Victorian Colors

What do you consider Victorian colors?



I took some size 20, white DMC thread and put it in with all my other dying experiments last week. I put about 10 yards in the coffee and two 10 yard pieces in the rose water. When I wound them on paper this evening, I thought, this must be why the old crazy quilts we see are in such lovely, muted colors - their dying products for their threads. I only imagine that they had primarily white to work with, so they probably used their natural resources to have different colors. I can hardly wait until fall to try those deep, purple berries that grow on the weed that grows in the Wisteria bush.

Another Dye Experiment

There were a few late blooming roses and I thought, why not try a rose bath to see if I can get some pretty pink colored laces. I brought them in and put them in water and in the microwave for a couple of minutes - then I thought of the old dried ones I had gotten for Valentines, so I tossed one of them in, too.



I put four pieces in the bath and let them sit for about 36 hours, and here are the results:


I'm not sure what the fibers of the laces are, but am guessing that the ones that took the color best are cotton. The long piece is more of a brownish hue, and the motif is pretty true pink.

Dying Experiment

Updated 7/3/07

I love the look of the darker, muted laces that so many of the talented ladies use. In my dying experience, the pieces usually either turn out very light, or too bright in color. It occurred to me that if I started with a deeper color lace than white, the dyes may take on a different hue, so here is my experiment:

I save used coffee grounds in an old coffee canister to 'fertilize' rose bushes (Someone told me that is good for them, but haven't been trying it long enough to see any results). They are still soggy and wet, so I spread some over stark white appliques overnight, and here are those results.



This morning after coffee, there was some left in the pot, so I decided to 'over coffee' them and poured it on. They're still soaking, but I'll show those results after they come out. Think they'll hold that chocolate velvet flavored scent?

So...this is how they look after the coffee soaking for four hours and two, one-minute twirls in the microwave. I did the first shot on a paper towel, but thought that wouldn't be a true comparison, so the second is on the same counter and dish.

I'll update again after the dying...

...and here are the motifs after dye was painted on.

I also took a few of the ones that I had previously dyed and gave them a coffee bath.

Before

After

My thought is that it just depends on what you're trying to achieve. The before ones are pretty, too. I think I like the effect better of dying on top of coffee rather than the opposite, coffee on top of dye. I also like the plain coffee colored ones a LOT.

What do you think?

Dying Motifs

Today I'm off work, and supposed to be painting the guest bedroom, but ... Just wasn't in the mood, so I dyed some lace motifs. These are a little bright, but better than some previous attempts. I use Dy-na Flow dyes, mixed with water to get the colors I wanted, then put them in a zip bag and microwaved for a couple of minutes.