Friday, October 23, 2015

Mamie, Matilda and Dee Have Arrived!


It's been a long six weeks of 
cutting hands and leaves.

I am relieved to know the 
Heart'n Hands is retired
and..
Mamie, Matilda and Dee
have arrived in


Mamie and Dee 
are the exact 
same patterns but the colours
of pennies, the thread,
the base shade and fabric
give a totally different look.
Mamie and Dee are 
set out with a 2 inch penny.



Matilda has the same shades 
as Mamie but using a 
one and one half inch 
penny base.

I won't go into details of the kits as 
they are well described in my Etsy Shop Listings

These rugs were stitched back in 2009
and I thought it would be fun to 
bring a limited number back
as kits along with a few
of this past years
favourites 
shown below as I ramble on
about my 'failures' with the 
dye pots.



I've never offered the bags of pennies
in three sizes...above is just one 
example of the type of rug that 
could be stitched with the 
Winter Blues bag of pennies.

A large rug requires the 2-inch penny
however, 
I will not be offering the aged
dyed string any time soon.


It's been many years of dyeing the string
It came out perfect.. many of you have
used my string in kits .

I just cannot seem to get a good
batch from the dye pot.
My last three times were complete
failures.
The string for the Salmon Kit
The string for a few of the Marriage Rugs
now listed in my shop 
and..


Of course when I brought back a few 
of the 
Christmas Stocking Kits 
I needed to dye string.

I dyed as always.. spotted..
some areas dark, some the dye
completely did not take in the string.

What to do..I could not just 
discard all of those hanks of string.

I could not overdye again
as they would be almost 
dark brown and black.

The dyed needed to be 
removed...
and so..
the sink was filled with
very hot water and ...


Oxyclean crystals
an overnight soak and 
rinse, rinse, rinse, 
rinse, rinse
and back in the dye pot.

Still not a uniform dye job.. so
back in the oxy and the 
bit about the rinse again..

Back in the dye pot and 
yes, this time it worked!!!

I have not a clue what I am 
doing wrong but whatever
is wrong is very time-consuming!


The close up above is of the Dee Rug
Notice the smaller penny
bottom left.. a shade somewhat
as thousand island dressing.
This is the shading the 
oxyclean will give
why I am not sure.. it does not
remove colour to the original shade.
The amount of colour removed 
depends on how long it is
soaked in the water and crystals.
but...
and this is the interesting part..


Oxyclean also works on wool!!!

It does not affect the strength of 
the wool .. we always think
of bleach as a test for wool.

The oxy just slightly removes
and dulls the colours of the wool. 
.
I have soaked ready made rugs in 
the Oxyclean.
Just be sure to rinse well and
 wash with a mild detergent.

When time permits I need to 
investigate (play)
further with the 
wool and oxyclean.

I can see many possibilities!


The photo above shows a few of the vintage cottons
I will use in the Dee Rug Kit
I know I actually 'shout to you' in the listing
but I should say again.

Please do not order this kit if you do not
enjoy working with very worn and thin textiles
and frayed pennies.

If you have a tub of the oxclean
and  scraps of dyed
wool.. give it a try..
watch the soak time by watching
the colour change and rinse
as soon as it looks good.

oh.. those pretty white dye pots..
fill with water 
heat as normal and add 
a bit of oxy..
sparkling whites!

My last kit this fall will probably be the
log cabin quilt kits.

They require a lot of dyed blanket 
wool in many shades..
but thankfully..
no string.

Thank you all for reading my ramblings
As always kits are very limited..

Wishing all a very relaxing and enjoyable fall weekend
and..
Happy Stitching!
cee

4 comments:

Pure and Simple Woolens said...

Perservere my friend! Thanks for the tip, i will try oxyclean sometime!

Farm Girl said...

I don't know but I think I would like that string that didn't have the uniform dyeing. It looks older I think, which when I do penny rugs I want them to look like antique rugs. But that is just me. :) I love these rugs so much. I always enjoy your posts. You have been so busy and everything is just beautiful.

Lana Manis said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lana Manis said...

The cotton fabrics look beautiful! As for the hand dyed string I was I would take them the way they are I love the variegated look. I'm always inspired when I visit your blog thank you for sharing your work!