Laughing Dog Arts

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Dye day

I've been wanting to have a dye day for a long time and I finally got around to it over the weekend.  Above you can see some of my dye pots, batching around the wood stove.  I have a lot of dye powders and I also have lots of fabrics and vintage textiles that I collect at garage sales.  A few white tops that have been waiting for my next dye session too.  Here is my favorite:
Which is brighter, my new shirt or my shower curtain?  This is an Eddie Bauer shirt, brand new for twenty five cents at a garage sale.  Now it is a brand new Jannie Brattain, ha ha.
Miss Sadie enjoys guarding my drying dyeing.  These are some of the small pieces.
My wooden drying rack is overloaded with the rest of my fabrics.  I love that orangy red and the periwinkle.
I ironed most of my small pieces and just folded the big pieces.  Above you can see some of the dyed vintage napkins and other textiles.  I love the hand of the vintage pieces, so soft and worn.
A few lovely doilies.  It is a shame to let them molder away in the closet.  I rather hated to treat them this way but I'm hoping that now I will be more likely to actually use them.  Such beautiful hand work is frequently found in garage sales, very cheap.
I threw in some scrim and a few cut off strips of batting.  The scrim takes the dye beautifully.  I had also tossed in some cheese cloth but evidently it was not cotton and all it did was make a big mess as it unraveled and shed on everything.  It was the same with some unknown sheer fabric I had and was hoping maybe it was silk but no, it is something that didn't take the dye at all.  I did have one silk scarf that now matches my new shirt in tangerine, fuchsia and lemon yellow.  Beautiful.  Wish I had some more silk.

Now I had better get busy and do something with some of these fabrics.  Maybe I will turn one of those vintage napkins into a dooleybobber.

I'm in the mood for some rock and roll today, listening to the White Stripes.  Turn it up!!

Be well.
 

14 comments:

audrey said...

Oh what fun, Jan!! I love love love all that fabric in all those colors. Gosh, I wish I lived close to you - you do all kinds of fun things!
The shirt is great. What a bargain!! I like this Jannie Brattain clothing line!!! (:
Hope all is well in your world. Cold front moved through here - we even had some snow flurries.
Pretty post, Jan. You've been busy.
♥ audrey

Janet Ghio said...

You did a lot of dyeing--such beautiful colors!!

sjmcdowell said...

Hi Jan,

Gee I love all the dye work! The colors are so vivid and beautiful!!

What a great designer shirt you have on!! Lol you should sell them in your Etsy site!! They would be great for the summer!

Sadie is so cute..what a great help she is too!

Big Hugs to You my Friend!

Susan

Crazy Mama said...

you are really good at getting such an array of beautiful, vibrant colors. so much fabric! i wouldn't know where to begin with all that. but you are so good with textiles, i am sure they will find a great purpose.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's alot of dying Jan. What fun, such bright colors and sich a deal on your designer Brattain t-shirt. Dogs do like to guard almost everything don't they. Mine are busy digging huge hound holes in the yard. Can you dye with dirt??? Clay??? Leaf mold??? Probably. xox Corrine

Heloise said...

Wonderful colours.

Anne Huskey-Lockard said...

WOW Jan!!! When you say Dye Day--you mean it!
I love the way it all came out, but the old linens and crocheted pieces are exceptionally lovely. I can definitely see you incorporating these in your current work.
And Jannie Brattain is much more charming than Eddie Bauer. He's a little on the *dull side* if ya know what I mean! ;-D

XXOO~~♥
Anne

Marlene said...

Wow, you were busy. Lovely colors. I also like the vintage linens and doilies, they came out beautifully. It will be fun to see how you use all these fabrics. Your shirt is awesome and much better than a plain old Eddie Bauer anyday.

artymess said...

Great dyeing day Jan ...love the colours can;t wait to see what you do with them .....x

yoborobo said...

Hi Jan! What beautiful colors! I love that pinkey orange. I am always the one who buys those doilies at the thrift store. I can't stand to think of them getting tossed out - lol! I hope to make some doll dresses from them. Dyeing them is a great idea. xox Pam

Marie S said...

Oh that kind of dyeing day! LOL! You look like you had so much fun.
I love love love the doilies dyed. They look wonderful and what a way to up cycle. I love the sagey green you have there too. I would probably use my doilies more too!
Thanks for the heads up on Lisa's bracelet, her work is wonderful and I am excited about a chance to win one of her pieces.

I love your new shirt and I love the fact that you paid a quarter for it.
How many pounds of fabric did you dye?
I love the table napkins too. What a great idea, I love the hand of old napkins and they look so up to date now.
What a colorful weekend you had. A perfect way to usher in the springtime.

Anja said...

First of all I like very much the foto with you it is one of my favorite fotos from you. Now I know what you ment with dye. You got some very nice endresults. You will use them in your projects I assume.

Robbie said...

Well, you have been busy!!! Sadie looks so sweet 'guarding' your wares!!

Robin Olsen said...

What a luscious bunch of color you now have! I always hesitate before I dye old vintagy bits too, but then I'm always glad once I do and find a new home for them.