The Results of Acid Dyes

I feel like putting the best and/or final photos at the very first of the post is almost like a spoiler, but they look so much nicer than the odd pile of dyed lace below. That tutu certainly accentuates the hips, but it is much closer to what I imagined than a basic circle skirt beneath the coat. The length of the coat is not final, it is just pinned up in the photo, but I think that is where it will stay.

Well, first off the lace.  The color thereof, when I rinsed it out and put it in the wash machine, was a sort of dingy, grey, flesh color. This was not at all heartening, as you can see from the picture below. Once the cuts of lace were removed from the wash, and placed in proper light, I found that they were the perfect shade of pink! I'm absolutely thrilled about this!

Look at the difference between the lace on the left here, and the pile below. It is amazing what happens with a good washing and removing all the excess dye!

The odd, initial shade, of the dyed lace

The first idea was to use a pink lace from the Casa Collection, but I found the cream at such a great price, there was no way I could top it. With it being successfully dyed, I'm one step closer to being done. On a similar note, while I was out today I purchased a pink sheer to accompany the lace on the petticoat. It was not what I had in mind, but at $2 for three yards, there was not much to loose. This was a worthwhile risk, for the petticoat has come out almost exactly how I would like it to be. Though I may be adding some boning to help stiffen the shape. This is to be decided...

And now, those shorts.

I dipped them into the dye before I went to bed last night, just as an experiment. You can see them here, partially dyed, and soaking wet, just before I put them in the dye bath earlier today:

Prepping the shorts for dying

Soaking the shorts in the acid wash

The odd color the shorts came out.
This picture is a little dark...

As usual, I soaked them in the acid bath for about half an hour before removing them from the heat and allowing them to cool. I watched while rinsing them, as a great amount of dye flooded from them. It was a bit unnerving, though I have been dying cloth for years, so you always watch as great loads of dye are expelled during rinsing. Still, I was a bit trepidatious, and with good cause. When I removed them from the washer, the shorts were not long the vivid red they were when I had taken them from my enameled pot. Instead they were a sort of beige-pink. Not at all what my goal was.

Re-dying the shorts.

So I put them right back in the bath. I added water, of course, and another teaspoon of dye, bringing the total to 4 tsp, and then let it boil for nearly two more hours. They are still sitting on the stove, in the now thoroughly chilled dye. It is late enough now that I will probably rinse them out tomorrow, but if they don't take to the dye this time, than I doubt they ever will.

There is one slight ray of light to this. The shorts are 70% cotton and 30% polyester. I decided on the acid bath because I already had it going, and wanted to ensure the polyester excepted the dye. Cotton fabric does not require an acid bath, so perhaps it does not being dyed this way. I do not personally have any red procion dye, but I know my mother does. If, when I rinse these out, the color is still not correct I'll request some from her, and we'll try that route. There's nothing to loose, after all.

3/4" Fabric covered buttons

Separately, I covered four half inch buttons earlier today. I was determined to have them be the same colors as the rest of the garment. The two blue will be going on the shoulders to secure the epaulets. The red will be on the cuffs, which reminds me, I need to buy some white fabric for those.