Rainbow Dyed Roving

We started our with 4 ounces of roving and dyes.  The roving soaked in water for several hours to make it ready to absorb the dyes.

Mom laid down a layer of plastic wrap and then the roving, then she added dye solution to the roving one color at a time.

We moved down the roving adding more colors.

Then pressing the dye into the roving so it would go all the way through to the other side.

This is what it looks like with the dye pressed in.

We kept repeating our color pattern until we reached the end of the roving.

Pressing the dye in again.

All of the roving is now completely covered with dye solution.

Lay another piece of plastic wrap on top of the roving so it can be rolled up for the steaming process.

Make sure all the edges are sealed tight.

Rolling up the sealed roving to make sure no dye escapes.

All rolled up and ready for the steamer.

Into the steamer it goes.

In the steamer getting hot so that the dye can "set".

Mom unwraps the rovings from the plastic wrap and they sit in the sink.  Be careful, they are still hot and you can burn yourself or "felt" the roving. (I forgot to take a picture of mom taking the wrap off the roving we worked with, so this is a picture of her doing it to a different one.  It's the same idea, just a different roving)

This roving will now sit in the sink to cool off and then get a gentle bath to remove any excess dye.

Here is the dried and finished roving.

When dyeing the roving, the colors looked kinda dull, but when finished and dried, they looked much brighter.

Copyright 2006 by Woven~N~Spun