Dyeing Workshop

Last Saturday I went to an Embroiderers' Guild Dye Workshop. We arrived at about 10am and the room was all set up ready. We were shown the first task to do. It just so happens that the lady running the workshop is a fellow branch member but is also my City and Guilds Distance Learning Tutor who is now living down in Cornwall. Small world or what?

I then spent the rest of the day standing up over a table with various pieces of fabric, threads and wool and turning them into lots of different colours. Bliss....but surprising;y tiring!

Here are some of the results...

A mini washing line was set up in the garden once I had got home.

Lots of lovely dyed threads to use in future work.

There was some dye left over and it has a short shelf life so I was asked if Sophie would like to have a go when I got home. It is as safe as washing powder and so with supervision Sophie and I had lots of fun on Sunday out on the lawn.

The equipment was assembled. The dye remainders are in plastic bottles but it soon became apparent that tipping out of these was going to get messy, so I tipped it gradually into a paint pallet instead. The fabric was rinsed in water and then put in the bottom of the blue box.

The fabric was rinsed and then put in the bottom of a blue box and the dyes were sprayed on (need to use the spray bottles more next time) or add using a paintbrush. Once the dye had been added it then needed to be left for 30 minutes. After that, the fabric and threads are then washed in warm soapy water to remove any excess and hung up to dry.

Sophie found it easier to add the dye with a paintbrush, but she also enjoyed dipping them into different dyes to get variegated threads. All by herself she linked that to the knitting wool that I sometimes use. My daughter is not daft ya know!

The whole activity is safe (a bit messy, but a shower sorted that out but gloves are needed and splashes will wash off) and a lot of fun, but above all it was so easy it was child's play....

Show you the final results tomorrow ..

xx