Dyeing Experiment

Many years ago I considered sewing a headboard cover and bedskirt in an offbeat small leapord-print fabric and bought several yards.  Lesson learned: buy a small swatch to take home and check first.  But I didn't and had this bolt of fabric standing in the corner until last Summer when I decided to use it as a slip cover for my wingback chair so I cut it up in smaller pieces and threw it in the washing machine hoping to soften the color.  Wrong again.  I happened to have a box of fabric dye remover...yes, I threw that into the washer next, hoping for a soft pink result.  Not even close.

This is what the fabric looked like wet, with areas changing color as the dye remover chemicals took effect.

I watched as all the fabric turned into this brownish-green color.  Very interesting...

I closed the lid, thinking the next phase would be a fade out of color, but when I reopened the lid the finished effect was:

OMG!  Nothing changed.

The only difference was a slightly softer feel to the cotton fabric, so I folded it up and put it back into the stash.  Have you noticed that the back side is a pastel color?  

SO, during my recent dyeing frenzy, I took a section of this and dyed it with the RIT dyes.  

Tadaaaaa!   This I can use!

Patience and the courage to experiment -- essential artist tools.