Week 31 Acorn Slip Dress

It has taken me almost 40 years to fall in love with the idea of wearing black. So my quest begins to find a natural black dye.

The first one to catch my attention took about a week of preparation time. Appropriately as Halloween approaches, I felt a bit witchy, creating a bubbling brew of rusty objects and vinegar for my iron mordant.

The exciting part of this natural acorn dye is just is how easy it is.  After about 15 minutes under an old Garry oak tree, we had gathered enough acorns to dye several pieces of fabric and a couple items of clothing. 

With our collection of acorns submerged in a water bath, they boiled for about two hours. The initial colour that emerged was a warm brown. After removing the acorns, I then simmered my yard of hemp fabric for another 45 minutes. 

What happened next seems like a bit of magic!  By submerging the brown dyed fabric into a water bath with the iron mordant solution in it, the tannins from the acorns oxidized and instantly changed colour.  

I was so impressed and amazed by the result that I ran around my house, searching for other items of clothing I could dye.  Once washed and dried, although not black, the colours created a family of warm greys. 

Another equally exciting discovery is the pattern I adapted to create a 1930's Magic Bias Slip. There is so much beauty in this pattern as it is easily altered to fit many figures. It is particularly easy to adapt to a zero-waste pattern. Although my first attempt to put this slip together is less than perfect, the potential and relative ease of this pattern is perfection in and of itself. 

Thank you to Caresse for the inspiration. 

I am that I am.