Shibori again, more lavender than chocolate...

Well I finally got around to my second dye day, which was supposed to be chocolate brown procion dyes. I prepped everything, through it all together, added the soda ash solution and let it sit for an hour while I tried my hand at stenciling.

Stencils are harder to cut out that you would think, especially if you're using an exacto knife that's not exactly sharp. I finally ended up using the double bladed quilt stencil knife I have which was not ideal but at least it cut. I used tape and some quail images I cut out of freezer paper and masked them off, then daubed procion dyes thickened with sodium alginate where I wanted it (mostly). DISCLAIMER: I didn't draw these.  Don't ask. But this is so darn cute I could giggle. The dye didn't migrate much; when I do it again, I'll keep the stencil cleaner and use a small stick to hold it down better. And remember to use masking tape everywhere I want to, not just on N-1 straight lines... And see? Chocolate Brown, right?

Then why is my shibori lavender? It's like ALL the dye washed out.

Retracing my steps, I realized I never added the soda ash to the soda ash solution. I'm frankly surprised it took any color at all. Not sure what I'm going to do with it, or if the color is permanent or not.

A good lesson...