Dyeing Oscha Vanilla Roses

I've been eagerly awaiting my Oscha preorder since February, as it contained several new dye projects which I was keen to get on with.  It arrived last week, and my first project was my size 5 Vanilla Roses (80% cotton, 20% silk).
I have to admit that this project did not go to plan. I thought I had ruined my wrap on several occasions, but thankfully managed to save it.  For those who are considering dyeing their Vanilla roses (this is the cotton/silk roses, rather than the tri-blend which is also available), be aware that the cotton ends up stained by the acid dye, and it doesn't always stain in the same colour as the acid dye!  I have not had this happen before with acid dyeing. I've occasionally had the cotton take-on a slight hint of the acid dye colour, but not actually change colour completely!  
Please be aware that this is definitely NOT a set of instructions for you to follow, as it went a bit wrong! However, I thought it would be fun to share what I did, and thankfully it does have a happy ending.

Firstly, my plan was to acid dye using olive green acid dye with a hint of turquoise, with the hope that the silk would end up a lovely subtle olive colour.  Unfortunately, I didn't know that using olive green acid dye would result in the cotton being stained a deep sand colour, so I ended up with something which I dubbed 'Sepia roses'.  These were not terrible if that was the effect I had been going for, and I did let them dry and try them on, but the colour didn't suit us at all, so I decided to try something else.

'Sepia Roses'

Next, I tried acid dyeing them using a mixture of deep blue and deep teal, hoping it would stain the cotton a slightly nicer colour and deepen the colour of the silk.  Unfortunately this didn't particularly have any effect, except to turn the whole thing a sludgey sand/green colour!  I also found that it was taking a lot of rinsing to get all of the acid dye out of the wrap, so by this time the wrap had been washed, acid dyed twice, and then washed a total of four times in an attempt to remove the excess dye!

In the wash with the Dylon

I wasn't sure what to do at this point, but decided I didn't really have anything to lose!  I wanted to attempt to achieve a turquoise colour, even if it meant losing some of the contrast, so I turned to Dylon, which would dye the cotton rather than the silk.  When dyeing over a colour you have to work out colour-mixing rules.  As the cotton seemed to be mainly a yellowy colour, with a hint of green, I knew that I needed to add something fairly blue to it, to achieve a turquoise colour. I chose Dylon 'Bahama Blue', as it is a bright, fresh colour, and I hoped it would be a strong enough colour to over-ride the dull, sludgey colour of the wrap, without taking away all of the contrast. 
It was a nerve-wracking couple of hours whilst waiting to see the result, and I was so delighted when I pulled out a beautiful deep teal/emerald coloured wrap, where the contrast was still clearly visible!  I had to do another wash to take out the excess dye, and the contrast has paled slightly as its dried, but I have to admit I am thrilled, and very relieved, with the results! Its a definitely a colour that I enjoy wearing, and I feel it suits us quite well!

Still wet, straight out of the wash

So in total the wrap has been washed 7 times, plus acid dyed twice, and dyed with Dylon once! No wonder if has shrunk in length from 4.45m on arrival, to 4.16m at the end of the process!  However, a couple of the washes I did were very hot, in an attempt to remove the copious amount of excess dye.  Thankfully the width of the wrap has only shrunk by half a cm, from 68cm wide, to 67.5cm wide.

Dry picture

I had a bit of fun doing this project, although it was nerve-wracking and disappointing on a couple of occasions.  I also have a size 4 Vanilla roses, and I have to admit that I think I will be keeping them natural at the moment (I will review the natural Vanilla roses soon).  I have heard that the tri-blend Vanilla roses appear to dye a lot better, with the cotton/linen not staining in the same way as the cotton/silk Vanilla roses.
I now have the job of breaking in my dyed roses, as after such a long process, the poor roses have taken some beating, and need a bit of tender loving care to soften them up again.  I have to add, however, that despite everything I have put the fabric through, it has remained in pristine condition. Oscha silk is obviously very hardy!

Picture

I've had a question from Randi on the blog about how I set up my wrap for grad dyeing, so I thought I'd add this picture.  This shows that I have hung the wrap on hangers, which are then hung on a folded-up airer. The hangers are separated with clothes pegs, to keep the wrap slightly parted.  As I have a very narrow kitchen, the airer can fit across the kitchen, with one end on each work surface.  I would recommend simply looking at what you have available in your house, and improvise a set-up which would work for you! I hope this helps!







