and the dyeing continues

So weeks have gone by and life goes on with a never ending stream of things that have to be done. There is very little time to experiment these days as I do have a number of projects that are on the "must do now" list. But a few weeks ago Regina left a comment asking if I had any experience in how the natural dyes hold up to regular washing. Honestly I'm not 100% sure but always one to experiment I decided to check on my blueberries that had been only bottled in vinegar for about a week.

I had rinsed the cotton out till the water ran clear but noticed that there was some colour left on the towel. I went a head and pressed the cotton . It was beautiful !

But I wanted to see what would happen if I used very hot water ( no soap just run out of Synthrapol )

Still very pretty but now is a very pale grey blue

Next up is Dandelions - I have millions at the farm just begging to be sampled so the first try is 557 gms of Dandelion heads with 4 ltrs of of water the silk scarf on the left had 5gms of Alum had to 500m of "tea" and the silk scarf on the right had 125 mtr of vinegar. Both were simmered in pots for about an hour then raised till the water ran clear hung to dry and then pressed. Once I get the Synthrapol I'll wash them again.

Work in progress 2 Silk Scarves in 500m of Dandelion tea and 30grms of Alum , will leave in a sunny window for a few days.

 I am linking to Needle and Thread net work a great site to check out to see what else others are doing