A couple of days ago I tried dying a wayward piece cotton batting with concentrated, liquid Rit dye in the microwave. The color was luscious and led me to needle felting soy fibers and wool roving on it. A design started to develop and this gave way to further embellishment with a few shimmery snippets, cording and embroidery using 2 ply floss. The piece was beginning to have a personality that needed to be showcased into a larger work. This morning I dyed several more remnant strips of batting in the microwave with Rit concentrated liquid dye. Since the strips were rather small, I was able to dye them in small, glass bowls, as follows:
1) Soak the strips in water to make them ready to accept the dye,2) Mix a couple of tablespoons of dye with water in a glass bowl,
3) Submerge the batting in the bowl,
4) Cover the bowl with a plate to prevent splattering in the microwave,
5) Microwave the strips for 2 minutes on the high setting,
6) Remove the bowl with potholders because the bowl was very hot,
7) Rinse until water runs clear,
8) Squeeze out water,
9) Roll strip in towel to remove excess moisture,10 Hang to dry (the process can be hurried along by using a blow dryer).
The colors are so vibrant that I would love to having them hanging around the studio on permanent display, but hopefully today I will be able to merge them with the embellished piece that I created yesterday.
