I don't know how it got to be Thursday again so soon, but I just heard the garbage truck roar by, so oooooohparently it is, & here we are again in 'My Creative Space'.
I am still on the doll making I was contemplating last week, what is it they say... slow & steady wins the race....?! Here are the girls so far - don't worry, they're mostly 'armless. (HA! I kill me!)
I did something I'd never done before with the calico for their bodies - tea dying. I'd been curious about it for ages but just hadn't gotten around to doing any until last week. As is my style, I winged the entire process, also known as "making it up as I go along".
I put a bunch of teabags in a BIG pot of boiling water & waited for the water to get nice & dark, then I added a bunch of salt because I thought I had read somewhere that that helps the dye to take... that could be totally wrong, but hey, it's just salt & can't hurt...
I added the fabric & stirred it occasionally for about an hour (I took the teabags out when one started to leak tealeaves everywhere... oops!!), then I left it covered overnight. I rinsed it in the morning & it lost a little bit of colour, then hung it to dry out a little, before ironing it to dry while it was still a little damp.
Dry, it's a whole lot lighter in colour than when it's wet - so different that I freaked out briefly thinking I had the iron too high or something & had ruined it, but when it was all done I was very happy. I actually have a dress that I think used to be tea dyed until an unfortunate incident with some bleach, so I think I'll have to do a little more of this in the near future - it was fun stirring a big steaming pot of aromatic fabric - I felt like a sorceress putting an evil spell on someones cloak or something... *mwahahahaha*
How fun!
ReplyDeleteI think you make an awesome Evil Sorceress ;-)
Very cool Vic. Thanks for the "how to".
ReplyDeleteI've never tried tea dyeing, but it looks like a whole lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteI've done a bit of tea dying & some coffee dying too...just the same - winging it. Is there any other way?
ReplyDeleteI can see it now!! great mental image haha...
ReplyDeleteYay for success.
I've done a loads of fabric dying in the past but not with tea - must try this sometime.
ReplyDeleteWow - I've never thought of doing that & I sure will be giving it a go sometime soon. Great stuff. I like the idea of aromatic fabric too... lovely!
ReplyDeleteNot sure about the salt though... I use salt to get red wine stains out of carpet!?!?!
Sally - Hmmmm.... interesting! It didn't seem to do anything too anti-dying lol, there aint nothing like experiment'n! ;)
ReplyDeleteI love to tea dye and coffee dye too. Salt is good, it helps set the colour. You know know sometimes if you want that uneven look of ageing, scrunch it up and parisene essence is good too. I think yours look fabulous! Can't wait to see the dolls.
ReplyDeletewow your little girl is soooooo cute!
ReplyDeleteSo i am looking forward to see the dolls!
That looks great! I would have winged it the same way, so good to know it works! K
ReplyDeleteYou make it look very simple. Love your witch's brew. Can;t wait to see the finished product. xo Meagan.
ReplyDeleteThat rainbow striped set of legs are just fab and tea dyeing, cool. Thank-you so much for your super nice comment and all your advice last week. You are just ace, yes you are.
ReplyDeleteDid you sing "hoily toily stir the brew stir the icky sticky brew" and then cackle with your head thrown back while you stirred your pot?
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to do some natural dying for ages too. I've seen an article on dying natural wool felt using vegetables and fruits. The results were fabulous. I promised myself it would be a project for the Christmas holidays.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant! I've got all this boring white cotton that is desperate to be tea dyed before it is crocheted. Loving those legs at the top.
ReplyDeletei love how brave and fearless you are with your experimenting! And with such great results.
ReplyDeleteAs to Sally's comment about the salt and red wine ~ done it too, works a treat, but i believe it is because it absorbs up the spill
Classic post - thanks for the giggle and the tips on tea dying - I'll never be able to do until I get a big pot like yours and start laughing manically!!
ReplyDeleteSnap! Rubbish day here too :) I'm hoping to dye with some tea and food stuff over the summer. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteIsnt tea great stuff. I have used it before with great results.Cant wait to see your doll Armed lol
ReplyDeleteDon't you just love experimenting?
ReplyDeleteI'll bet after all of that you felt like a cuppa too. Was there any left? Fun post. You kill me too!! : D
ReplyDelete