10 Silk Shirts

A lucky day at the thrift store this morning. More material to dye!

Dying In The Garage

Natural and Un-Natural Dyeing

In the first picture is a silk thrift store scarf that was originally pink and blue. It is over dyed with Shibori stitching and plant dyes. Also, in this picture, is a piece of cotton dyed with Wisteria leaves and then tied up with pennies and over dyed with Chinese Pistache dye.

The second picture is all of pieces dyed with Rit. Yes, I admit it. Not politically correct, but lots of fun. Some are Shibori stitched,
clamped or tied.

The Experimental T-Shirt Project

Two white cotton T-shirts dyed with plant dyes. Not too much difference in the color but the tan one is still damp!

A Nodding Acquaintance

Yesterday evening, I was throwing the deer some stale tortillas. A group of them were having a party at the bottom of my back yard. The buck came closer to get more and nodded his head at me. I nodded back, exaggerating my movements. He nodded back. We played at this for a while until he came a little closer. I went in the house. To me, we were just being friendly, but who knows what he thought!

Dyeing Again

Here is another piece of a thrift store silk shirt,

dyed with dye made from a Carolina Jasmine

Vine. I tied it up with peanut shells because that is what I had on my table!

A Cautionary Tale

I bought a sheer blue and white stripped silk shirt at the thrift store. I thought it would be perfect to do some shibori stitching, so that is what I did. I cut off one of the sleeves and stitched it all over, following the wavy stripes. Then I put it in a jar of Oak leaf dye I had made and let it sit for a day in the sun. The next day, I took it out and left it on the balcony to dry. It was a hot, dry day with no breeze. I checked on it a couple of times and noticed it was almost dry. I could hardly wait to see what it was going to look like. However, when I checked on it again, it was gone! A gentle breeze had come up and I guess the silk got carried away. I searched and searched, but it was no where to be found. I repeated the whole process with the other sleeve and the result is pictured here. Underneath it is a piece of cotton muslin, folded and dyed in the same oak dye. This time I made sure it would not fly away.

What Is This?

15 x 6
I bought this wooden object at a thrift store this weekend. It slides apart and the pegs fit in the holes.I have no idea what it is Do you?

Yarn On A Stick

Hand spinning with homemade spindles, plying on a spindle and spinning on a stick!

More Experiments

I am cooking leaves today. These Spanish oak leaves are cooking in a crock pot in the Frio River water. On the stove, I am cooking Chinese Pistache leaves and berries in a tin can of tap water, in a water bath. What do you think will happen?

The Frio River

I spent the weekend at the beautiful Frio River. The water is crystal clear, so I collected some to use in making natural dyes. I read in India Flint's book that water can make a difference.

Results

Here are the results of my recent experiments with natural dying-- the black rice tied up in previously dyed silk and some samples of other plant dyes. The pink is Passion Flower tea on cotton.

Question

I don't know. What do you think about this template?