Solar Dyeing Season is Here!!!

Now is the perfect time to start a solar dye vat, all you need is a sturdy glass jar, a lid that'll seal tightly, and some natural dye elements such as coreopsis blossoms, oak bark, onion skins, etc. 

Add these items to the jar, add your scoured and pre-mordanted fabrics, top of with water, seal jar with lid, and place in a hot sunny location.

Depending on the temperature, and the dye stuffs used you should have lovely piece of naturally dyed fabric within one to ten days.

Remove from jar, rinse, and the give a good wash using a gentle soap, dry, and your fabric is ready to use in your next project.

To learn more about natural dyes click here.

Rust Dyeing Season Begins!!!

It's Rust Dyeing weather!!! It's incredibly easy to rust dye fabric for unique pieces of art cloth.

Cotton Fabric
Rusty Objects
Vinegar
Plastic wrap or black trash bag

Lay objects onto your fabric, saturate with vinegar, cover with plastic and place your fabric in a warm, sunny location, like the roof of your garden shed, etc. for about 12 hours. 

After 12 hours remove plastic from fabric piece, and check for marks left behind by the rusty objects. If the marks are not as intense as you'd like repeat the process. Otherwise your fabric is now ready to be rinsed and then washed.

To learn more about Rust Dyeing read my article here...

I placed my fabric into a rusty old wheel barrow and placed rusted objects on top of the cotton fabric. I then saturated the fabric with vinegar, covered the works with a piece of heavy plastic for 24 hours.