PLAY DATE - ICE DYEING

.....and the fun continues.....

Wearing our dyeing clothes.....off we went to purchase ice.

 Setting up our supplies ahead of time helped to keep us organized.  Thankfully, we were able to work in a covered area....super helpful since it was about 90 degrees with 95% humidity!

We covered our work table and surrounding areas with plastic to protect them from the dye.  Each of us had a plastic tray (kitty litter pans) fitted with wire 'shelves' to keep the fabric from sitting in the melted dye filled liquid. 

 Because this technique was new to us, we found & used a combination of instructions that we found on various internet sites.  One helpful tip was the suggestion to use crushed ice...which makes a nice even surface where the dye can sit.  Kate had an old ice crusher that was the perfect tool to make it.

Again, this process was new to us, so we decided to work one tray at a time, each assisting the others.  Our fabrics had all been soaking in a soda ash solution.  Lucky me...I was first, so I squeezed out my fabric and arranged 3 pieces (about a fat quarter each) on my wire 'shelf'.  I used a yellow print, white wool, and a light blue cotton.

 Next, we added ice cubes on top of the crushed ice.  Our rational was that the dye covered larger cubes would provide more pattern as it melted.

 Each of us had also selected our powdered dyes and had them ready to use immediately once the ice was in place.  Face masks are a must and we were all alert to be sure none of us forgot to put theirs on in our enthuastic rush.

 The dye powder was applied with the aid of small wire sifters.  This helped to avoid large clumps of dye depositing in one area.

 I used 3 colors.....arranging them in long lines.

 This is a view of Kate's....at the same point.  She was the 3rd person to start her tray and by then new ideas were flowing.  She placed a 4th piece of fabric on top of the ice layer, added more ice and dye AND then placed fabric in the tray to catch the drippings.  Brilliant!

 Another layering method we tried was a bucket with plastic webbed trays between layers of fabric and ice cubes....no crushed ice here.

They were all covered tightly with plastic, moved into the sun and batched for a min. of 4 hours.  Some sat overnight.

Come back tomorrow to see more......