Tuesday, April 30, 2013

What's in the Pot, Part 2

April 29, 2013


Today I have been working on scouring fabric, a method to remove any residual soaps or bleach.
One of my cats was there to offer her support.....


Take a look into the pot.  Water with a dash of ph neutral soap and washing soda.



Add the fabric....


Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 2 hours...


Once the fabric is scoured, it can be rinsed out and added to a dye pot.  Some of these may go into the red tulip dye.  Can't wait to see what that looks like!

Remember the onesies with the pink and rose coloring from my last post?  Did anyone figure out what the dye was?  Oddly enough, it came from ferns!

http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/define-ferns-1.jpg

Monday, April 29, 2013

What's in the Pot?

April 29, 2013


I love the way these top two pieces came out.  The first one was created by folding, then rubber-banding.  The concentration of color at the top has to do with how the item sat in the dye bath.


This is another onesie from the same dye bath.  It absorbed the color on the bottom!

Such a pretty color, right?  Any guesses as to what they were dyed in?  Stay tuned and I will tell you in my next post.

Now this is an interesting outcome.  The dye bath was created with onion skins.  As an experiment, I decided to add some metal clips to see what would happen.  Where the clip held did not allow the dye to have contact with the fabric, but the metal produced black lines on either side!  It's so much fun experimenting!

Friday, April 26, 2013

The beginning...

April 26th 2013

Well, today is the beginning of my adventure! I have decided to launch a small brand and see where it goes. I had been working as a teacher for many years and have always had a special passion for nature. I loved the simplicity in its design that provided for all of its complex workings. I loved the raw, whole and organic beauty in our environment. As time passed and I evolved in my career, I noticed that something was missing. After the birth of my first grandchild, I knew I wanted to shift my career to something that allowed me to spend more time with him. After lengthy discussions with my oldest daughter about baby products, it occurred to me how many chemicals go into baby apparel. That is how I came up with the idea to naturally dye and create children's clothes.

Today I registered my company little b natural organics, got a tax ID number, set up this blog and worked on some dye experiments.  Take a look below!