Snow Dyeing Tutorial

I had been wanting to try some snow dyeing of fabric, so gave it a shot on Monday.  I had never done this before, only read about it.  I have no idea if this is the RIGHT way…it is just MY way.

Here is what I did:

Using plain, prewashed pieces of muslin (because I always have lots of bolt ends from Steve’s business), I soaked it in soda ash water first.  Then put it in the bottom of individual buckets.

Mixed my dyes:

Went outside, scooped snow into each bucket.  Completely covering the wet fabric with about 4″ of snow.

Poured dye on top of snow:

Oh heck, lets add some more colors.  I put 3 colors in each bucket.  But you could choose less or more.

Steve thought it looked like snowcones.  I wouldnt let him taste it though.

Then I set the buckets next to the fireplace for oh…… about 3 hours.  A couple of times I poked down thru the snow with a straw, but I dont know that it helped the process along.

I dumped the excess snow and dye down the sink, then rinsed the fabric in water till most of the excess dye came out.

Wash in washing machine with synthrapol.  Dry in dryer.  Iron.

Voila’ !

I am surely no expert at dyeing fabrics.  I dont measure exactly, nor do I keep recipes and journals and charts like so many serious fabric dyers.  Nope, I keep it simple, fun and relaxing.

All of my dyeing supplies come from Dharma.

Questions?  Feel free to ask.  And if you click on the picture, it will enlarge it.

Any suggestions on how to use these pretty fabrics now?  Art quilt?  Pieced quilt?  Something else?  I am open to all options.