Dyeing

I've had a busy time this week - it's half term so I've been off work, which would theoretically mean more sewing time. But, after a hectic few months DH and I decided to go away for a short break. We visited DD in Brighton, which is a very lively and fun place to visit even when it's raining (as it was!) , and then took the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe to be rained on in France! Never mind, we had a good time, sheltering in Rouen Cathedral, sitting sipping cafe cremes in little cafes and taking advantage of a break in the clouds to walk along the beach at Deauville - a very sophisticated resort! And no holiday in France is complete without a visit to the hypermarket to stock up with French wines for Christmas entertaining. We definitely clanked back over the channel!

Now I still have a day or two before I get back to work, I decided to try Karol-Ann's excellent suggestion of dyeing some donated curtain lining to make some kits up for jars quilts. DD recently dyed a charity shop dress black in my machine, and not only did the dress come out black, but my subsequent washing didn't!

Here is the cream-coloured lining fabric, waiting to go in the machine.

Here is the dye packet - it promises 'velvet black'.

Here is the dry, dyed fabric. It is darker than it looks in this photo, a very dark charcoal, but not quite black. I suppose it was my fault as the instructions said the pack would dye 600 grammes of fabric, and I put in just a little more. Never mind. It'll be fine for jars quilts, and so long as I keep some back for borders etc. nobody will notice.

Especially when the jars are full of things like these which I picked up recently!

Local people, look out for the kits in my Project Linus box!