This December finds us with 10″ of snow. Might as well spend some time snow dyeing some fabric!!
Fabrics and snow- ready to begin.Procion Dyes-yellow, turquoise, red, orange, turquoise, red, black, fuchsiaSnow packed on top of fabrics which are bleeding a bit.Layer of yellow then blue or turquoise dye sprinkled. I’m looking to create shades of greens and browns.More layers, black and a splash of orange.Snow melted – new colorsKept these and put the others back in for another snow-dye bath. I like the muted soft colors. Dark one is purple. First one started out solid yellow.I used spools in bottoms of the containers to allow the melted snow to stay below the fabric so the fabric doesn’t soak in the mixed dyes. Marbles, ping pong balls, a grid -anything that would hold the fabric up away from the liquid would do the trick. This time I soaked the fabric in a bath of soda ash and water first. The soda ash will help the dye adhere to the fabric for more intense colors.Snow and dye added again – dyes should soak through the fabric and meld as they soak into neighboring areas, but retain some of their own color in other areas.. Melt, melt, melt! That’s always the plea throughout the winter, right? Notice, I remembered to put down a protective plastic cover this time. I always work inside of a large plastic crate so that my spills and overflows are contained there – except for the sleeves of my shirt which seem to drag through the dye and then drip down my arms. I wear a mask when working with the soda ash and dyes so that I don’t breathe in the fine powders.These are the results of the overdyeing. I love the cloudy sky, but it may work for something else too. The other subdued colors are just what I was hoping for. Now…. let’s get to work!
Narrative Textile Illustrations 