Here’s a little bit of behind the scenes info on the magic created by The Hippie Dyer!
Dyeing is a bit of a process, that can take several days, and in some cases several weeks. Much of it depends on the actual thing that I’m dyeing, and the type of dye job I’m wanting to achieve.
First things first, the item gets washed, this gets rid of any dust/gubbins from being in a shop/storage or anything else.
Next I soak in soda ash. I generally do this overnight, sometimes it can be a bit more, sometimes a bit less, it just depends on what other work I have on and how busy I am, and then I spin, getting rid of the excess soda ash liquid.
Next comes the start of the creative bit.
Depending on what I’m wanting to ultimately end up with, this can be a number of things.
General tying up, all designs are tied in a different way, something like the ‘Pops’ design, whilst is simple in the actual tying, is very time consuming.
Wax resist work happens at this stage, be it the simple space inspired ‘stars’ or the more involved large designs like the tree.
Now it’s the turn of the actual dyeing.
I do this in sessions, several times a week. I could tell you more about this, but then I’d have to kill you 😉
Over the years I’ve found my own ways of doing things that suit me and what I do, including mixing many of my own colours. Once I’ve applied the dye, in the case of liquid dyes I generally leave at least 24 hours before the rinsing/untying, more rinsing and washing.
If I’m doing any additional hand painting using my dyes, its at this ‘finished’ stage that this takes place, and then repeat the rinsing/washing stage.
For ice dyes the times vary depending on the temperature/size of the dye job. Most things 24 hours is enough, but I’ve known it be over 40 hours before, before I could rinse/wash. Basically all the ice melts, and then I might leave it a bit longer, but again, this is the way that I’ve found works best for me.
So there you go, a little bit about the behind the scenes magic!
Get your hands on some of the goodness over in the shop