First let me say, this is NOT a tutorial. Merely an experiment that my professional cloth dyeing friends would cringe at. I read somewhere that if you boil fresh beets in pomegranate juice it would make a lovely shade of pinky red. So, I had to try it. (Of course, I did no prepartion to any of the fabric. I used some fine muslin, cheesecloth, cotton batting and silk organza and just stuck it in there with the hot juice and cut up beets!)
I let it dry naturally, then stuck it in the dryer to further heat set it. Came out gorgeous, didn't it?
Above is the cotton batting.
Someone on Facebook asked me if it was washable and lightfast...So I washed some strips of my dyed fabric with synthrapol. See photo above. (I haven't tested the light fastness yet.)
And since the pot of beets and pom juice are still in the garage, I dipped a piece of watercolor paper in it, in prepartion for the Sketchbook Challenge theme of 'resist' this month. (I used spray gesso and a stencil to get that flower pattern, THEN dipped half in the beet/pom juice)
Note: I'm telling you all this, in case, in the future, you purchase one of my art quilts and you detect a slight smell of pomegranates and beets...you'll know why!!
They're both stains, but as long as you don't wash them much, the color should stay. Lightfastness? Only time will tell on that one! You can get the same color WITH lightfastness and washfastness from cochenille. While I can't advocate eating beets (ewww!), I know I'd rather drink the Pom juice and use bugs for dye.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing back memories of the two years I spent investigating natural dyes!
Very nice!
ReplyDeleteI'm like you in that I like to do things on the spur of the moment so I don't always follow directions to the 'T'.
ReplyDeleteThe color is very pretty.
Holy Macaroly, I just happen to have beets AND pomegranate juice! The beets are supposed to be for dinner but maybe no one would miss them . . .
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I love the colors! My favorites. So pretty, Jane!
ReplyDeleteSuch pretty pinks, but seems kind of costly as neither fresh beets or pom juice are inexpensive foods. I just love beet borscht, so I'd rather eat mine. Then there's pomegranate cosmos, so you see, I'll probably stick to synthetic dyes. ;-)
ReplyDeletelucious colors!!
ReplyDeleteI love them! Who cares if the dye is fugative, beets/pom juice are expensive, you had fun, experimented and obtained beautiful results. Way to go Jane!
ReplyDeleteYummy, yummy, colors! Enjoy your playtime... the end results will be wonderful :]
ReplyDeleteI totally love the colours Jane. When I experimented with beet juice on cotton many years ago (became strips of rag-doll hair at the time), it retained the vibrant colour only for a limited time until ultimately it began to dull somewhat. There's sure to be a product that will stabilize though and perhaps it could be worth rinsing it through at this stage even?
ReplyDeleteYep, just a little bit crazy.
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you, I l♥ve these colors.
In my book, your experiment is a raging success ! ! ! !
Beets to ya
hugs,
Gerry
Beautiful color. You may be onto something, dye & dinner all in one!
ReplyDeleteLove how you just tackle things and share you results! thanks
ReplyDeleteYou could try adding 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar to it too help set the color then also try heat setting it with an iron for 5 minutes! That just may lock & set the color! 👍
ReplyDeleteI’m going too try this with some Baby Lamb Fleece I just bought to spin into yarn!
The heat setting of the lamb fiber will be the challenge here I think! 🤔