As the weeks are flying by, Marilyn and I are doing as much preparation outside of the workshops as possible...and with some key members of the group we're making a great team. As much as I would love to do fabric dyeing at Community House it's not as straightforward as that because so many different groups use the kitchen!

 

Marilyn bought a dye kit from Malvern and afterwards wondered when she would get the chance to use it. After seeing Sandra Fowler's textiles we thought that we could definitely put it to good use!
We love the way that she puts watercolour effect underneath her embroidery. It also reminds me of how I start a painting.

Here are the results – better than expected! A bit of trial and error... No point getting scared of all that blank calico. If we made mistakes, we learnt from them and tried again.

Something we learnt: If the manufacturer says, "This cotton has already been washed and is ready to use!" Take that with a pinch of salt. Literally.

Brushed or sponged onto wet calico

Just checking to see what it might look like, next to the main body of fabric

Handy pipettes came with the kit. Fun to drop the dyes onto wet fabric

This reminds me of alphabetti spaghetti

Success! Our 2nd attempt dries off in the back garden.

I hope we can keep this orange/mustard colour when it dries

Cai, back from school to a kitchen that looks like a bomb's hit it. Escapes to the back garden...