A New Glow

I have been rummaging through my stacks of experimented fabrics recently trying to find things I can make some use of. I came across this long leafed eucalyptus printed piece of silk and thought I must make something from it!





However as you can see the print is a very subtle shade of green/brown and in some areas of the fabric looked dirty, though I know it isn't, it's part of the print, I'm not sure how a potential buyer would see this. I then remembered that I had bought a jar of turmeric spice powder to experiment with and it was still sitting in the cupboard untouched. So i decided to boil up a pan. I let the turmeric simmer for about an hour before straining the powder from the water and then adding the silk. (Again, my patience was not used in this experiment as I just tossed all the fabric in at once thinking about the spontaneity of it all!)


The fabric simmered gently for about an hour, and once dried gave a startling glow...



It is a lovely shade and great for summer, but I just feel it is too bright for my collection?!


So I decided I would cut a sample to experiment colour modifying with...
And so, out came the cups! I decided that if you're going to test something then you might as well test it thoroughly, and with a bit more caution than I sometimes do; so i mixed up five solutions as below...

From left to right - Copper & Vinegar Water; Copper Water; Vinegar Water; Soda Water; Iron Water.

You can see above after 15 minutes of soaking there was significant colour changes.

I compiled the results in my notebook next to each other so the variations can be seen clearly, ranging from bright yellows to murky beige and green....

I am leaning towards the duller yellow (copper modified) as I think it would sit nicely in with other colours in my current stock collection.

Though I can't decide for sure on which method to use for the full piece of silk yet, or if I should just even leave it the bright yellow as it is?!...would love to know your thoughts on what colour you would most likely want to wear....