The Wearable Portion

For the wearables portion of the endless dyeing content:I took some pictures of the linen/rayon that I dyed to use for the lining of my Y.E.S. coat as it was hanging up to dry the rest of the way. It's somewhat wrinkly and a bit damp from the dryer. Shoot, now that I write this, I'm realizing that I should have ironed it while it was damp.

The black pin stripe shows up nicely.

I got some good mottling and variation.

A teensy bit of red/pink splitting but not too bad overall for this sort of dye.

I also dyed this mock turtleneck tunic for myself. It has one diagonal seam (with one odd pocket) and a floaty hem. I like it, but I may overdue it.

A close up of the odd pocket.

And a shot of the tank tops and bamboo socks I also dyed. I'm all set now for dyed clothes I think.
 

Dye Results

 

I stacked up all of the dye bath containers before pouring and rinsing out for a little before picture. So colorful! It's amazing how long these plastic containers have lasted, from back when we bought the enormous jars of peanut butter and mixed nuts. I really like having containers that have lids.

First up to rinse out, was the cotton tank top I'd poured the three different greens I was using to dye fabric had turned out. This is after rinsing, but before washing out.

This was a big thick sweatshirt that I left in the dye solution in a tray bucket with no lid, just a plastic bag over it. It was pretty hard to wash this one out because it was super heavy when it was wet. Pretty black huh? Just wait....

I think it turned out pretty well when washed out. This was using one of the black dyes, and you can see that it is not a "pure black" dye, but instead a mixture of many colors. That's why there's purple-y and blue-ish spaces. 

This sweatshirt was a cotton/polyblend so the dye only took up on the cotton which makes it not as dark. That's ok because you can still see the all-important CAL logo. I should have taken a before picture of this, it was very messed up, it had gotten left outside for months and had all sorts of disreputable stains that made it seem unclean even though it was. So now it's wearable again and sort of cool and definitely unique. DH is very excited about it.

Orange Crush dyed up as a very very intense red-orange. I'll be using this one in the Temperature quilt.

From left to right, Orange Crush, Atomic Fireball, Dye-na-mite (a pure red)

Three pieces of cotton print cloth and one tank top laid along them in the bottom of the picture. I'm very pleased with how all of them turned out. That green one over on the right is "Electric Green" which yeah, that tracks. The other two are Chartreuse and Apple Green.

Some variations in color separation, again these are not pure color dyes and you can see some blue areas or the more yellow areas.

Hooray, I'm back on the dyeing track and one of my toenails is a bright green! 

Scarf Rediscovery

I discovered a cotton gauze scarf that I had dyed ages ago in an over-the-door-organizer that I was dismantling and throwing out. I don't remember why it was wadded up and stuck in there, and I had to wash it because it smelled very dusty. So here it is drip-drying outside on my deck. I took this picture and was struck with how well it blends with the colors that I see outside everyday all around me. I haven't dyed anything in ages, so it's great to have something "new" to remind me of getting back to getting the dyes out!

The scarf is huge, 40" square, but lightweight and very soft. It feels like the right weight for cool summer evenings, so I'm glad that I came across it so I can wear it this summer.  All because I've had a project going where I've been painting all six doors on our second floor that had never been painted after our addition. So the over-the-door-organizer thing had to come down. And while it was down I realized I didn't like it, all the stuff in it was dusty, it blocked the door from opening all the way and knocked stuff down off of my design wall. So out it goes. One of those give-a-mouse-a-cookie kind of situations.

Halfway There

picture credit: Marc Stiller, November 2014, Quail Hollow Ranch

Stylish? No. 

My style? I guess so. 

Even the cowboy boots which are still taking some time getting used to.

Anyways. This is what my version of turning 50 looks like. So far so good.

I always wanted to be 50. And now I finally am. All those cool ladies I knew when I was thirty who were 50 looked like they were having so much fun. They just seemed happier, less angsty about themselves, more present in their own lives. So now that I'm finally here, is that true for me too? You know, I think it is. Like I said, so far so good for this 50 business.