You Don't Learn If You Don't Try
I had an assortment of marigold plants in my gardens that I started from seed and I wanted to see what might happen if I dyed with the flowers.
While I had done a little dyeing in the past within a classroom setting, I just did this on a whim because I had some time and all the ingredients available.
I filled a pot with all the flowers I could find and added cold water. I then slowly brought the water to a simmer and then added the fabrics and shirts to be dyed (remembering to pre-soak the items I wanted in lukewarm water for several minutes beforehand).
I would check on the color of the fabrics every 20 minutes or so until I got the colors I liked and then dried them on the clothes line.
What I Learned from this Project
I just decided to try my hand at dyeing with the marigold without much preparation or thought. While it was fun, I think I will try a mordant in the pre-soak to see if I get different or more lasting results. The fabrics that I dyed did not keep much of the color after a few washings.
What you may notice is that the t-shirt looks like it has underarm stains. :-( In reality, I use a homemade deodorant that has baking soda as one of the ingredients. Now that shirt was clean so obviously the bee's wax and the baking soda somehow left a residue that is reacting to the dye. Fascinating.
Since I saved the marigold seeds from last year, I will be planting MANY MORE and hopefully will be able to see how the dyebath reacts to different fibers with a variety of mordants. So much fun!!
Have a GREAT week!!
All the photos are mine and have been taken by me. :-)