Kicking Off August with Hand Dyed Treasures

Christmas Eve & Easter

It's been entirely too long since my last day of fabric dyeing.  My original plan was to schedule one for early July--but alas other projects demanded my time and attention.  So I decided to kick start the month of August and a new week by treating myself to a morning of dyeing!!  The night before I prepped a bunch of fat quarters and started pulling out my dye supplies.

Around 9 AM, I went to work setting up my outdoor dye studio and mixing up my dye baths.  I prepared a quart each of yellow, orange, red, red-violet, eggplant, blue, teal and green, and replaced select colors as I ran short.  To help get my creative juices flowing, I started by dyeing a few fat quarters of fabric.  The next thing I knew, 2 hours had lapsed and there I was admiring how all my mixing containers were now rinsed and drying in the sun on one table, with the other table covered with an odd assortment of plastic containers concealing my newly dyed bundles of fun sitting in the warm sun for the batching process!

And while I was dripping with sweat--mostly from working in the hot summer sun that was glowing overhead, the hardest part was still ahead...waiting!!  The anticipation of unwrapping each bundle is almost too much for me.  I find myself just as giddy as on Christmas Eve!!  I distracted myself by doing laundry, cleaning and quilting, but I kept thinking about my little hand dyed presents just waiting to be revealed.  My mind kept drifting back to my hand dyed goodies throughout the day and night...even at 2 AM, 3 AM and still at 4 AM.

Finally it was morning (almost a full 24 hours to batch), and I jumped out of bed and once the pups were fed, I proceeded to the backyard where I started unwrapping my bundles for a quick sneak peak before loading them into the washing machine for the rinsing process!

Are you ready for a little show and tell...or would you rather wait 24 hours for the big reveal?!?  No, I wouldn't dare...

Hand Dyed Fashion:
During my mother's visit, she purchased an In-N-Out Burger T-shirt for my brother, who had lived in California for several years.  He has fond memories of the restaurant and the amazing food, and asked me if I would add some more color to the bright white t-shirt.

California Fashion For My Brother

Also during my mother's visit, we did some clothes shopping where I found some white tank tops and t-shirt to dye. 

Hand Dyed Fashion for Me!!

Hand Dyed Stash:
I was sad to finish up another bolt of Pimatex cotton, but pleased with my end of the bolt creations...

Color Bursts

Cool Color Creations

Fiery Explosions

Unexpected Creations

My Favorites:  Explosions of Hot & Cold

Secret Project Hand Dyes:

Hand Dyed Swaddling Fabric

I picked up several yards of swaddling fabric for a secret sewing project.

Here are two sneak previews of the newly transformed yardage.




























Dog Days of Summer:
Susie Q and Panda had their assignments and performed their duties beautifully:
-keeping me company as I worked in the backyard
-providing security detail as my fabrics were batching in the backyard
-extraordinary modeling with the finished goods!!

Of course, they were compensated well with treats and massages galore!!

Top Model Pro:  Panda

Susie Q is new to the modeling arena and required a bit of coaching (and treats) while it was her turn to work the runway.  She can be such a goofball at times...but is eager to please!

Susie Q's Quirky Runway Poses

It is now my turn to return to the studio and paw at my newly dyed pretties!!