Easter Weekend Dyeing Update

So, the weekend went and it was back to work on Tuesday. Fabrics came out of the dyepot after work that day, were separated from their string, detangled and put in the washing machine, to have their 60 degree wash - yes even silk seems fine with this (so far). So impatient was I to see the results washed, dried and ironed that I had to clean the conservatory windows to keep the fidgets at bay!!

I am really pleased with the results. Hard to show in photographs as they don't capture the flow and sheen of the two different silks, but here they are. All five pieces together - the four narrow strips folded in half for the sake of space. The darkest are the ones that were stitched and pulled up, here at top right. They are more mottled and blended in their colours and the stitching doesn't show in quite the way I expected it to. Top left are the two strips that went round the narrower pipe. The softer colour is the piece of fine cotton, the better defined is the silk, which always takes dye really well; at the bottom is the piece that was folded and wrapped round the soil pipe. I love the way the patterns are mirrored and have had several comments about what a lovely scarf it would make. Liking that idea.

Here is a portion of the two narrow strips - I am delighted with the leafy, feathery nature of the pattern and hope I can reproduce it again. I think it had to do with the way I compressed the fabric - which is obvious really, but I know what I mean. I sort of wriggled it as I pushed it down.

and here a closer view of the "scarf" so you can see the ripples that came from the string being crossed over itself as it was tied (bottom centre). You can also see the way adding the yellow dye slightly later has created a quite distinct margin between the soft blue and the stronger green.

I have a feeling one could have endless fun with this, playing with different blends of colour and different timings ...... were one not required to earn a living!