My indigo dye pot has seen action this summer with fabric and notions. I found a big bag of wooden buttons in an antique store and wondered, “will these take dye well?” For a $3 investment, I thought it was worth the risk. The payoff was spectacular! I suddenly had a tray filled with blue buttons drying on the back porch.
I love buttons almost as much as I do fabric and love to find old buttons of bone, horn, or wood to add the perfect note to projects. These that went in the dye pot were NOT antique treasured wooden buttons. They were machine-made for craft projects, just hadn’t been used and were being sold for a song.
After that success, I decided to try dyeing some threads. I have dipped some embroidery floss and some perle cotton. It adds a little more personality to know that I’m stitching with something unique.
So my latest finished piece is called Blue With Blue on Blue. I appliquéd the melons onto a vintage linen tea towel, then did minimal machine quilting around the appliqué, and attached the dyed buttons using dyed floss.
This turned out to be a fun project which will generate memories of hand stitching, dyeing, and playing every time I see it. It is now keeping company with another couple of favorite pieces in an out-of-the-way corner that almost no one sees. But I see it. And I like it!
