The berry-dyed tunic expiriment, part 2: The Disaster
So, at almost the very same second as I clicked "Post Entry" on part 1, I heard a small explosion from the kitchen. One of the pop cans that I had been using to weigh down the cloth had exploded.
Other than a splatter of generic-brand coke and some berry-juice splattered across the floor, it doesn't seem to have caused much damage.
The rest of the night continued in peace. I occasionally stirred the cloth. At the time that I went to bed, it was a lovely maroon color.
The next morning, I dunked it in ice water (according to the internet, this would help set the dye) and hung it up to dry. Sadly, it lost a good deal of the color in the dunking, becoming a much lighter shade of pink.
The pink container held the ice water. Afterward, the fabric turned a much lighter shade of bubblegum. I was less than thrilled.
It dried. At this point, I realized that there were still berry guts stuck to it. (When I try this again, I will strain out the berries before dyeing the fabric.)
So, hoping that the dye would stay (since I would, eventually, like to be able to wash the garment anyway), I decided to wash the cloth in the washing machine.
I'm an idiot, clearly. But then, hindsight is 20/20.
This is my cloth now.
To add insult to injury, the washing didn't even get off the berry guts.
I'm not giving up. Instead, I'm just switching gears. I'm fairly certain the fabric isn't going to shrink any more than it already has (and I may put it through another wash cycle just to make sure). Since the sheer size of the fabric made the project less convenient, trying to dye something smaller would probably be easier, which leaves a smaller cost for error. (I can use a smaller bucket for the soaking, instead of those rubbermaid containers, and I won't have to use as many berries to get the same intensity.)
So I'll make the tunic first, then dye it. We still have several bags of frozen juneberries, plus a few tupperware containers of bush-cherries and raspberries that Dad says are past good anyway. I'll probably sew up the tunic sometime tonight or over the course of tomorrow.
Other than a splatter of generic-brand coke and some berry-juice splattered across the floor, it doesn't seem to have caused much damage.
The rest of the night continued in peace. I occasionally stirred the cloth. At the time that I went to bed, it was a lovely maroon color.
The next morning, I dunked it in ice water (according to the internet, this would help set the dye) and hung it up to dry. Sadly, it lost a good deal of the color in the dunking, becoming a much lighter shade of pink.
The pink container held the ice water. Afterward, the fabric turned a much lighter shade of bubblegum. I was less than thrilled.
It dried. At this point, I realized that there were still berry guts stuck to it. (When I try this again, I will strain out the berries before dyeing the fabric.)
So, hoping that the dye would stay (since I would, eventually, like to be able to wash the garment anyway), I decided to wash the cloth in the washing machine.
I'm an idiot, clearly. But then, hindsight is 20/20.
This is my cloth now.
To add insult to injury, the washing didn't even get off the berry guts.
I'm not giving up. Instead, I'm just switching gears. I'm fairly certain the fabric isn't going to shrink any more than it already has (and I may put it through another wash cycle just to make sure). Since the sheer size of the fabric made the project less convenient, trying to dye something smaller would probably be easier, which leaves a smaller cost for error. (I can use a smaller bucket for the soaking, instead of those rubbermaid containers, and I won't have to use as many berries to get the same intensity.)
So I'll make the tunic first, then dye it. We still have several bags of frozen juneberries, plus a few tupperware containers of bush-cherries and raspberries that Dad says are past good anyway. I'll probably sew up the tunic sometime tonight or over the course of tomorrow.