We were given some fiber samples that the teacher had dyed and used to swatch some of the pieces in Part 1 of this post so I'll spin some of that up later to show you all.
For now, take a look at the fibers given and if you zoom in, you can see the dye percentages of each should you wish to try replicating them
We did some spinning in class but I did all of mine on the drop spindle and made a frankenskein that needs to be plied etc.
Tomorrow is the dot dye workshop at the guild, prepare for pictures of Poorly Dyed Fibers
So this class was all about using food safe dyes (food colouring) to dot dye protein fibers.
I could rewrite it all here but instead I figure I can just plop the info sheet I was given down instead because it is so much typing and I've got so few spoons left in me after today
We then got to see a bunch of samples that were all dyed the same way but heat set in the microwave for different amounts of time.
The samples included bleached Tussah silk, Merino, BFL, and a Merino/tencel blend
Here are some samples of the undyed fibers that I brought back:
Bleached Tussah Silk ^
Merino ^
BFL ^
Merino/Tencel blend ^
Tomorrow is the dot dye workshop at the guild, prepare for pictures of Poorly Dyed Fibers
We toss out over 80 pounds of textiles each year. These textiles are often made of plastic materials (polyester, nylon), made in unethical conditions, dyed with harsh dyes that often get put into the rivers, etc. Even a single cotton shirt releases carbon emissions and uses tons of water.
So the best thing to prevent the unsustainable growth of the fashion industry is to make sure that your clothing lasts as long as possible. To do so, mending clothing is a must. So here are some resources to help you learn how to do various things, such as sewing a button, to tailoring clothes, or even upcycling old clothing into new styles.
* How to sew on three different types of button
* How to hand sew on a patch on a torn pair of jeans
* How to sew up a hole in an old shirt
* How to sew a simple T-shirt
* How to upcycle old clothing into new clothing
* More upcycle and sewing techniques
* How to repair a damaged sock
* How to do an invisible stitch
* 3 different stitches to work with for different results
* How to make a T-shirt smaller so it fits you better
* How to make repairs to your shoes
These are just a few of the things that you can do in order to make sure that your clothing lasts for a long time. Nobody wants to keep buying new clothing, as it is expensive and wasteful.
So making alterations to your clothing, or fixing small holes hen you see them can be hugely beneficial to your wallet, to garment workers, and to the environment in the long term.