Question of the week #14

(Image courtesy of www.curbly.com )

This week's question has to do with experiments, things you have tried and your successes, failures and surprises while experimenting.

I have a beautiful ivory stretch cotton lace lined tank/shirt and it looks gorgeous under a cardigan or blazer. It can dress up or down and is very versatile and comfortable. It is an anchor piece in my formal & business ward robe which means it is treasured because there is not much I can wear any more that is comfortable and looks smart. Unfortunately there was a mishap in the laundry room last week and with all the rain we've been having (rain = mud around here) my shirt was knocked off its hanger and in the "dance" to catch it before it hit the floor it ended up on a muddy shoe and then under a muddy shoe. There is now a size men's 13 shoe print on the back of it and mud stained swipe on the front. I've spot treated, washed and bleached (but not dried) to no avail so the dilemma has led me to the next step. If I can't remove the stain, cover it.

I decided to dye the shirt and I have several other things we have set aside (dye pile) waiting to be dyed as well. I thought about it and I didn't want to make a trip to the store specifically for dye and I didn't want to wait until I went to town again (Tuesday). I thought about natural dye (something on my list of things to research) and thought maybe if I had the stuff on hand and it wasn't too complicated I would go ahead and attempt to make a batch.

So this weekend I experimented with making my own natural dye. I did tons of research to determine the best method for me and raided my pantry and cupboards for what I had on hand. I decided be a little wild and go with a red dye as I had just been given a bunch of beets and all research agreed that the dye extracted from beets was a gorgeous deep red. I have vinegar on hand, which is used as a mordant (fixative) with natural plant dyes. I was good to go and followed all directions to the letter. I chopped, grated and boiled a huge pot of beets and soon had a beautiful dark red dye. Christmas is not too far away, so with that in mind, I was excited to see how beautiful my shirt would turn out.

Didn't work. Didn't even come out pink. Nothing in the batch did.

So moving on, I will just pick up some RIT and dye the whole lot dark chocolate brown, dark dark green or black, so I will still have my beloved shirt, just not in red :) I still don't know what went wrong but: complete FAIL.

So, this week's question: What crafting experiments (if any) have you done and how did they turn out? Mixing paints, trying a new technique or a new medium (for example I've heard a couple horror stories regarding Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and a pasta machine, but that's for another day, lol) Were your results great, better than expected, exactly like you expected, OK, just didn't work or complete fiasco?

Hey, this includes cooking too, that's a craft and an art as well <3 Looking forward to hearing your answers!

Please remember to submit suggestions & questions to: spdychevy@gmail.com with Question in the subject line and we'll get your question up here soon!

Happy Monday to all <3

Shann

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