Fabric Dye and Paint Part 1.

Some experiments were happening late last week with fabric dying and painting.  I have an idea for a baby quilt that I wanted to test.  I have always been inspired by people going out in their yards and finding useful things growing there so I thought I would do some testing of the things I found in my yard.  

I also had a bunch of leftover cotton muslin from making some curtains so I had a blank slate to work with.  Eliot is always game for foraging, too.  

The first step was dying the fabric.  Since I was feeling lazy I didn't do everything the way I probably should have.  First I simmered the plant material in about double the amount of water for an hour.  Then I strained it and added some vinegar.  I put the liquid in ball jars with the fabric, mixed and let it sit overnight.  After re-reading the dyeing suggestions I probably should have put the fabric back into the pots with the liquid and vinegar and simmered for another hour.  Next time I will try that.

From left to right: Grass, Iris blossoms, Pink flowering bush that I am still trying to identify, and Celandine.

I had mixed results.  The grass and iris were too weak - but the pink flower and the Celandine gave me a nice strong color.  I took the fabric that didn't dye and did some experiments with making my own fabric patterns.  I'll post more about that tomorrow.

Sumac Lemonade

Eliot and I collected a bunch of Sumac and made Sumac Lemonade out of it. It was really good!
It would make great Popsicles, too.




Basic recipe:

10-12 heads of Sumac berries, either Staghorn (we used) or Smooth variety with RED berries. The white are poisonous.
2-3 quarts of water.
Let soak for 20 minutes in cool water. Do not rinse first or you will loose all of the flavor. I had read somewhere of people soaking them for a lot longer, I might try that next time to taste the difference.
Strain through cheese cloth to remove any fibers or bugs.
Sweeten to taste.
Enjoy over ice.