By Guest Blogger Charlene Scott
Breathe new life into a favorite garment with a bit of painted on colour!
Last Fall, I bought this sweater at Frenchys. It was 100% felted wool with a stamped pattern on the topside and plain on the back. Grey is not my best colour but I wore it almost every day until it got too warm this summer. I had it on while I attended rug school and it garnered many compliments and comments because as we all know, hookers love wool.
At rug school I took the dye course and one of our projects was painting on wool. Prior to that I had promised myself that I would just dye the sweater another colour but the painting on wool peeked my interest. So finally, the other day, I decided I'd give it a go and see how it would turn out.
Shane was busy dyeing wool on the stoves and we shared the dye kitchen. I used three formula colours, Lime, Pink Orchid, and Royal Blue, all from Christine's dye books as well as straight yellow, used very little water so the colours would be darker and added the vinegar directly to the dye before applying. The sweater was dripping wet, lying flat on a garbage bag on the dye kitchen counter while I applied the colour with a foam brush. I had a rubber glove on as I was also pressing in and smoothing the dye with my fingers.
When finished I placed the sweater carefully in a casserole pan, added a bit of water so it wouldn't scorch to the bottom, covered the pan with foil and put it in the oven at 225* for half an hour. I checked it then, rearranged it in the pan to make sure it all heated through and left it for another 1/2 hour to make sure all was set. After one hour I rinsed it in very warm water adding cold slowly till I could squeeze the water out and no dye ran out. I finished up with a gentle spin of my washer to get the rest of the water out. To dry, I placed it on a towel, blocked it, set it outside on the deck in the shade and it dried quickly. I am pleased with the results. The sweater shrunk slightly, however I am thinking if I get it slightly damp I may be able to stretch it a tiny bit. Either way I will still wear it, just maybe not buttoned up.....
At rug school I took the dye course and one of our projects was painting on wool. Prior to that I had promised myself that I would just dye the sweater another colour but the painting on wool peeked my interest. So finally, the other day, I decided I'd give it a go and see how it would turn out.
Shane was busy dyeing wool on the stoves and we shared the dye kitchen. I used three formula colours, Lime, Pink Orchid, and Royal Blue, all from Christine's dye books as well as straight yellow, used very little water so the colours would be darker and added the vinegar directly to the dye before applying. The sweater was dripping wet, lying flat on a garbage bag on the dye kitchen counter while I applied the colour with a foam brush. I had a rubber glove on as I was also pressing in and smoothing the dye with my fingers.
When finished I placed the sweater carefully in a casserole pan, added a bit of water so it wouldn't scorch to the bottom, covered the pan with foil and put it in the oven at 225* for half an hour. I checked it then, rearranged it in the pan to make sure it all heated through and left it for another 1/2 hour to make sure all was set. After one hour I rinsed it in very warm water adding cold slowly till I could squeeze the water out and no dye ran out. I finished up with a gentle spin of my washer to get the rest of the water out. To dry, I placed it on a towel, blocked it, set it outside on the deck in the shade and it dried quickly. I am pleased with the results. The sweater shrunk slightly, however I am thinking if I get it slightly damp I may be able to stretch it a tiny bit. Either way I will still wear it, just maybe not buttoned up.....
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