Fabulously Flawed Miniatures: Dyeing Linen Fabric...

I've been obsessing over dyeing fabric lately. Today I got a chance to play around with a few potions :). Although I was researching Rit Dyes, I discovered that you can use Annie Sloan Chalk Paints to dye fabric. I was going crazy for the chance to try this out!

This all started with a linen duvet set that I no longer liked the color. I discovered via the Rit website, that you can easily dye linen. So off to the craft store. As much as I like light girly colors, with my husband…no way! So I chose the recipe for a beautiful Pantone Color called Turbulence. It's a mix of Kelly Green and Navy. This is my first try at dyeing fabric, so there were some hit and misses.

First, the Rit Dye. I was too excited to measure anything, but I did manage to get some great colors with the a piece of linen fabric I had. The first photo is Navy on the creme linen. It is really pretty. The second photo is the Navy and Kelly Green Mix. The one one the left is really beautiful, I love this color! It's a little difficult to see in the photo, but there is a nice green tint to the navy. This is the color I want my duvet set, not the color I got ;(.

Now the Chalk Paint, I tried using several colors, Burgundy, Old Violet, Olive, Duck Egg and Aubusson Blue. I found the most successful were the Burgundy, Duck Egg and Aubusson Blue. I am not sure if I left them in the dye long enough or did not use enough paint, but all the colors with the exception of the burgundy were very faint after the first dip and dry.

Of all the colors I tested, the only colors I decided to keep were the Duck Egg, Aubusson Blue and the Burgundy.

After running the linen through another bath of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, I can say the colors did deepen. I wanted the colors to look muted, so I decided to let them sit in a tea bath before drying. This time I let them dry in the dryer. (See results below)

Finally, my duvet set, sigh…not so good. I ran low on the Kelly Green and Navy Rit Dye but decided to go for it anyway. Not a good decision, as the set is just a funny faded blue. I think I will go back to the store and purchase the 2 Rit Dyes and give it another shot. If it doesn't work out, than I at least have the beautiful dyed linen fabrics to create wonderful miniature wing chairs.