The BMDL Fiber Arts Guild is having a fall dye day on October 6th, 2024.
We will meet from 11-3 PM at Tsvee’a’s House. It is a $10 suggested donation to help me cover the cost of dyes. Any extra goes to the next dye day.
In addition to the usual indigo, we will dye with seasonal fall dye sources, black walnut and kakishibu (persimmon tannin). Some synthetic cellulose dyes in red will also be available for those who want to make some fall purples. I will bring stencils and brushes for those who want to do indigo surizome again; I have learned some new tricks.
While the indigo and synthetic red baths will accept larger amounts of cloth and fiber, the kakishibu and walnut are limited in quantity. Please be courteous and bring smaller projects (=< 1 lb fiber) to dye for these dyes.
Please scour your fibers and wash any fabrics in a ph neutral detergent (like synthraprol) before coming so the dye will take. Message me if you need help with that. None of these dyes require mordants, and some will have color shifts if you do, so please don’t mordant unless you understand what you are doing and what the color change will be.
You are welcome to bring food to share if you like, but please eat a meal if you need to beforehand, as it is difficult to dye and eat at the same time.
Wear some clothes that you don’t mind messing up. I will have disposable gloves available, but you may want long rubber ones if you’re going to seriously dunk stuff in the indigo or red.
Finally, loose (unspun) fiber must be secured with a laundry mesh bag in the dye bath for the sake of the plumbing. Please bring a mesh bag or something to keep your loose fiber from floating freely in the bath and going down the drain.
