TDF

Poor little blog. No October attention. And not a lot of sewing either. I'm in the middle of Jane Dunnewold's Dye Mastery which started in October. At the same time I was taking a live watercolor painting class and did some travel. So, not much sewing.

The Dye Mastery is terrific. It has challenged my organizational skills. I tend to approach my crafts as a seat-of-the-pants operation. With dyes, that means that nothing is predictable and some of my dyed fabrics and clothing have not been good. I do have the occasional win, but it's not predictable and I don't really learn from the experience.

Jane has inspired a new way of approaching dyes. And I have had a blast. Very, very few fails, and even those generated some knowledge I'll use in the future. It is physically hard work and I note that I'm fighting some lower back pain, as well as a tricky thumb joint.

It is SO worth it!

The approach is low water imersion, something I have limited experience trying and zero knowleedge, at least when I started.

We have some choices in materials. I chose to follow Jane's advice closely, rather than going rogue or even working with alternatives she offered. So I'm using silk noil for all samples, and PRO Chemical and Dye powdered dyes in the colors she lists. 

After a few mistakes - well, maybe more than a few - I've pretty much created a planning and recording regimen that is helping me to do two things. I am producing fairly predictable results and I am learning solid basics with this type of dyeing. In our most recent unit, we were given more lattitude in creating samples, so that we can learn from the previous lessons what happens and what we like.

I've taken several online classes with Jane. I always learn so much. She is an excellent teacher and truly understands her audience. We receive each lesson in 3 formats! And there are periodic Q and A sessions that are live. Lessons are released 1-2 weeks apart. 

First I created a 12 part color wheel. And then I knew I was hooked.

Next we overdyed - a concept I thought I understood, at least vaguely. I did not. So many interesting and surprising (to me) results.

At the end I'll have lots of samples and documentation to place in a notebook for deliberate dyeing. So far, the results are truly To-Dye-For.

Lower right corner is the Blue control; others are over-dyes of that blue.