Dyeing--the good way

The other day I got to do some dyeing with a friend, but each time I would mention it to Jim, he would give me sort of a concerned look. That is the funny thing about speech. Sometimes what we hear is not what is intended. So we did the good, fun kind of dyeing, and I brought along some more of my Vietnamese silk scraps to use. I love the shimmer of the blue and green piece above, and now, of course, wish I had bought some of the natural white patterned silk while I was there and it was inexpensive. Oh well, another trip!
The reds were just as intense, and I love the top strips of yellow and hot pink. Dupioni silk dyes well, too, of course, but doesn't have the shimmer of the Vietnamese silks. I'm sure many fabrics are available through mail order from Dharma Trading, who also carry the dyes we used.
I also learned an important lesson, which is that it is important to do a test dye with your fabric, as it may look like silk, but turn out to be synthetic, which does not take dye. I learned this the hard way, unfortunately.
This piece was more subtle but it had some nice areas of color and a very soft hand after washing. I knew that I wanted to turn it into something, and the first thing that came to mind was a soft journal cover.
For some reason I am really enjoying making this style of journal lately, and even though I am not sure if this is my particular favorite kind of journal to carry, it is fun to shake things up and try a different style occasionally. It contains two signatures of 140# watercolor paper, sewn in by machine.