Bad silk! no color for you.
Well, that was another frustration in acid dyeing. The color came out a little more on the red side of blue, but still medium in tone, as before, and that was after more than an hour in the dye bath. The amount I put in should have been completely used, since I put in less than the weight of the silk as I only wanted to overdye what was already there. But lots of dye came off in the rinse cycles and when I put in softener.
I really should have bleach checked the silk before starting this (it was in stash before I learned about bleach tests), but I got it from a reputable dyeing silk company, so I figured it would take the dye well, and would be 100% silk, but maybe not. The sample has only been a few hours in a bleach bath, and about half has disintegrated, so I will give it the full day to see what remains. It may just be chemically coated, or have unknown fibers in it, or something preventing it from taking a full dye bath.
I now will debate, accept the color as is (pretty medium, but not deep blue) and make the gown, or try a Rit dye to cover all bases before going forth. I am inclined right now to accept it as is, and just make the gown, as that's what I am itching for, and while it won't contrast highly with the gold kirtle, it will look alright. I am also thinking of testing a piece of silk in some rit dye, to see if it will get deeper in color. I think I have another glass jar around here...
Scratch that thought about looking good. It's a pretty color, but not on me, and not on the kirtle. The gold and black is too strong a color, and needs a good strong color to match it, not the blue as it currently stands. The blue also doesn't look that good on me, so I can't use it for a blouse, for example. This is frustrating.
I really should have bleach checked the silk before starting this (it was in stash before I learned about bleach tests), but I got it from a reputable dyeing silk company, so I figured it would take the dye well, and would be 100% silk, but maybe not. The sample has only been a few hours in a bleach bath, and about half has disintegrated, so I will give it the full day to see what remains. It may just be chemically coated, or have unknown fibers in it, or something preventing it from taking a full dye bath.
I now will debate, accept the color as is (pretty medium, but not deep blue) and make the gown, or try a Rit dye to cover all bases before going forth. I am inclined right now to accept it as is, and just make the gown, as that's what I am itching for, and while it won't contrast highly with the gold kirtle, it will look alright. I am also thinking of testing a piece of silk in some rit dye, to see if it will get deeper in color. I think I have another glass jar around here...
Scratch that thought about looking good. It's a pretty color, but not on me, and not on the kirtle. The gold and black is too strong a color, and needs a good strong color to match it, not the blue as it currently stands. The blue also doesn't look that good on me, so I can't use it for a blouse, for example. This is frustrating.