Saturday, June 2, 2007

A Recipe to Dye For!!


The bear hats are done! Now onto their shoes!! These hats were made of the wool felt I hand dyed the other day. As promised, here's the recipe:

1. Fill a good size pot 2/3 full with water.

2. Add 1/2 c. white vinegar.

3. Dissolve a small amount of Wilton Icing Colors concentrated tint paste in a cup of hot water. Yes, this is frosting tint paste! Who knew?

4. Add dye to pot.

5. Pre-wet wool felt or fabric in warm water then add to pot. Let simmer.

6. Remove from pot. Rinse. Squeeze out excess water. Dry in dryer. Press with iron for a crisp look if you wish. Of course, you wouldn't press mohair....or maybe you might! Hmmm.

Important!! A small amount, as I found out, means a scant amount. Take a toothpick, insert vertically 1/2 inch into color tint and remove. You do not need to "scoop" a bit of the color tint or you will end up with scary bright colors!! Trust me on this. Been there, done that. It may not look like there's enough color in the pot but there is and the natural fibers will soak it all up!!

Common sense rules: Use rubber gloves to protect your hands from the color tint and the hot water when removing fabric from the pot. Better yet, use tongs to remove the fabric for the rinse stage.

And lastly......experiment and have FUN!! I felt sort of like a mad scientist while dyeing the felt and mohair!!

Warmest pastel tinted bear hugs, Aleta

P.S. Wilton Icing Colors are really inexpensive for the amount of color tint you get and there are lots of colors available already. You can also just buy the basics and mix your own!!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oooh...frosted bonnets...YUMMY!!!

Brenda said...

Hi Aleta,
I have some of the paste icing colours - yippee! Can't wait to find something I want to dye - thanks soooo much for sharing!

hugs,

Brenda

Anonymous said...

Wow!!!! What a great idea I can't wait to try it. Thanks for the lovely idea.

Ps... My mother who decorates cakes is going to love this :)

Bear Hugs,

Theresa

BumbleVee said...

Aleta...I love the beautiful pastels... just like sherbet or sorbet or something yummy.

tx for the recipe and tips....

Anonymous said...

Aleta - thanks - I am looking forward to seeing the hats and the rest of the Story Book bears.

Jill

Aleta said...

So, has anyone else tried the recipe yet? You can do it!!

Warmest bear hugs, Aleta

Louise Peers said...

Cant wait to see these bears Aleta,loooovvee the colours of the bonnets ,how gorgeous are they !
hugs,
Louise