Friday, April 23, 2010

Onion skin dying a success!

I am so surprised that this worked! I honestly didn't expect much from onion skins. In fact, if it wasn't for the book (see last post) on dying, i wouldn't have ever thought to try this!

This is the WHITE mohair in the water and the onion skins used. This was all it took!


This is the colour starting to seep out after about 2mins of boiling.


This shows the fur after about half an hour of simmering. Just before i turned it off and went to bed, letting it soak over night. I also added a touch of salt at this point. I have no idea if it made any difference. I'll have to try it again one day and see what happens without the salt.


This is the colour that greeted me in the morning.


Then amazingly - this is the colour that stayed after rinsing out the fur. I don't think i lost any depth or brightness at all! Incredible. Its such a gorgeous ginger brown tone too. I am very happy with the results!

4 comments:

  1. Very foxy! Love the colour Emma.

    Warmest Hugs,
    Sandi @ Bearly Sane

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  2. thanks Sandi. I love little surprises like this. I think i'm going to try red onions next and see what i get from that!
    Em

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  3. Great to see it worked for you! Now you will have to go through the garden (or someone elses!) and see what you can find to dye with! Thanks for the plug for the book - sold another (Hi Sandi!) and have relisted them. Cant wait to see what else you get up to with the dyeing! Viv

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  4. Great to hear more copies are selling for you. Its such a great and simple idea. I'd never even thought to try natural dyes (beyond tea-staining) before this.

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