Pini Dye Job

Last fall I promised my friend Arda Sigibertsdottr from Girbeson Living History that I would overdye her purple pini in a slightly more appropriate color, we decided on red. Normally I would dye with natural dyes as was done in the viking era. But I didn't think it would work well on the purple color it had already and I didn't want to strip the paint because it is quite harsh on the fabric.


But after re-thinking the whole idea through the winter, I decided to strip the paint to a more neutral color in order to get a nice red. First I tried washing it warm with soda, it did remove some of the color but not enough. Then I stripped the dye with dylon dye remover, this its how it looked afterwards.


Then dyed it with Ashford wool dyes, color red. This is how it came out.


I am satisfeid with the color, it looks a lot like madderdyed fabric. But the pini has shrunk, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will still fit. Luckily she can always make something nice for her daughter Runa out of the fabic.