but I had lots of fun messing around with the mixture! (I even wore gloves most of the time.) However, in retrospect, I think I probably should have left it in less time. It was a little darker than I was aiming for.
After that I brought the fabric into my bathtub and began to rinse it out to get excess dye out before I pulled out the big guns (ie my washing machine). I doubt the stain is ever going to come off of my tub. Eventually I had to break down and hop in the shower with my fabric. It was fun, but now I look like I've been playing in the sewer. :P
guh-ross.
When I got a sufficient amount of dye out, I brought the fabric back out and put it through my washing machine without any soap. Then I did it again.
While waiting for the washing machine to finish I decided this would be the PERFECT time to finish some projects I hadn't gotten around to yet, like the chainmail belt I'm 9/10s done with. And dinner - did you know that if you heat butter for too long it will blow up? I certainly didn't.
The fabric came out a really pretty brown color, and you can definitely see some of the orange coming out. I really like the color, and if my mom has any left over when she's finished I think I might use it to make a top to go with my skirt.
yay for success! :)
I'm making a circle skirt for dancing, and my mom is making an Irish dress for the PyrateDaze festival on the Queen Mary next month. I decided I wanted something that looked dirty and aged. At Costume College this year I took a class on fabric manipulation, and the teacher talked about dyeing fabric with rusty objects, so I jumped on the chance to use it here. My mom wanted rust-colored fabric, but uniformly dyed, so we went with powdered RIT dye for her.
I started with mine Saturday evening. I used heavy linen and cotton canvas. I dipped them in water, then in distilled white vinegar. I wrapped them around the few rusty objects I could find in my backyard (most of which were sharp and maybe I need another tetanus shot). The woman I learned this from had said that after this I needed to put them in plastic bags, seal them, and leave them in the sun, but since I had neither sealable plastic bags nor sun, I went with sticking them in a bucket and leaving them there overnight. Sunday morning I came out and found that they were still wet, so I put them in plastic bags and left them out for a while.
Saturday evening
Sunday morning
Some of them came out a little better than the others (some of them weren't done with shovels). When I went back to them Sunday evening they still weren't dry, so I unwrapped them, wiped off the objects to get a little more rust onto my fabric, and then used my blow dryer to dry them. Then I stuck them in my washing machine and rinsed them out. When I took them out they were a lot lighter than I wanted them to be, but I think that's a battle for another time.
Pre-rinsing: a large disparity due to the length of time they were exposed to the 'dye.'
Post-rinsing. This picture makes the different colors almost impossible to see, but there is a noticeable discoloration to the fabric. It looks like the negative of when I tried tye-dyeing black tank tops with bleach. Also, it had occurred to me before sticking the pieces in the washing machine that they would fray if I didn't do something with the edges, but it was something I decided to forgo (mostly because I am so lazy). I actually really like the way they look, so I think I'm going to incorporate them into my design.
My friend's dad promised to bring me some small rusty objects the next time she came over. Future projects will hopefully be more successful the first time around.
For my mom's fabric I started with a peach linen. I preshrunk it and then stuck it in a plastic box full of very hot water, predissolved dye, what salt I could find, and an arbitrary amount of detergent (sort of per the instructions on the box). Joann's didn't have any rust colored RIT dye (do they even make it?) so I cleaned them out on dark brown and tangerine.
The instructions said to agitate the fabric constantly for 30 minutes. I'm not sure if I made it a full 30 minutes, but I had lots of fun messing around with the mixture! (I even wore gloves most of the time.) However, in retrospect, I think I probably should have left it in less time. It was a little darker than I was aiming for.
After that I brought the fabric into my bathtub and began to rinse it out to get excess dye out before I pulled out the big guns (ie my washing machine). I doubt the stain is ever going to come off of my tub. Eventually I had to break down and hop in the shower with my fabric. It was fun, but now I look like I've been playing in the sewer. :P
guh-ross.
When I got a sufficient amount of dye out, I brought the fabric back out and put it through my washing machine without any soap. Then I did it again.
While waiting for the washing machine to finish I decided this would be the PERFECT time to finish some projects I hadn't gotten around to yet, like the chainmail belt I'm 9/10s done with. And dinner - did you know that if you heat butter for too long it will blow up? I certainly didn't.
The fabric came out a really pretty brown color, and you can definitely see some of the orange coming out. I really like the color, and if my mom has any left over when she's finished I think I might use it to make a top to go with my skirt.
yay for success! :)