Well, they do say, it’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know that counts! And this came in really handy recently when I desperately needed some Avocado-green corduroy for Prince Charming’s tummy!

I KNOW I could’ve used fleece, BUT I really love the warm textured feel of wide pin-wale corduroy. I haven’t seen the Prince Charming tummy coloured green corduroy in the shops for a while so when I managed to find some pale ‘mint’ green corduroy, I thought I’d try my hand at dying the fabric.

And then it occurred to me – I know JUST the right person to help me with this…

Trish Alan from Trishalan Designs!

I live ‘just around the corner’ from the Trishalan Designs studio at the Old Petrie Town North Pine Country Park. Trish’s speciality is hand dyed kumihimo threads and fabric! WHAT WAS I THINKING, trying to get the colour right all by myself???

NOW, Before I get you all excited and beating a path to Trish’s door for custom dying… she has pointed out very clearly in her blog post that as a general rule, she doesn’t custom dye for people because the time involved in getting the exact shade right, just isn’t worth the time and effort it takes. But she refers to me as her ‘Furry Factory Friend’ and says that when I asked if she could dye some fabric for my ‘adorable kits’ she just couldn’t say no! So I am absolutely thrilled that she has made an exception and has done this as a special favour for me. I really appreciate what a specialised time-consuming thing this is to do!!! Thanks Trish! Now look at what a clever job she’d done!

The piece lying on top is the sample of the froggy belly green corduroy I was trying to match. (You can probably tell that I used it to make a shell cover for a Tilly Tortoise too!)

Poor Trish, she says the corduroy fabric was so heavy to lift when it was wet with the dye that her arm muscles got a really good work out!

And here is the fabric after dyeing. A second piece of the original mint green is in the far left of the photo so you can see that the dyed fabric is a perfect match! Absolutely brilliant, I have to say, although I didn’t doubt Trish’s dyeing abilities for one second I was VERY impressed!

You can visit Trish’s website to find out more about her fabulous  eco hand dyed threads, fabrics and kumihimo supplies, or pop in to visit them at the Old Petrie Town to see their complete range of hand crafted gifts and upcycled clothes.

Maybe next time I’ll be brave and dye on my own! Sounds terrible! : )

Oh, and of course – you can check put the new Prince Charming Frog kits I made up on the website now!
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Bye for now,
Pauline