Wednesday, June 27, 2012

out of the dye-pot: blue larkspur

Unrolling a dye bundle is such a pleasure, especially when you can tell from the outside that something has indeed happened. I started this project a few weeks ago -- the first photo shows the bundle that had been soaked with vinegar and placed an air-tight container the whole time.


The other bundle (below) was frozen, then immersed in warm water. Well, nothing happened, like in regular ice-flower dyeing -- so I decided to steam it in a stainless steel pot for 20 minutes and let it dry out each time, doing this several times over several days.


This was more like it!


Now that the silk has dried, I can see the color transferred beautifully on both, but the steaming distributed the color more deeply and evenly. The vinegar silk is on the left, steamed on the right. I'm in no hurry to use them, so won't wash either one for a few months to allow the color to set.

Blue larkspur silk -- how about that? 


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12 comments:

  1. liniecatJune 27, 2012 at 1:09 PM

    Such soft shades.......beautiful!

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  2. PeggyJune 27, 2012 at 1:12 PM

    Lyn, thanks, I never dreamt it would take this well. Of course, it hasn't been washed yet. ;-)

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  3. deanna7treesJune 27, 2012 at 1:20 PM

    lovely...has a hint of periwinkle.

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  4. JeannieJune 27, 2012 at 1:37 PM

    Gorgeous! Thank you for telling me the process. I have been saving my "precious" delphinium petals. I actually got them to bloom this year. A good indication of how cool and damp this summer has been in our part of the desert. Enjoy your cloth!

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  5. Ms.June 27, 2012 at 2:06 PM

    fascinating process---makes me wish for a field of larkspur to wander in!

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  6. handstoriesJune 27, 2012 at 8:16 PM

    how about that! beautiful. are those ridges part of the permanent markings, too?

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  7. Nat PalaskasJune 27, 2012 at 8:53 PM

    Fantastic result Peggy. It's great to getting something blue (not indigo blue). Enjoy Nat

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  8. NancyJune 27, 2012 at 9:15 PM

    So soft and beautiful!

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  9. MugdhaJune 28, 2012 at 9:09 AM

    I love the bluey lilac it has come up with. Pretty!

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  10. Mo'aJune 28, 2012 at 7:45 PM

    Larkspur is on my plant wish list. I have a small flower garden that is growing little by little...some day it will be big and grown up.
    I love what you do with dyes...this cloth turned out beautifully. Patience has it's virtues :)

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  11. PeggyJuly 1, 2012 at 3:03 PM

    Thanks everyone for all your kind words!

    For some reason, larkspur is nearly a weed here, it self-sows so freely. I've always liked it and now even more so.

    Hope you are able to get color from it, too, wherever you live. xo

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  12. AnonymousMarch 10, 2018 at 7:07 PM

    Hi! I am happy that I found your blog. I found blue delphinium flowers today at a local plant sale and thought about bundle dyeing. When I looked for more info about the delphinium flowers found out that they are toxic. Did you do the bundle dyeing inside your home?

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