This second picture also shows the set-up, and was taken just after I removed the wrap from the dye, with an empty pan below it to catch the drips.

Acid dyeing

I have been having a lot of fun experimenting with dyeing wraps, and one of my favourite techniques is acid dyeing a silk blend wrap.  If you use an acid dye (as opposed to a normal fabric dye), you can create really fun effects, as the acid dye will only dye the silk, and not the cotton or linen in a wrap. (Acid dye will also dye wool, but I wouldn't recommend dyeing wool unless you are very experienced in dyeing, as the wool can felt really easily).
My first acid dye project was Oscha JKCC, which is a blend of 40% silk, 20% linen and 40% cotton, and originally looked like this:

  

I washed my wrap first and then used Jacquard Acid dye, and followed the instructions on the Jacquard website here.

After 'cooking' my wrap in the correct amount of dye and vinegar (the vinegar is the 'acid' part, of acid dyeing), I then rinsed it in the sink and washed it in the washing machine.  The vinegar is the fixative, which makes the dye attach to the silk, but doesn't make the dye attach to the cotton or linen, which is why acid dyeing only works with the silk.  When wet it then looked like this:

After drying overnight, it looked like this:

Acid dyeing is really straightforward if you just follow the instructions that come with the acid dye, and make sure that you wash it until the water runs clear in the washing machine, so that you know you've removed all of the excess dye.  I've found that the dye will often slightly tint the cotton or linen in the wrap, so be aware of what colours you are putting together, as some colours will create a sludgy brown colour when mixed (e.g. red and green).  Also be aware that the effect of the acid dye will depend on how much silk is in the wrap.  The JKCC above had quite a high percentage of silk (40%), so the dyed silk will produce quite a strong colour.  However, some wraps may only contain 20% silk, so the effects will not be as vivid (although could still be very pretty).

Grad Dyes

One of the things I often get asked about, is how I did the grad dyes on two of my wraps. A grad dye, is where the colour starts strong, and either fades out to nothing, or fades into another colour.

This my the first grad dye, on an Oscha Japanese Knot Ooki Aiko, size 6.

My second grad on a Didymos Natural Hemp India, size 4:

Here is a brief summary of how I did the second grad. If you have any specific questions, I am happy to answer them, as I know a lot of people would like to have a go at a grad dye, but don't always know where to start.

Firstly I washed my wrap, and then started the dye process with the wrap still damp from the wash.

I chose my dye colour and prepared it based on the instructions on the back of the packet (I used Dylon hand dye).

I started with about 10cm of dye and water in the bottom of my huge container.

I then set my wrap up like this:

I needed to do a bit of maths to work out how much water I needed to add. To give a summary, I wanted to cover about 30 cm over an hour, so I needed to raise the water by 0.5cm every 1 minute (roughly). The amount of water you need to add depends on the size of your container (my hubby did the maths for me).

Then every minute I added the correct amount of water to raise the level by 0.5cm. You have to be really careful to pour the water slowly enough not to splash, and make sure the wrap isn't touching the botton or sides of the container. I also needed to keep adding salt to make sure the water:salt ratio remained correct (based on the amount recommended on the back of the packet). As its the salt that makes the dye stay on the wrap, if you don't have enough salt, you'll probably get a weaker colour (based on using Dylon).

After adding water every minute for an hour, I removed my wrap from the dye. At this point, I had to be really careful not to let the dyed side touch the un-dyed side. I rinsed the dyed side in the sink to remove as much excess dye as possible. I then put it in the washing machine on a 60 degree wash.

I then set up ready for the second side straightaway, whilst the wrap was still damp from the washing machine:

I did the same process with the second colour. Again, when I removed it from the dye, I had to be really careful not to let the freshly-dyed side touch the first side before the excess dye has been rinsed out.

I then did another 60 degree wash.

I left it to dry overnight and then steam ironed it.

It really is quite simple. The most complicated part is working out the volume of your container, and how much water you need to add to make the water raise by the correct amount. You can easily vary the total amount of time you leave it in the dye (I did my first grad over 50 minutes, and only raised the dye 20cm up the wrap in that time, so my quantities were different). You also need to make sure you won't be interrupted, as the water needs to be added at regular intervals to make the grad smooth.

A few more pictures of my second grad dye: