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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