Echoes of Blue

Echoes of Blue
Originally uploaded by tigerb.

Low water immersion dyeing is always full of surprises. One of the purple dyes I chose for this veil has a lot of turquoise in it... places that I expected to be pale purple areas are instead pale turquoise! I think it's quite electric looking and fun.

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

I really enjoy introducing somebody to dyeing.

It's not the rapt way they listen when I talk about fiber reactive vs. acid dyes. It's not they way they go "ooooh" when they look at the Dharma Trading catalog. It's not the way they admire my science surplus beakers and glass stir sticks, or the way their lower eyelids get a twitch when I explain just how long it can take to rinse this stuff out.

No, it's more the looks on their faces when they hold up the finished pieces of fabric, utterly stunned by what they just accomplished... and then start babbling about all the different things they'd like to try... scarves... garments... wall hangings... table runners... fabric for quilts... shibori, direct application, tie dye, more colors, more colors, more colors, must have a PVC pole, where in town is soda ash available????

I have INFECTED THEM! They have been ASSIMILATED into the CULT OF COLORS!

Resistance is futile! (Except when you want that part to be white.)

not a dye project

DSC_20200097
Originally uploaded by Drumdude - Al Khemia.

Me at the recent MBA Spoofla... part of why I haven't done too much dye work yet this month! Back to the old grindstone soon, though...

One more time!

Despite meager sales at last year's Bellydance UW workshop, I've decided to make up a bunch of veils for their spring event this year. Yes, sales last year sucked, and I didn't really enjoy making up some of what I took; so I am shaking things up a bit.

• I'm not making ANY solid veils. I don't like making them, and I've adjusted all my prices downward a bit, so they are no longer the cheaper option.


• I'm not taking the workshop. Last year was very complicated with my husband sitting in for me at the table in the morning, et cetera, and I had to drag my dance bag down with all the vending stuff, yada yada. This year the teacher is Tamalyn Dallal. I enjoyed her workshop in Milwaukee, but I don't feel like I absolutely MUST have another from her right now.


• I'm going to concentrate on veils only, not all the little doodads. They didn't sell anyway! So it's all veils all the time until April.

Except, well... there is that trip to Cairo in March. And I want to bring the "Youm Wa Hazz" choreography to performance level. And I have a lot of costume sewing I have to do before WisCon 32 at the end of May. So I need to get the veils dyed well in advance, and then I probably need to stop dyeing for a while! Shucks. If only I had enough time for all my hobbies.