I was asked to give a program on “Dyes, Types and Uses” for an ASG neighborhood group. In general, I don’t mind giving a presentation about something I enjoy, though I always make sure my audience knows I am not an expert. For my presentations I like to incorporate something in my outfit that supports or illustrates the topic. I spotted this outfit in the Oct 2019 BurdaStyle magazine. #115. It was the perfect outfit for the presentation.
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| Burda Oct 2019 115 |
A colorful, easy to sew top, and coordinating necklace. That could be used to illustrate the use of dye on different materials; fabric and wood.
I dyed some very inexpensive wool lycra knit using Rit brand, general purpose, Aquamarine dye and the instructions for protein fibers. I had bought this fabric specifically for experimenting with dying and fabric manipulation. I prefer silk and wool when I do this, but these types of fabrics can be expensive. So, when I find some light-colored wool or silk yardage sold “As Is” because of defects or dirt, I snap it up.
My wool sucked up all the dye in the solution, resulting in a deep color. There were some light streaks and dark blobs, which is not surprising when dying wool with general purpose dyes. There are better dyes designed specifically for protein ( wool ) fibers. But they are not available in grocery, big box or hobby stores.
The Burda top is easy to sew, I serged the seams, and used a coverstitch for the hem on the sleeves and bottom edge. I tapered the sleeves to be narrower from elbow to wrist. A style preference.
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| Burda top 115 from Oct 2019 issue |
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| Burda top 115 Oct 2019 issue |
The necklace was made of unfinished wood circles, (Amazon) rubbed with the undiluted dye, the edges colored black using a sharpie pen. And sprayed with a gloss finish spray. To form the chain from the circles I cut a slit in the rings with a handsaw. The slit allows just enough flexibility to interlink the rings. I have strands of Christmas tree “chains” made this way. That is where the idea came from.
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| Dyed wooden necklace |
The presentation went well, and I got a lot of questions about the necklace.
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| ASG Dying Presentation |
As part of the presentation I talked about using Rit Dyemore and IDye Poly to dye synthetic fiber wigs. At the end of the presentation I donned a wig I had dyed using Rit Polydye.
My silly selfie of me as a “blue hair”
