First Try at Ice Dyeing

 I finally got to try out ice dyeing this weekend, thanks to my friend Debbie Wambaugh.  We did some outdoor dyeing with a couple of her friends.  This first picture show many of the containers we were using to contain the dyeing fabric, and the dye dripping out as the ice slowly melts.
What is ice dyeing? Another way of applying dye to fabric, we soaked our fabric in soda ash water, then scrunched or folded it, placed it containers, added ice and then sprinkled dye powder on top (wearing safety masks and gloves of course).  As the ice melts it brings the dye particles along with the melting water through the fabric mixing and  separating if it's a compound dye into the component dye colors.
You just don't know what you're going to get as far as color combinations, patterns, and overall coverage of the base fabric, you have to wait until all the ice melts.

I only had one issue with the dye not following the path of the melting ice into the fabric fibers, this one just didn't want to go anywhere, the dyes were just clumped there even as the ice melted around it.
Here's how it looked after adding more ice, but even when the ice was gone for the second time, the blobs of orangey yellow dye still sat on the top of the fabric.  This is the one that was the lightest, green/yellow folded, second from the bottom of this post.
For the most part though, the dyes and fabrics played pretty nicely together.  And then it was just a night of waiting until I could wash them out and see what happened...

Here are all the fabrics hanging up to dry on my clothesline.  It was pretty colorful that day.  You can click these pictures to see them a little larger so that the details are visible.  I tried to keep track of the dye combinations that I used as I went along, but a few of these are unfortunately guesses.

 I believe this one is Black Cherry/Mulberry Pink

 I think this one was Plum/Peacock Blue

Eggplant/Cerulean Blue

 Eggplant/Cerulean Blue, These were both in the same bag folded and scrunched up together because I didn't notice there were two pieces. Interesting that they don't match a little more in the patterning.

Fire Red/Charcoal Grey

Raspberry/Sky Blue/

This one was folded and then rolled up with ice inside the roll, dye place on top with more dye, 

Camel/Bright Green

 Emerald Green/Golden Yellow.

This was super fun, and I'm ready to try it again.  Thanks Debbie!