July 5, 2011

Dyed Feathers

Recently, a fellow blogger asked me to make her a fascinator: eggplant coloured flower, teal feathers.  Awesome pairing!  Eggplant satin - no problem.  Teal feathers?  Uhhhhh.....

I wasn't sure where to find such a thing without making a trip to Toronto.  There are feathers available at craft stores but they just weren't the right colours. 


Well, I figured that all the feathers for boas and crafts are dyed somehow, so I did some online research.  The first site I found talked about acid dyes.  That just seemed....scary.   Especially with a 10.5 month old in the house who somehow gets into E V E R Y T H I N G. 

I've used Rit fabric dyes before, (their colour remover is most excellent for keeping whites white) so I went on their website and found a tutorial on how to dye feathers.  Huzzah!


I used white and Guinea feathers that I bought from Michael's.  The Guinea feathers were kind of a waste of time, they didnt' seem to absorb much colour no matter how long they were left in.



Rinsed feathers drying.


They looked so great with the flower, but I wanted a few with more contrast, so I did some later with a lighter teal.





It was hard to let this fascinator go!  I'm so glad that I ventured into dying feathers, it's going to save me a LOT of money!

From what I understand, acid dyes will give a more intense colour.  Maybe one day I will fiddle around with that.  For now, I'm happy with the all-purpose dyes.

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