The Color of the Wool is Worth It!

After two days in the basement I can see the light of day. 
It's been a rewarding couple of days of gathering the colors of RIT dye I needed, plus a few other colors that were tempting for future projects. Then I cut the white, never again to return to white, felted wool into the sizes I wanted. I went to the basement with my mason jars lined up, black marker for labeling the lids and rubber gloves so my hands wouldn't become rainbows. 

Mixing the dyes was like mixing acrylic paints. It took me back to when I was teaching Art One classes the basics of color theory. It's a fun process.

 What I have been doing is using very hot water in the jar, add the dye, stir in a little salt and then a little white vinegar. Those were recommendations from the package. 

The next step is to wet the wool with hot water and submerge it in the dye. Depending on the value of the color you want you leave it in accordingly. Some colors were in the bath for 5 minutes while others for an hour.

 At this point I squeeze as much dye out of the wool and back into the jar as I can. Then I wrap it in a piece of plastic wrap and carefully transport it to the microwave where I have placed paper towels down first.( I need to track down a used microwave for the basement.)

 Set the timer at one minute and start it up. When I take out the little package I take it downstairs and tear off the plastic wrap and rinse the wool with cold water until it runs clear of any color. Open it up and there it is! Is it the color I expected or does it really need a little more time in the dye or a little mixing of color? This takes time but is worth it. 

Here are my colors. They even look a little better in person. Nice variations.

When all that was dry (never, ever putting it in the dryer together) I just jumped in to using it. Here's a sneak peak at what's been going on.

Making the freezer paper templates to cut the wool shapes.

The veggies take form

I've been having a great time with the vegetables for my new piece. The soft buttery yellow background worked out perfect. I was nervous about dying the yardage for that but it's the same color as my kitchen walls so that helped out in picking the color.

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Stay tuned for the embellishments and appliqués that I'm adding to it. More veggies to come! 

Happy wool dying!!!

Felice

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