The pattern from Gail Wilson has the instructions and dye bath recipes so that you can be sure you achieve those wonderful colors. These colors would also be ideal for any wool projects such as penny rugs or hooked rugs. Visit Gail's Website to view the kit information. http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/
and look in the Christmas section for the Penny Rug Santa.
The wools are all from the Dorr Mill Store. I have a variety of regular 100% wools, some primitive wool, and some textures. You can view the Dorr Mill wools at http://www.dorrmillstore.com/
If you don't want to dye your own, Dorr also has a nice selection of colors all set to go. Color #7268 is a nice robe color. There are also color cards, fabric strips, or samples you can order to see colors.
Here are the pre dyed penny weight wools.
Here are a few of the pre dyed robe wools.
And some of the pre-dyed trim textures.To begin, I gather all the necessary items and lay a cover of freezer or wax paper on the counters to get the majority of the drips.
The dyes in Gail's recipes (in the Penny Rug Santa pattern) are Rit dyes, something you can easily find at your local grocery store. Michaels and Hobby Lobby also carry them. I have both the liquid and the powder, but I have learned that I like the powder better. It's easier to measure the recipe amounts with the powder.
Preparing the space and dyebath:
Make sure you have a basin or bucket to transfer the hot dripping wet wool over to the sink or to another basin.
The dye pot is simmering - making sure the dye grains are fully melted and the bath is ready to receive the wool.
The dye pot is simmering - making sure the dye grains are fully melted and the bath is ready to receive the wool.
Prewet the wool:
This is the primitive natural wool getting saturated before it goes into the dye bath. I like to let it sit a few minutes to be sure it is completely wet. If it resists the water (there are dry spots) you can add a drop of dish soap and that makes it get wet evenly. Squish it with your hands to be sure it is all wet. Dry spots are not good. Let's talk about swatch cards. It's always a good idea to create a sample card with a swatch of before wool, and the after dyed swatch. The dye recipe and the wool type should also be included. This way you can re-create a favorite robe color. I love to use the Dorr Mill primitive natural and oatmeal colors for robes. It has a bit more texture than the regular wools. The turkey red recipe in the pattern is the perfect color with these wools. Oatmeal comes out a tad bit darker.
The swatch:
Once the dyebath is ready, dump the fabric into pot and push down,
keep stirring for the alloted time specified in the Penny Rug Santa pattern.
When time is up, use tongs to wrap it around the big wooden spoon and
transfer to the bucket to move it to the rinse basin
Dump into rinse basin.
and stir to cool
Once cool transfer to the washer to spin out and then to dryer
After dying the red robe wools, I experimented with color and tried to get a nice bittersweet color by adding some yellow and golden yellow. I lucked out and got a nice color. After that, I tried to do the same and tweak the color for purple. Not so lucky that time and ended up with grey, so I used that to tone down a brilliant purple that I had and then dumped the pot and started over with the recipe for purple. This was a nice old fashioned color that would go with the turkey red. (is there such a thing as turkey purple?).
I always keep the dye bath colors separate in the wash machine to spin and dry in the dryer. That is - only the turkey red wools go into the washer to spin. When they are finished, then the bittersweet goes in for a spin, then after those the purples went in. Same deal on the dryer - no mixing colors. IF you want it to felt up more, you can run thru another wash cycle and dry cycle, but I find the dye process felts it just fine. While the dyed fabrics are working their way thru the machines, I clean up.
The Mess:
It's not hard to clean up, just a little household bleach
And Voila! All clean.
...hey were did the stove top burner drip pans and grates go? I stuck them in the all purpose range parts and dish washer.
Even the knobs get clean in a bleach bath:
Remember not to mix bleach and household dishwashing liquid as it produces a gas that isn't good for you to breathe. (I think this is called mustard gas, the same gas that was used in WWI).
Oh dear - look who has to be right in on all the fun.
If she turns her head, she thinks I can't see her and won't kick her off the wool.
She will be moving soon to my daughter's house, so I enjoy her, leave her where she is and ask her which one she likes best?
She's thinking about it.
Here are the houndstooth textures in original and the dyed colors.
And here are more textures in the original and dyed versions.
And here are the robe wools in the turkey reds. The bottom one is the primitive natural, the top (I think) is the oatmeal color. The middle one is the regular wool in corn color. These were all done in the same dye bath, but they started with different base colors.
And we are done for the day! If you are a user of dyed wools, I hope you give dying a try - it's fun! Thanks for visiting and have some doll fun today - Julie
Once cool transfer to the washer to spin out and then to dryer
After dying the red robe wools, I experimented with color and tried to get a nice bittersweet color by adding some yellow and golden yellow. I lucked out and got a nice color. After that, I tried to do the same and tweak the color for purple. Not so lucky that time and ended up with grey, so I used that to tone down a brilliant purple that I had and then dumped the pot and started over with the recipe for purple. This was a nice old fashioned color that would go with the turkey red. (is there such a thing as turkey purple?).
I always keep the dye bath colors separate in the wash machine to spin and dry in the dryer. That is - only the turkey red wools go into the washer to spin. When they are finished, then the bittersweet goes in for a spin, then after those the purples went in. Same deal on the dryer - no mixing colors. IF you want it to felt up more, you can run thru another wash cycle and dry cycle, but I find the dye process felts it just fine. While the dyed fabrics are working their way thru the machines, I clean up.
The Mess:
It's not hard to clean up, just a little household bleach
And Voila! All clean.
...hey were did the stove top burner drip pans and grates go? I stuck them in the all purpose range parts and dish washer.Even the knobs get clean in a bleach bath:
Remember not to mix bleach and household dishwashing liquid as it produces a gas that isn't good for you to breathe. (I think this is called mustard gas, the same gas that was used in WWI).Oh dear - look who has to be right in on all the fun.
If she turns her head, she thinks I can't see her and won't kick her off the wool.
She will be moving soon to my daughter's house, so I enjoy her, leave her where she is and ask her which one she likes best?
She's thinking about it.
I'll miss the little bugger, but I won't miss her having to poke her nose in all the sewing things I do. She must have been a sewer in another one of those nine lives.
Here are the houndstooth textures in original and the dyed colors.
And here are more textures in the original and dyed versions.
And here are the robe wools in the turkey reds. The bottom one is the primitive natural, the top (I think) is the oatmeal color. The middle one is the regular wool in corn color. These were all done in the same dye bath, but they started with different base colors.
And we are done for the day! If you are a user of dyed wools, I hope you give dying a try - it's fun! Thanks for visiting and have some doll fun today - Julie
