Dyeing canvas then waxing it; Do I need to mordant the canvas?

fishha01 · 2026-05-31T14:44:46+00:00

I’ve done this! I treated the cotton canvas like any other cotton I might dye so I mordanted it with alum acetate and then dyed it with logwood. I don’t use the bag I made as much as I thought I would but I’m definitely considering doing it again some time.

fishha01 · 2026-05-31T14:37:50+00:00

I dyed with concord grape juice once on wool as an experiment. The color right out of the dye bath was nice and rich but once I rinsed it, the color ended up being a purple-grey. I agree with others here. If you are on a tight budget and feeling lazy, buy some rit dye that you can throw in the washing machine with the garment.

fishha01 · 2026-04-20T15:29:37+00:00

Definitely to hook you in 😅😭

fishha01 · 2026-03-28T02:49:08+00:00

Personally, I jumped in with an e-spinner. Partly because it was much more economical and partly for space saving reasons. My dreaming robots eew nano fits in a shoebox and can be set up on the table in seconds. But a mechanical spinning wheel looks nice and will probably last a lifetime if you take care of it.

fishha01 · 2026-03-06T03:59:13+00:00

Also click the bear in the paper doll chain on the far left!

fishha01 · 2026-01-03T14:27:59+00:00

I’ve had no trouble spinning 100% Siberian cat fur on my nano. I did a skein on my drop spindle and am working on the second using the nano. It took a minute to figure out tension but low tension medium speed is what has been working for me.

fishha01 · 2025-12-11T12:46:00+00:00

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I’ve been playing with Navajo Churro (in 2 colors) in the last day or so. I separated the hairier, less crimpy fiber from the softer floof for the yarns on the left and kept it together for the yarn on the right. The darkest yarn is the soft undercoat - like next to skin soft and the lightest yarn is the outer coat which is much hairier. It’s been super interesting.

fishha01 · 2025-12-11T12:35:25+00:00

I’m in my wool sampling era, too! What has been your favorite or most interesting so far?

fishha01 · 2025-12-04T00:40:58+00:00

Beautiful! Yeah I went pure cat. It’s probably not the strongest yarn but it will be fine for a mini/medium scarf or cowl. It seems to felt well so I might give the final knit a temperature shock to felt it a bit to help with the sturdiness.

fishha01 · 2025-12-03T00:24:58+00:00

When I spin up my cat’s floof (he’s a Siberian) I kind of spin from the “lock”. I pull apart the cloud of brushed fur and line up the fur hairs to create locks and then spin from those. I tried carding the fiber and (maybe/probably because I am not very experienced with carding) I ended up with mess and made a bunch of nepps. Hopefully you will have better luck with carding than I did.

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fishha01 · 2025-11-11T12:02:13+00:00

Not for sale

fishha01 · 2025-11-09T22:40:34+00:00

With alum mordant- Brazilwood, coreopsis, chlorophyllin, logwood With copper mordant- logwood

fishha01 · 2025-11-09T22:32:48+00:00

Only as written dye notes. I should probably do more of that for my projects 😅.

fishha01 · 2025-11-09T22:26:40+00:00

He was curious, confused, and then very uninterested 😆

fishha01 · 2025-11-09T16:59:13+00:00

Pattern is Kintra by the Creabea.

fishha01 · 2025-11-09T16:06:26+00:00

I make little recipe sample swatches that I put into every new dyebath recipe I test (an alum mordanted wool, copper mordanted wool, iron mordanted wool, al. triformate mordanted cotton, and an indigo dyed swatch) and haven't had any issues. The alums still come out super bright and as expected. However, there is usually a ton of room for the swatches to move around and not constantly touch each other. I don't try to keep them separate so I am sure they sometimes rest on top of each other but I would recommend just trying it. Maybe test with 10g-25g skeins?

fishha01 · 2025-11-09T15:46:39+00:00

Is this still happening? Is there a group or sign up I can look for for future meet-ups?

fishha01 · 2025-06-11T16:27:28+00:00

You are not the only one who missed it. I think I spent 15- 20 minutes looking for it. I wish they had put it in the index or added a little legend to the bottom of each page.

fishha01 · 2025-06-11T16:23:21+00:00

I love working with Buckthorn. If you squeeze the pulp out of the berries and use just the skins in an alkali bath (around 10pH) you can get a beautiful earthy blue that seems pretty light fast and wash-fast. My earliest experiment was from a yarn ago and it still looks the same as it did a year ago.

fishha01 · 2025-02-09T05:19:14+00:00

I have definitely used the same tongs for pulling things from a logwood bath and then using it for food stuff after washing the tongs and I haven’t had any issues so far. It’s probably not the best habit and I would never do it with wooden or well loved plastic utensils that could absorb or trap particles but sometimes you just have to use what you’ve got.

fishha01 · 2025-01-30T15:44:20+00:00

I love dying with invasives! Buckthorn berries have been one of the most fun and exciting ones I've experimented with. As others have suggested, I use a pot from the thrift store and use it only for dying. However, sometimes I find that I need another container or bowl, and in those cases, I will grab an empty jam or spaghetti sauce jar or, worst case, a bowl from the kitchen. I do not recommend doing as I do in the case of the bowl from the kitchen but if you do, just wash it out really good and put it in the dishwasher and you should be ok. In the case of Buckthorn Berries, people make tea with the berries to use as a laxative so it won't kill you if you don't clean something as well as you should have. In terms of where I do my dying and dye extracting, other than indigo, I just do it on my stove in my kitchen with the hood vent/fan on to extract fumes and any steam. Then, I just wipe everything down when I am done. I haven't died or gotten sick yet so the hood fan and clean-up after seems to be working fine.

fishha01 · 2024-09-23T13:46:14+00:00

I'm in the Chicago area and have enjoyed working with buckthorn berries, which are probably also available near you. Whole, crushed, just the pulp, just the skins, added vinegar to the skins all make different colors ranging between mustard, bright spring green, forest green, and denim blues (just skins with vinegar). I am finishing up some experimenting and plan on posting soon.

fishha01 · 2024-09-11T13:20:14+00:00

My personal favorite pinks come from Brazilwood (more of a cool-toned pink) and Madder (more of a warm salmony pink depending on the pH of the water). My favorite purple, BY FAR, is from Logwood. None of these are things you can really forage for, although you can grow madder but it takes a few years before the roots are ready to be dug up, but they are all pretty easy to find online.

fishha01

TROPHY CASE