Posts Tagged ‘dyeing silk’
harvesting colour – rose petals in a pickle jar – results
On April 9, I tried dyeing white silk with dried rose petals.
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rose petals, scattered on the silk
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Originally, I intended to let the colour develop for at least a month on the silk in my pickle jar. But curiosity got the better of me after six days. Colour had developed in the first two days, a deep magenta in the vinegar and on the fabric.
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Tonight I opened the jar and rinsed out the silk. The process is a little messy, with lots of petals floating in the rinse water. And the results …
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silk fabric dyed with dried flower petals … the deep pink is from the extra flowers I added
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You may remember that I folded a few other flowers into the silk. In retrospect, I should have seen the unnatural pink of some of the flowers … I think the florists did a little dyeing of their own and that is what is making the bright pink on the fabric. It looks a bit artificial for my taste, but I do love the brownish magenta that colours the background of the fabric – that colour seems to be from the rose petals. Silk certainly takes up colour eagerly!
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the magenta seems to be from the rose petals – a more natural colour
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Once the fabric is dry, I intend to hem the silk for a tablecloth. I use tablecloths all the time and this one will remind me of a special bouquet!
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Snippet of a longer poem I wrote after this adventure …
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remnants of the bouquet
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petal colour
stains fabric
eager to make
an impression
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deep pink dried flowers I added to the rose petal mix … I should have realised they were too bright to be ‘real’
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I have carefully rinsed my pickle jar, intending to use it again!
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
harvesting colour – more colour from the pickle jar
One more dyeing project with the pickle jar! I am growing impatient, waiting for the growing season to begin so I can collect plants for my dyeing projects. So, I looked around my house and decided to use some of the various jars of rose petals and other flowers I have dried over the years.
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a jar of rose petals and other flowers from a saved bouquet (the fabric is the silk I intend to dye)
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For fabric, I decided to use the square of silk I purchased for the project back in February. From my reading, I know that silk accepts dye very well and responds well to an acidic dye bath.
First I soaked the silk in tepid water to prepare the fibres to accept the dye. I decided this fabric has already been prepared with mordant. If not, I can always add the mordant later.
Then I spread the petals on the fabric, spraying as I went with a weak solution of cider vinegar.
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rose petals, scattered on the silk
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I added some other dried flower petals from another bouquet. Then I rolled the fabric and petals very tightly.
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a roll of silk and flower petals, sprayed with vinegar and ready for the pickle jar
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As with my last project ( https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/harvesting-colour-onion-yellow/ ), I had trouble stuffing the roll into the jar. Once I had the silk crammed into the jar, I added more vinegar solution to the jar and closed it.
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pickle jar stuffed with silk, rose petals and other dried flowers
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And now we wait …
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
