the linen stole aka raindrop stole has been steeping in brazilwood for 5 days now. i did a alum tannin alum mordanting process with some required washing soda.
according to my reads the brazilwood is supposed to yield a clear red on alum and indeed the liquid from the alcohol extraction was almost annato orange. if you're familiar with latin cooking you know what i mean, almost phosphorescent. but i forgot that my water is extremely alkaline and didn't use bottled water. the combination of water and the washing soda still attached to the fibers gave me the dark raspberry above.
at first i was mildly annoyed as it didn't meet my vision, but after a day or two it grew on me and i started to like the color. it's still developing in the cold dye liquor and will remain there for the rest of the week.i'm not sure i'll try doing a color shift with an acid.
my environment limits me, can't go to the woods and gather windfalls branches and barks.
i depend on my good chemist around the corner for mordanting stuff and i'm thankful he's knowledgeable as well as well stocked. i got two choices for tannin. one which is chestnut brown, dissolves in water and for the love of dyeing i can't find the pack now. and the one on the right much lighter in color which dissolves in alcohol. evidently this is the one i used for the linen double mordanting. it does color the fibers a bit, but nothing dramatic. i've looked around for references and could not find any info about the alcohol tannin therefore i'm running some sort of blindfolded experimenting. until i find the other pack i'm going to keep on using this one. it's a good thing i am a well known customer at the chemist because i'm going through liters of alcohol !
neki desu
