If you’re tired of hearing about dyeing, skip this one, but I have to tell you I’m not the least bit tired of this method for transforming wool. Several weeks ago I posted about using wool to dye wool. For this project I used the same method but with printed wool.
This project was born when I changed the coat I planned to take on a trip. My red and blue scarf just wouldn’t work with a purple coat. Since I’m on a one year sabbatical from purchasing clothes, I shopped in my stash. I had a piece of lightweight vintage wool (maybe Liberty – not sure) with potential so I tested a small piece with good results before proceeding.
After assembling cranberry wool, the print and a teal wool/nylon blend, I used the same method as described in my previous post. Here’s the before and after photo.
Try it, you’ll like the results.
As you can see on the turned corner (right side of above photo), the front picked up more red and the back side more teal.
When traveling, I’m admittedly pretty fussy about my handbag. First and foremost it needs to protect against all of those greedy hands that want to steal, but also it needs to be large enough without being too large. Then there’s the need for a distinct place for my passport, money, phone, kindle, water bottle, etc.
Over the years I’ve purchased and worn out one bag, bought a few (usually Ameribags) and been disappointed by the design so I sold them on eBay. Several years ago, like many of my kind , I said “I can make that”. First I copied the pattern and made a muslin which I used on one trip.
Then I made this bag which has been used and abused until it was time for another. The lining actually had wear spots.
After removing the hardware I worked on #3 which is shown at the beginning of this post and below. In the future when not typing on an iPhone I’ll post on the details and maybe share the pattern. Until then I’m traveling with my new bag and I love it.
By no means did I plan for every post to be about dyeing but here’s one more. This time it’s something I’d only read about on one blog and haven’t found any other references. Caroline D.H. wrote about using wool to dye other pieces of wool. Since I had a piece of off-white wool gauze that wanted to be a scarf and some other scrap pieces of wool, I thought I’d give it a try. Here’s the story.
For some upcoming travel, I wanted a new wool scarf (accidentally felted the old one – oops) but since I’ve joined Goodbye Valentino’s 2018 RTW Fast  I couldn’t buy one. In my stash I found a scrap of wool gauze that was long enough but not wide enough for a scarf. So I added some scraps to the side to widen it. With little to lose, I started the wool dyeing process.
Here are the steps:
 Selecting the fabrics: I chose a red piece of vintage wool crepe from St. Vinny’s, a royal blue piece of wool flannel that had a few moth holes and a lovely loden twill piece. Each was cut to one yard.
Creating a fabric roll: In the following order, I laid the 4 pieces of fabric on the floor. Red, Off-white gauze, Royal blue, Loden. I rolled them into a log and tied the log so it would stay rolled.
Bathing in Boiling Hot Water:  I had very hot (not quite boiling) water ready in an old crock pot and dipped the wool pack in the water bath. After about 30″ I turned it upside down to make sure all of the wool was submerged in hot water and left it for another 30″
Setting the Dye:Â After cooling the cloth until warm to the touch I dipped the pack in several gallons of warm water with 1-2 cups of white vinegar.
Rinsing and Drying:Â Â Rinse the fabric in cool water and placed in clothes dryer
Enjoy the beautiful result.  Below are photos of my pieces.
Red Crepe. Has a dark band because the scarf was narrower than the other pieces of wool. Hopefully this piece will be used for future wool dyeing projects.
The royal blue has a lovely crinkled look. In the third photo you can see that there was an errant red thread that created a design (and which gives me an idea for future wool dyeing projects. As with the red, I’ll use this piece for future dyeing projects.
Loden is now a reversible piece of wool. It’s beyond beautiful.This side took on the redAnd this side took on the blue
The loden is so magnificent I can’t stop looking at it. Since these aren’t my colors, I’m not sure what to do with it but it could easily be cut into 2 scarves.
And last of all, here’s another look my new scarf. The straight lines in the middle are from folding the wool gauze as it was longer than the red, blue and loden. Overall, a great result.
FabriCate & Mira 