Dyeing Experiments

[William Anderson]

Vicki, I'm curious about the properties of the fleece and your intended use. The dye job is fantastic and it looks like you've come up with a very nice material to add to some of your ties. I could speculate about the properties, but I would rather hear others thoughts.

w

[kanutripr]

I've just started using the fleece but really like it. It's one of my favourite materials. It makes amazingly buggy flies and I've used it for soft hackles as well as Wulff style dries. Probably would not work well for sparse dries. It absorbs water well (great for wets) but also sheds it quickly with a couple of false casts (I think because it spins loosely). It is just wool that has been cleaned and carded but not spun. The fibres can be be picked out into individual hairs that are about 1" - 2" long and are somewhat kinky so they really hold the thread when spun between thumb and forefinger. It goes on best if you just use a few hairs but can be built up easily if you just add a few more.





Not my best dry, I just realized I've given away most of them over the winter. The above were tied with a natural gray (undyed) fleece. I really like the natural because of the variations in the colour.



Vicki

[Roadkill]

Vicki, I'm curious about the properties of the fleece and your intended use. The dye job is fantastic and it looks like you've come up with a very nice material to add to some of your ties. I could speculate about the properties, but I would rather hear others thoughts.

w

Here is a photo of my 100% Merino wool spey dubbing box. The top right fiery brown dubbing was dyed in iodine



Wool has been used for centuries for wet and dry flies. Raw fleece or floatant treated wool works well for dry flies.

[michaelgmcgraw]

Neat job in the dye RoadKill and Kanutripr

[Roadkill]

I didn't dye the rest of the colors. They are from a fabric arts and wool spinning shop in my town. Great shades of many subtle colors mixed for spinners to finish. Takes most of the work out of it. I mainly dye rabbit, mink and an occasional feather.

[kanutripr]

HMMM, I like the iodine idea.


Vicki

[willowhead]

Way cool flies Vicki.....great tyin'.....KILLER shade of firey brown R.K.