So I thought I found the right Raffia.......

[BroadSword]

So I was looking through my local drapery/upholstery shop with the wife a few weeks back and I come across roll of material that looks an awful lot like raffia. I pull it out and it is in fact raffia and I'm thinking this stuff looks a lot like the photos on the Yordreem website. I pull up the Yordreem photos on my phone and I'm convinced this it "it", I found Licorice Raffia!! So I get a hold of Scott and send him a scan of the material. His initial reaction was that it looked very similar to Licorice. So I buy the whole roll and send him a swatch. I'm thinking I nailed this, but alas...it's NOT licorice based on Scott's assessment. He sent me a sample of both Licorice and Ebony 903 and a side by side comparison of what I had bought and a swatch of Licorice and Ebony 903 reveals that it is much lighter than both. So, I jumped the gun and now have almost 25+ yds of this stuff, which is made by P. Kaufman (they own Braemore I believe).

Anyhow, here are some photos of what it looks like on its own, as compared to Licorice and Ebony and after a dye experiment we did last weekend.

Scan of Raffia I found (this is what I compared to the Licorice on Scott's site):


Inside shot of comparison:


Outside shot of comparison:


Photo of various swatched dyed and different time lengths and dye amount:


One of the swatches compared to right side of Ebony 903:


Same swatch compared to the "wrong" side of the Ebony 903:



The last shot is not exact by any means, but it does have a weathered sort of look to it I think. It will take some more experimenting with dyes, but I think this could be in the ballpark if I can find the right time/dye amount combo. I have not tried to darken it with black to make it look more like Licorice, since I figured I should try and get it close to the real thing vice the current alternative.

[Maui512]

Wow, that looks really close! Is that the 10 min 1tsp sample? Certainly seems passable as to my eye.

Steve

[pinder91]

PM sent, mate!

[neojacksparrow]

That's scary close! Way to go!

[Capt Jag]

I think you've got it very, very close and that once in coat form with all the embellishments and weathering it will look identical...

Nicely done, mate, nicely done...

[BroadSword]

Wow, that looks really close! Is that the 10 min 1tsp sample? Certainly seems passable as to my eye.

Steve

That is actually the 10 min 2tsp sample.

[BroadSword]

FYI. I still have yardage of this raffia if anyone is interested.

[Button It]

Id guess this is probably raffia java that ls fabric now stock.

[pinder91]

Not sure why it took me so long to get this posted. I've had the pics in my photobucket for weeks. Anyway, here's my results with the dyes.

Inside lighting.


Sunlight.


Ebony on the top, Licorice on the bottom.

Left to right:

5 cups water:1tbsp denim blue+1tbsp navy blue ~ 15 minutes.
5 cups water:1tbsp denim blue+1tbsp navy blue+1tbsp purple ~ 10 minutes.
5 cups water:1tbsp denim blue+1tbsp navy blue ~ 10 minutes.
5 cups water:1tbsp denim blue ~ 5 minutes.

I know, the pics are awful. Hopefully Simon has a better recipe!

[Mojo Turbo]

and compared to MY coat fabric....

http://mojoturbocostumes.wikispaces.com/file/view/buycostumescoat5.JPG

[Button It]

It obviously depends on how much fabric you're dying, but I used a pack of navy blue machine wash dye with 7.5m of the fabric and it's come out pretty much the same as the original raffia looked after a bit of bleaching. I'll post up a pic later

[BroadSword]

It obviously depends on how much fabric you're dying, but I used a pack of navy blue machine wash dye with 7.5m of the fabric and it's come out pretty much the same as the original raffia looked after a bit of bleaching. I'll post up a pic later

Can you tell us how long you let sit in the machine? Did you follow the packet directions exactly or did you deviate. I'm going to have to dye 3 yds for my boy's frock soon. Also...did you use RIT dye or another type?

Thanks!

[Button It]

I used Dylon which I think is a UK brand, and just followed the instructions.

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