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Button Business
Button Business
Tamar Valley Group had a 'Button Dyeing" experiment day, with mixed results.
Ingredients:
Buttons, White mugs, Boiling water, Dyes, Stirring sticks, Microwave oven, Paper towel, Cold water.
Method:
- Take an old white mug and fill to 1/3 with boiling water.
- Add 1/8 teaspoon of Landscape/Gaywool Dye, stir thoroughly.
- Add Buttons threaded on string, loop the string around the handle of the mug.
- Microwave for 1 minute, only 1 mug at a time.
- Remove from oven, wipe up any bubbled over mess with paper towel.
- Dunk string-threaded buttons into cold water.
- Repeat for each colour
Results:
Good colours on ordinary plastic buttons and on wooden buttons. Pearly buttons didn't take dye, neither did clear buttons.
Notes:
- Start with less dye than you think you need, you can always add a bit more and re-microwave to get a better depth of colour.
- Mugs work well, the handle is a bonus for removing from the microwave as the dye liquid is boiling hot.
- Great for getting buttons that match your handpsun, home dyed yarn!