Dying with Food!
No people, NOT dying FOR food, although right now a snack would be nice. LOLYes I wrote, dying WITH food. As you know I like to dye my own fabric and usually I use Dylon brand cold dye to accomplish the task. It's not extremely color fast, but since I don't wash and re-wash my projects it's never been an issue. That said I am always interested to try new techniques for color dying fabric and I found one I hadn't thought of before on Yuko's site. Yuko left me a nice comment on my frame fiasco so I went to have a look at her blog and BEHOLD she was dying fabric with food products. In this case she was using curry powder, onion skins and tea. Not necessarily all at the same time, although it might create some interesting colors, not to mention smells. LOL, LOL
Now of course I had heard of tea dying and I had even tried it in the past with weak results, but never had I thought of using any other types of foods to dye with, least of all curry powder. I don't even eat curry. LOL But lo and behold I had some curry powder in my cupboards thanks to Greg. He bought it during one of his adventurous eating phases. And of course I had tea bags so I thought here's my chance to give it a try. So I did. And these are the results:
I LOVE the results! The tea dye is a beautiful antique brown and the curry came out a bright vibrant yellow. This color is perfect for a spring project! The trick to getting a nice bright yellow I found is HOT, SUPER HOT water. Same for the tea, the hotter the water the darker the color will be. That said I am now intrigued as to what other spices/foods would make nice vibrant colors. Next, I'm thinking PAPRIKA. LOL, LOL I'll let you know how it turns out. ;)
Now onto HOHRH. Hobby Lobby (the crafters mecca) was having a 50% off sale on open back frames so we went to check it out and here is what we found.
After checking out numerous frames and finally deciding that it would be best to scale down the project quite a bit, we went with an 18X24 frame. Greg recommended that I go with this one and I have to agree that it does make the colors of the project pop out. So this is it unless sometime down the road I find another "perfect" frame. Here is what it looks like on my wall:
Thanks to everyone who commented about the other frame I am glad that I wasn't the only one that thought "great frame" but not great with this project. Ya, know I think my mom is going to LOVE that frame. LOL, LOL
Here's the latest progress on my travel project.
You can almost see the Eiffel Tower so it's getting close. Have to confess I am sick of stitching the same color in one and then two threads, not so easy on the eyes. But I'm almost done with that part and it looks great so it was worth it. :D
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
18 comment(s):
Okay, Kim, you were right. This frame really does make the stitching pop right out. I loved the old frame, but this one shows off the stitching better. :)
Food dyeing - I've heard of it, but not dared go beyond coffee and tea dyeing. Your results are wonderful, though, and maybe I'll take the plunge. ;)
By
mainely stitching, at
2/12/2007 4:32 PM
Your fabrics turned out beautifully. I've never tried dying my own fabrics because I figured it would be a really messy job, but my oh my! Your's turned out lovely!!
I love you new frame! It definitely makes the stitching pop right out. Looks fabulous!
By
Karen, at
2/12/2007 4:57 PM
Kim, you have alreadly tried dying! wow, results are beautiful!
I found new information about dying... so I came here to tell you! To fix the dyed colour, you soak the cloths into tepid water + white vinegar, then next step, wash them in soapy water until the vinegar smells disapear! that's all.
By the way, your new frame is really great!
It looks really really wonderful!
By
Anonymous, at
2/12/2007 5:14 PM
I love that frame much better! Really shows off the work now! I love the food dyed fabbies!
By
Michelle-ozark crafter, at
2/12/2007 5:47 PM
Kim, hi again, lol !
I will write the detailed information about dying down later on my blog.
I found some new foods to dye! hehe
Enjoy!
By
Anonymous, at
2/12/2007 6:13 PM
The fabric turned out great, and the yellow will make a great spring colored background. Also, the frame you found looks perfect. It doesn't overshadow all your stitching.
I'm really enjoying watching the butterfly one develope, it looks so springy (much better than the winter we are currently in).
Sue
By
stitcherw, at
2/12/2007 8:20 PM
great results with the fabrics and I must admit the frame does work much better that the other one.
By
Shell, at
2/13/2007 2:38 AM
Oh yes, now the frame complements the stitching very well. Now the stitching pops out instead of the frame. Good choice! Ann.
By
Anonymous, at
2/13/2007 3:02 AM
I think the pale frame is perfect for your HoHRH. And your fabrics look great!
By
Myrna, at
2/13/2007 6:58 AM
Love the frame! It does make your stitching pop out! Good find.
The dyed fabrics look great. I'd like to try that sometime too.
By
claudia, at
2/13/2007 10:39 AM
I thinks that frame is much better for your HOHRH!! It looks great on your wall :)
oh and the color of the fabrics are great!!!
By
Carla, at
2/13/2007 5:23 PM
I really liked the other frame, but wow this one sets it off even more beautifully!
By
Rowyn, at
2/13/2007 11:38 PM
It looks perfect: the frame does justice to your stitching that really stands out. Great choice!
I am thinking of hand-dyeing too -as you know- and strangely, dyeing with food sounds less scary to me. lol...
I'll have to visit Yuko's blog (wink!).
Happy Valentine's day to you two!
Hugs.
Lili
By
Leeland, at
2/14/2007 3:49 AM
Great job on those fabrics! It must be very satisfying to do that for yourself.
And your new frame looks FANTASTIC.
By
Rachel V, at
2/14/2007 11:26 AM
The new frame looks great, and it is beautiful on your wall! I haven't tried dyeing cloth yet, but I want to soon. Happy day!
By
Name: Vicki, at
2/15/2007 9:16 AM
This new fram looks lovely, Kim. Well-chosen!
And dyeing with food is something that really attracts me. Of course I've tried tea and coffee (with great success, if I do say so myself), and I'm toying with red onions, carrots (those should be great), paprika and I'm definitely going to try curry powder!
By
Annemarie, at
2/16/2007 9:27 AM
Hi Kim, I don't think I've de-lurked before, so here goes ;) I just wanted to say that I love your HOHRH with the new frame. It looks great in your house and I did like the old frame, however, like you I found it a bit big. I have always thought I'd like to try to dye my own fabric and you've given me some 'food for thought' hehe
By
Pam @ Heart2Heart, at
2/17/2007 10:49 PM
The frame looks like it was made for the HOHRH - a perfect match!
Your fabrics turned out great. :)
By
Anonymous, at
2/18/2007 4:40 PM
Post a comment
<< Home