silk dying

sunday we went to a lovely waldorf handwork session, hosted by a lovely mama in asheville (about 30/40 min north of us).

each family bulk ordered silks (from dharma trading company, i think) & brought a dye lot or 2. as silk dyeing can be as complicated, or as simple, as you might want it to be, each family got to choose what sort of dye bath they wanted to bring...food coloring, kool-aid, or natural.

we contacted our local grocery store & asked them to save their red onion skins for us...so that is what we brought. i had read that it would make a lovely reddish-orange, but i think that actual color is closer to a burnt sienna.

i prepped this dye bath the same as i did for the goldenrod, marigold & red cabbage dye baths we did last fall. (for instructions, click HERE!)

various food coloring dye baths...
at any rate, a good crowd showed up & the thunderstorms only threatened... we had a chance to see some friends that we haven't seen nearly enough of lately, and also make some new ones!

aydin...look at the concentration on his face!

the work table... mamas busy at work...

ehren's masterpiece...

group photo time!

so many lovely color combinations...

just gorgeous!

our four are the ones on the (left) end...

once the children had had their fill of silks & dye baths, they set about their work, PLAYING!

aydin...

caleb, miss jenny, & other little friends...

ehren...

and, not to be left out, baby evyn...