I was trying to dye an already pink blanket brown!
It's not dry yet & looks pretty orange in this photo but more brown in the flesh:
The second dyeing of the pink blanket
- Thread starter spandit
- Start date
I was trying to dye an already pink blanket brown!
It's not dry yet & looks pretty orange in this photo but more brown in the flesh:
That's a good rust colour 
Wearable, especially in a British Autumn and Winter
It'd make a good shirt or a birrus
Looks as though the longer soak evened out the dye a bit too
atb,
M
Wearable, especially in a British Autumn and Winter It'd make a good shirt or a birrus
Looks as though the longer soak evened out the dye a bit too
atb,
M
Isn't it a bit itchy, John?
I'd rather make some sort of hooded garment for sitting by the fire in
I'd rather make some sort of hooded garment for sitting by the fire in
No itch at all - pure Merino blanket that!
I was a Day-glo orange when I got it - worse even than pink! - and double bed sized ... I paid a full 50p for it in a charity shop!
I just thought you might like to look like my twin in a matching shirt
No itch at all - pure Merino blanket that!
I was a Day-glo orange when I got it - worse even than pink! - and double bed sized ... I paid a full 50p for it in a charity shop!
I just thought you might like to look like my twin in a matching shirt
Whilst I'm very flattered at your offer of twinship, I am incapable of growing a beard.
You paid 50p more than my blanket, but mine isn't merino, think it's some sheep/hessian hybrid. I wish my sewing skills were up to your standard - one problem I have is that if I tried to lay the blanket out to mark it up, I'd immediately have 2 dogs romping all over it or a toddler trying to crawl underneath...
I'm hoping that by reviving this thread the right people will see it, and hopefully be able to answer my query
I'm having a few weeks break from my OU degree and I'm getting my 'fix' of practical stuff rather than having my head in a book all day! I've had some woolen blankets in the cupboard for years - they came from my parents and are probably at least 30-40 years old. Not having found a use for them as blankets, I've decided to have a go at making something a bit more useful and interesting from them - I'm aiming at a cloak, following the lines of all those videos on youtube. The blanket I want to try it with is either a large single, or a small double, and is cream in colour. It weighs 1.5 kg dry to give you an idea of the size. As far as I can tell it's 100% wool. It will mainly be used when sitting around the campfire, so quiet colours are preferred, and autumnal would be excellent. I'm not fashion-conscious so not too worried about exact colours, or colour evenness - slightly blotchy would give it a 'natural' appearance
I've been looking at Dylon hand dyes, but worked out I'll need about £25 worth of dye to get something like the colour I'm after Using teabags as a dye just seems the right thing to do. I've read this very interesting thread and like the idea. The only problem I have is that I don't have anything to heat the 'tea' in that is also big enough to take the blanket. I have a couple of plastic barrels (ex-fruitjuice concentrate I think), and these seem about the right size to give enough sloshing room. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could achieve my desired result using the equipment I have to hand? Boiling the water is going to be the problem (I'm guessing the barrels will take very hot water, but obviously they won't take sitting over a fire.
Many thanks in advance
Graham
I'm having a few weeks break from my OU degree and I'm getting my 'fix' of practical stuff rather than having my head in a book all day! I've had some woolen blankets in the cupboard for years - they came from my parents and are probably at least 30-40 years old. Not having found a use for them as blankets, I've decided to have a go at making something a bit more useful and interesting from them - I'm aiming at a cloak, following the lines of all those videos on youtube. The blanket I want to try it with is either a large single, or a small double, and is cream in colour. It weighs 1.5 kg dry to give you an idea of the size. As far as I can tell it's 100% wool. It will mainly be used when sitting around the campfire, so quiet colours are preferred, and autumnal would be excellent. I'm not fashion-conscious so not too worried about exact colours, or colour evenness - slightly blotchy would give it a 'natural' appearance
I've been looking at Dylon hand dyes, but worked out I'll need about £25 worth of dye to get something like the colour I'm after
Using teabags as a dye just seems the right thing to do. I've read this very interesting thread and like the idea. The only problem I have is that I don't have anything to heat the 'tea' in that is also big enough to take the blanket. I have a couple of plastic barrels (ex-fruitjuice concentrate I think), and these seem about the right size to give enough sloshing room. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could achieve my desired result using the equipment I have to hand? Boiling the water is going to be the problem (I'm guessing the barrels will take very hot water, but obviously they won't take sitting over a fire.Many thanks in advance
Graham
If you raise the temperature of a reaction by 10 degreesC, you cut the time of the reaction in half; the corollary is that time works just as well as heat for many things.
Boil up the dye, wash the blankets, don't thermal shock them (no hot into cold, or cold into hot) and immerse them in the dye in as big a vessel as you can find (washed out black bin works fine). Stir well, cover and stir it when you mind. I meant it about wool not being damaged by being in a tannin rich soak for a long while.
It'll not do it any harm, just mind to stir it around so that the dye can evenly spread through the cloth.
cheers,
M
Boil up the dye, wash the blankets, don't thermal shock them (no hot into cold, or cold into hot) and immerse them in the dye in as big a vessel as you can find (washed out black bin works fine). Stir well, cover and stir it when you mind. I meant it about wool not being damaged by being in a tannin rich soak for a long while.
It'll not do it any harm, just mind to stir it around so that the dye can evenly spread through the cloth.
cheers,
M
........I can see the competition now.....which supermarket's 'value' teabags are best for bushshirts
M
M
Thanks Mary. I have both a black dustbin and time, so will give it a go. I've just washed the blanket in the machine (with no detergent as I didn't have anything that wasn't full of nasty things like bleaching agents). So my plan is to brew up about half a dustbin full of tea
, let it cool to ambient and then put the blanket it, giving it a really good but gentle sloshing to get it properly wet. I'll then give it a mix about whenever I remember over several days, and see how it goes. I'm guessing that for that much water I'm going to need 2 or 3 boxes of teabags?If the rain ever stops I'll try and take some before and after photos.
treadlightly: Dylon do a hand dye that it suitable for wool, but it gets expensive when you get to this much material
Cheers
Graham
This lady on ebay is selling concentrated dyes for wool, and they're cheap too
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acid-Mill...afts_Other_Crafts_EH&var=&hash=item2330a7e142
Might be worth while sussing it out for the weight of a blanket and the cost.
atb,
Mary
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acid-Mill...afts_Other_Crafts_EH&var=&hash=item2330a7e142
Might be worth while sussing it out for the weight of a blanket and the cost.
atb,
Mary
Had a look, thanks Mary, but would need 2 packets, and by the time I've added in the fixer and postage, then I'm up to about £10. Think I'll give the tea bags a go, and if that fails, then will try these out.
Cheers
Graham
Cheers
Graham
treadlightly: Dylon do a hand dye that it suitable for wool, but it gets expensive when you get to this much material
I didn't know that, thanks
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