As Gus gets older, his long term memory becomes elephantine. We thought he might enjoy doing a project that would develop over several days. After looking in a lot of vintage children's craft books (the old craft books are better as they do not worry about trivial matters of mess and safety), we liked the look of batik dyeing with natural dyes. We dyed a series of muslin panels using glue as a resist (the material that keeps the dye from penetrating certain areas in order to make a design) and tumeric, coffee, and beets as colors. We also learned that dye needs a mordant, or chemical to bind the color to the textile. We used vinegar (like you do with easter eggs). Stay tuned on Rumpos Inc. as there will soon be our first "give away" contest involving a prize made from the fabric from this process. And Gus really did do everything except put the pans on the stove to heat the dyes.
Pouring the vinegar mordant that will be added to the fabric in the pan.
Watching Mama handle the heavy lifting.
Painting on the resist in various designs.
Smelling the tumeric before adding it to the pan (sorry about grainy photos, if the only light is the kitchen fluorescent, my camera thinks there is no light).
Adding coffee (this is where Papa died a little inside).
Grating beets. Finally, a use for beets (because they're certainly NOT for eating)!
Completed dyes, ready to paint them into the prepared and batiked fabric panels.
He mixed colors, tried different ways of applying, and wore an old shirt.
