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For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
You girls are the most literate, talented, witty, passionate group of people I've "never" met. What a bright spot to every day my visit(s) to this forum have become.
Never stop!
Winneybears and FriendsOhhhh you all are so on the spot ! Wonderful tips...yes, I will have to experiment . I have some left over easter egg dye , each color is in a small jar...think I can use the green up today to darken a tiny amount of green cotton I have , I need for leaves on a 30's teddy quilt.
I have been saving brown onion skins for quit awhile now...but I have no idea how many in measurements /cups/ handfulls ??? I need for let's say 1/2 yard of mohair ?Anyone who has tried this? .....Winney
Posts: 3,177Hi Winney
I've never weighed or measured the amount of skins needed and i've never dyed a whole 1/2 yard so it will have to be guesswork i'm afraid. I usually throw in as much as it takes to get the required depth of colour. You can always add more, so start with what you think and then just keep on adding.
The final colour will depend on what colour your mohair was to start off with - have an experiment, it's great - it's like being back at school (without all the studying)!
Let me kow how you get on
Penny 
Back Road BearsDanni - go for the PURPLE! That's my favorite color and I've made many a purple bear! Your style of bears would look great in purple (I'm picturing your orange bear being a yummy shade of purple instead with a grey or black nose... how great!!) I'll be waiting... hint hint! :)
I love the natural colors for bears but I get so bored. I don't like pink because I have a hard time making girly bears so then I have a very unhappy boy bear in PINK! Or a girl bear that is just to butchy looking to be in pink. It just doesn't work for me! I love blues and purples and just ordered some green alpaca... can't wait for that one!!
Variety is the spice of life!
OK, now I'm off to check out Dilyu's website! I'm so excited about this adventure! She better have a picture of herself on there! It's fun to have a pic to put with the posts here! :)
Hug to y'all!
Daphne
Delartful BearsThanks Daphne for the encouragement..Okay, I'll try a purple, no promises anyone will be able to see him LOL.....how can I go past a brown bear though?? LOL It's worth a try, I'll give it a go. It's a nice purple Ratinee - I loveeee Ratinee.
Any other Ratinee fans here?
Danni
Back Road BearsIf you can do ORANGE....... :lol::lol::lol:
(I really do like your orange bear, don't get me wrong!)
One of my favorite colors would be multi-colored. I love the ty dyed mohairs here. I'm just patiently waiting for my autumn colors to be sent... (hello Johnna :))
Fool's Gold BearsIt's a nice purple Ratinee - I loveeee Ratinee.
Any other Ratinee fans here?
Danni
I don't know. What is it? Today I saw a quality of mohair "the competition" calls ratty. I liked that, thought It might make a good, well, ...RAT! 
Delartful BearsoOOooOOOh Perhaps Ratinee is just a term that the Aussie supply place uses? It's curly wavy almost matted mohair. Very pretty. Here's an image of a bear I made out of a ratinee
LOL Daph, for some reason, I had a thing for ORANGE bears. I think I've got it out of my system now! LOL
Danni
Winneybears and FriendsDanni..there's my RAT fur I am looking for !!!! wonder if INtercal has any fur like this ? ......Winney
Posts: 8,574Oh Danni-he is so cute your little Ratinee
so cute love the nose
Oh honestly I can not believe the bears I see here.....Sometimes it is just too much- you are all sooo incredibly talented
Dilu
Fool's Gold BearsDanni,
What a nifty bear. That fur is too luscious!! I love how the dark and light colors play out in that texture.
And, Winney, I could definitely see a rat made of that
PottersHouse BearsEveryone has given their preferences. I have to say I like them all. What I really like to do is buy mohair in a light shade and then play with different dyes (tea, coffee, kool aid etc.). Because I only dye the pieces for one bear at a time and I save no dye, I never get two alike. I have found that the colorful miniatures seem to sell quicker.
Ooohhh... Millie, that's a great idea for a new topic. Will post now. I'm on fire lately!!! Cracking up here...
Well, I'm a bit late... but I always used to make my bears in "natural" colors.. browns, ivory,.... then I tried some colors...a nd I tell ya.. I've made a BUNCH of purple bears!! I'm addicted to colors now 
Back Road BearsYea, PURPLE!!!!!!!! (29 more days till my birthday and I had better get that purple KitchenAid Mixer!!!! But we won't go there. Nothing to do with bears!)
Has anyone ever used flavored coffees to dye mohair? Would they SMELL like the flavor? Yummmm!!! (I've never tried dyeing so forgive me if it's a stupid question!!!)
Daphne the Daffy!
Delartful BearsOooh purple kitchaide, I HAD to go there.. Sorry everyone!!
Thanks for the comments everyone on my little scruffy bear made out of Ratinee. He is actually my little logo bear that I had drawn.
I can't believe there bears here either Di - makes me feel very insecure of my own work.
Oh Danni! You are too funny! Your bears are adorable! Love both your avatar bear and your ratinee bear!!
Past Time BearsDanni, the little ratinee is adorable!! I do notice that the only place I've ever seen the curly, matted mohair called ratinee is Beary Cheap in Australia. I do love that place . . . Cindy is SO nice!!
Posts: 8,574Millie- I only dye enough for one bear at a time too- cuz, what if you don't like it, or it comes out too tooo....and then you have a yard of it? yikes!!!
But it is fun tweaking colors.---Thank God for color, otherwise our life would be soooo grey.
Short story on color
- When my dad started working in the motion picture industry- at the beginning- late 20's, 30's 40's all the back drops were painted in black and white and shades of gray! Really! And they didn't do much filming off the sound stage....so almost all of the backgrounds were backdrops painted by artists like my dad.
So the trick for him was learning values in the shades....and he was color blind!
He tried to enlist in world war 2 he wanted to be a cartographer, but they wouldn't take him because he was color blind.
I think that's really wild.
He was soooo jazzed when he got to work on the Wizard of Oz because it was the first time for him that he got to do work in color....He said there was no going back.
That all the artists were relieved to be able to use color instead of all the grey.
But I think, like I know anything at all, that his working in values stood him in good stead, because when he did his landscapes or the work at the museums he still used value rather than color for his paintings....I mean that values were more important than the color so he mixed all his colors to have the values he wanted.
Oh well
a dissertation on color...
Dilu
PottersHouse BearsDaphne,
I have not tried flavored coffee. However, I have used Kool Aid to dye mohair and it actually does leave a fragrance on the bear, but after a while the smell is gone.
Dilu,
What a cool story about your father. I personally have always said give me paints in the 3 primary colors and I'll make my own shades from there. My sister does quite a bit of painting and has learned also to mix her own colors.
LuxembearsBoy I am re3ally playing catch up here. What super ideas you all have with dyes.
I like the lighter colored mohairs and furs. This way the airbrushing shows up really well. My favorite colro has to be pink but I , like many of you, tend to be drawn towards natural colors for bears.
Like Danni said...variety is the spice of life.
It sure is fun to experiment too.
Delartful BearsCindy is nice, nice range of mohairs too, but I'm more of a Gerry's girl. I can't believe that I have both Gerrys and Beary Cheap in Australia - it still makes my mind bend that there are enough bears being made to support such business' throughout the world. Amazing.
