I often find inspiration from (the very creative and super fun) Desi over at Law of Attraction blog. When she recently posted about tie-dying adventures, I felt inspired to have a go.
Living here in rural Costa Rica means there is not an art store within reach and receiving a package of dyes by mail might take over a month. I started researching the how to make natural fabric dyes and I am happy to report it was easy and very satisfying.
Pixel and I chose the spice turmeric to make our our first batch of dye. Now I cannot wait to try making dye from beets, black beans, plums...the list goes on.
We started by boiling the white cotton in a vinegar and water bath (4 parts water to 1 part vinegar) for one hour.
Rinse your fabric and boil the chosen spice (or other) in water. I think we used about 4 tablespoons of spice to 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil, add fabric and cut the heat. Allow to soak. What determines the color is how long you leave the fabric in to soak.
We chose to tie dye the fabric and recycled rubber bands we had around the house.
Remove rubber bands and rinse. As much fun as unwrapping a surprise gift.
. This is an autobiography weighing in at nearly 1000 pages and written by a former heroin addict and armed robberer-one of Australia's most wanted men. He breaks free from prison and heads to India to hide out with a new identity. While in India experiences such a tranformation and turns out to be a ...I won't spoil it.... It IS a fab read.
. This book, the fourth by Australian writer Christos Tsiolks, takes place at a middle class BBQ one afternoon. One of the guests slaps a child (not his own) who is acting out against another child. The story is told and retold from the perspective of everyone at the BBQ. The book was such a hit that it inspired a TV drama (which I will wait for until I have finished the book).