Couldn't you just DYE? (also, where have I been?!)

It's been a long, long time since I've looked at this crafty blog. Too long, in fact. Where have I been? I've been around, still crafting a little but not so much desiring to blog about it. To make a long story short, my maternity leave ran out in June, so I found a dayhome for my daughter and I am back to the Monday-to-Friday grind. I love my job, but it has left me with far less time to craft, much less take, process, and post pictures, then write up a little blurb to go with it. Now if only someone would actually pay me good money for this crafty crap I do...

My latest project was inspired by Eliza's halloween costume. She was a monarch butterfly, but Fabricland's pathetic choice of tulle colours (no orange? seriously?) left me with only one choice: dye my own. (Her costume is going to be the subject of a future blog post, I promise!) Custom dyeing was a challenge that I actually really enjoyed, so I decided to take on a bigger project.

These are playsilks. Some of you may be familiar with them, but for those who are not, they are little more than a square habotai silk scarf. They are meant to encourage creative pretend play in children - a playsilk can be a doll blanket, a cape, a tablecloth, a hammock, or just something to swing around like crazy. Eliza is just getting to the age where she'd really be into these kinds of things, too. I'd seen them all over etsy and various other stores for obscene prices and thought "I can do that!", and after the tulle incident, I really believed that I could! I found a supplier that shipped to Canada, ordered all I needed, and this was the result:


I used Jacquard acid dyes, which are pretty simple to use, but a little finicky. And let me tell you now - when the instructions say that vinegar is necessary, they mean it! I had to re-dye two of these batches because all the dye washed out in the post-dye-washing. Bah.

Now, can I really hold off 'til Christmas to give these to her?