My Dyeing Day

I was going to make all sorts of cracks about dyeing (vs dying), but let’s just pretend I did (insert polite laugh here) and move on.  :-)

My dyeing day was actually just an afternoon of dyeing laces with potassium permanganate.  It’s time to restock my Etsy shop with these “Golden Laces" and prepare some to sell at the CQ Adventure vendor evening.  I also hope to overdye some of them with a light color wash as I did here.

The potassium permanganate (PP) turns the rayon laces a lovely golden color.  When dried and then ironed, the sheen is stunning.

Not all rayons are created equal, however, and each one will take the dyes differently.  Another factor in the final color is the length of the soak in the PP.  That collar that turned out darker below was soaked longer.  It is almost bronze-y (is that a word?) when dried and ironed.

I also did some cottons and “mystery” laces (fiber content unknown), with varying degrees of success.  Synthetics don’t take the dye at all.  I had one “rayon” that, no matter how long it was soaked, would not take much of the PP.  It took just enough to see a difference in the before and after, and have a nice luster when ironed.

The cottons take the PP just like a tea dye.  Shades of brown, but not nearly as interesting or elegant as the potassium permanganate laces.

I hope to begin listing these in my Etsy shop next week, so keep an eye out.  If you see something you’d be interested in beforehand, feel free to contact me.

Have a wonderful weekend!  I’m off to stitch!