Have you seen my zeal????

I seem to have lost it!!!!!

I don't suppose, anyone has asked you that before but it sure feels like I have fallen flat on my face.....

and along the way, I acquired a cold in its place!!!! Not a horrible out-and-out cold, but just enough to wear me down!!!

That and my continued occupation as the 'official 2009 driver for the U Family' and now a 'swap mama' for the latest Doll Quilt Swap... who has time for blogging!????

But I did promise to finish my hand dyeing tutorial, so here it is...

... oh ..... but first, it occurred to me that I had better WARN you (before I hear the reprecussions from ruining your favorite ballgown while you hand dye fabrics).... when you are hand dyeing, WEAR OLD CLOTHES!!!!!

Also, in case you hadn't noticed, I put a sheet of plastic on the garage floor to contain any spills... goodness only knows what would happen if our garage floor turned fuschia!!!!



Well, enough about keeping clean....

Let's get back to hand dyeing (maybe that is where my zeal is!).....

So, you have these fabrics cooking in low volume dye solutions for many hours (I don't time them, but it has to be 6+ hours, I think)...



And, having those fabrics in small containers, with small amounts of solution, all bunched and scrunched, makes for some wonderful variation in color and some even more fabulous patterns that just happen!



Firstly, wearing gloves, I remove the dyed fabrics from the bag/bottle...



into an empty sink....



and begin the somewhat tedious task of rinsing as much excess dye from the fabrics...



but at the same time, it is a great time to see patterns appear...



new colors develop.....



and magnificent possibilities emerge....



When I think that I have rinsed enough of the excess dye from the fabrics, or I just get tired of it, I start the washing machine with warm water and 2-4 TBSP of Synthrapol, and add the fabric...



Often, I run the fabric through 2 washes to ensure that the water is running clear and all the excess dye is gone.

While the washing machine is running (and by the way, I don't mix the fabrics of different colors in the machine while rinsing!), I begin the cleaning process...



and as the fabrics appear from the dryer...



I press them into ...



these wonderfully.....



unique.....




pieces of fabric...



Well, I think just talking about the hand dyeing process has perked me up!

Maybe I haven't lost my 'zeal' after all!!!!



Would you like a piece of my hand dyed fabric???

I am going to give away a fat quarter (or maybe two) to one of you!!!

Leave me a comment by Tuesday, July 28th!!!