Monday, February 11, 2013

Dyeing in the Snow with Catching Fire

   With the plethora of snow that's around I thought it would be a wonderful time to experiment with Snow Dyeing. Granted, there are plenty of recipes out there for baking with snow, but I just don't trust the snow to be clean and free of wildlife bits.....
   So here goes.....

    First you need snow. You also need something to dye-I chose a silk scarf. You will need a tub of some kind and a raised rack to support your fabric. The idea being that as the snow melts, the color infuses down into your fabric.



   I used a small plastic bin and an old cookie sheet. You will want to rinse your fabric out in some water and wring it out so that it is not so dripping wet. Next  you will want to position it in some fashion on your rack. You can pleat it, tie beads it in, or simply arrange it in a ball (like if you were mottle dyeing).
It was very cold outside-the fabric froze solid in under a minute.

Next-time for the snow! Just pile a heap on the fabric until it is no longer visible.

Covering the fabric with snow. 


Now it is time for the dye. You will want to use only powdered dyes for this. Sprinkle the dye over the snow as much or as little as you want. I decided to keep with a fire theme, playing on the "Catching Fire" novel. A scarf for Katniss using the snow she dreams about in the arena of the 75th Hunger Games. 

This will make a huge mess-so try and be careful, you don't want to get dye all over
your winter coat and gloves! 


I covered the entire thing with plastic bags and put it in the garage to melt. Since the garage was so cold I ended up dragging it into the Mud Room, you'll want it to melt and sit for about 24 hours, the key thing being its melting. Again-this will be messy, so put it in a place that is away from pets, little ones and anything that you don't want dyed!

When the snow is finished melting, you're project might look a little murky. 

After the snow has melted.


You will want to rinse off the excess dye in cold running water. Wash until the water runs clear. The run hot water and rinse your scarf in that to set the dye. 






Here's how our scarf turned out. Pretty nifty, right? 











2 comments:

  1. What a fun fun idea. This is so beautiful. So wish had seen this early..i would hve been ready for the snow this week.

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  2. If you want to try this and there is no snow, you can just use ice cubes-its a little less messy!

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