1st compost dye project

Not wanting to waste anything I decided to do a compost project with the grape hyacinth flowers strained from the dye.   Picked leaves and flowers from outside and placed them on a piece of fabric soaked in soda ash.








Then I sprinkled the grape hyacinth over it in clumps.  Next I sprinkled a bit of tealeaves.  I also added a rusty circle. ( had to bend it in half to roll up)

It was already turning a lovely shade of green.  I dug a hole next to one of my rose bushes and covered with leaf litter and dirt.  Now how long can I wait to dig it up.  (Hopefully til fall)

 Photographed so I would remember where I buried it -( in front of orange roses and paper whites)

dyeing with grape hyacinth part 1

Yesterday, I took my grape hyacinth flowers out of the freezer and crushed then up. I added water in a 2:1 ratio and brought the mix to a boil and let simmer for an hour. Next I added a tsp of Alum to the pail mixture and it turned a very nice purple. This was let to sit for 24 hours.

This morning the mixture was strained for dyeing.  I wet the fabric I had previously soaked in soda ash and allowed to dry and used a pole wrap to create patterns.  Here is a picture of it dipped for just a minute.  It has more of a green shade than i was wanting.

I wet fabric, not soaked in soda ashed, in water and vinegar,twisted it and dipped it in some extra dye.  It instantly took on this lovely purple shade. 


 I splashed some vinegar on the other cloth and where it touched it became purple.   So I added about a tablespoon of vinegar to the solution. I like the two colors together. Will see the results in a few days.

 

After checking this evening the fabric looked more of a solid blue.

Look what I found

Well after finding the crocus Monday, a tornado Tuesday, today I decided to scrap off some of my leaf mulch in case something else was starting to grow.  I found two anemic yet hearty hyacinths under about 5 inches of wet leaves.  I think with a little sunlight they should green up and bloom nicely.