Saturday, July 28, 2012

day lilies/solar dye


 April collected the day lilies each morning - those that had bloomed and perished.  She stuffed them into glass jars and topped them up with water.
We got so many, we dumped the solution into a galvanized steel tub.  I think this tub changed the dye colour from red/pink to brown/yellow-green.
We moved the solution into plastic pails and left it all for a couple of weeks.  The last time (daughter) April did this, she used a glass jar and left it for weeks.  She says that the silk turned purple then.
  
this time, the silk turned grey-green and a wool crepe turned yellow green
These are wool crepe.  They feel wonderful.

8 comments:

Sandra Reford said...

You may remember that I have had bad luck dying with natural things. So I am encouraged to see even a person with much experience has a few duds once in a while. And really the colours you/April got were not that bad! It's about experimenting and not expecting. Still reading your blog while on vacation in Paris!

Jennifer said...

Shame my lilies have bloomed and faded already this summer. Guess what I'll be trying next summer though? Thanks for the idea!

Roberta Warshaw said...

They really look wonderful in the galvanized tub though. All that perfect color!

Ms. said...

I'm saving the red and pink huge spent blooms of hollyhock and plan to heat them in water with a touch of rice vinegar, then submerge cloth bundles full of stones and rusty bits and leave till October just to see what will emerge.

Ann Knickerbocker said...

I love these soft greens... so beautiful on the line... a fine outcome after sailing into the unknown....

Jacky said...

What a wonderful green ... who would have thought? I have a few spent lillies (from a bunch bought for me by my hubby), orange. I will pop them in a jar on the kitchen window ledge for the month I am away and see what I get.
I love your fabric selection, wool crepe.

Jacky xox

Tina said...

I still have some blooming, I’m going to give this a try

Anonymous said...

What was the iriuval day lily bloom colors? I have deep reds, orange and yellows so curious the original colors to the green…