25 colors focused on out of about 35-40. The few that did not make the cut were very close in color or were outside of the color range that I found to be natural for skin color. They may have worked for a movie or play. Imagine an oompa loompa, that's the energy some of the shades were bringing.
Solid with the 25 shades, I put them out as the second color set of the dyed skin tone color brand that did not quite have a name yet. Now the shades are available to purchase in mesh fabric yardage as well a few other fabrics. As I start to dye fabric for the first orders, I find that I am having difficulty reproducing exact colors. No matter how many adjustments I made on the formulas the colors were still off. It was so bad that each sandstone colored dye bottle would produce different shades. This meant that the consistency of the bottled dye was not dependable and my life is ruined.
NOW WHAT?
In the moment, I had a good idea to mix all the bottles together to at least have somewhat of a consistency within the madness. But it still meant that I would have to redo all of the formulas. (SAD FACE) I felt so defeated, ya'll.
Then a brilliant idea..... email the RIT dye company and ask a few questions. My first question being if it were possible that the dye would be that inconsistent? Second question, how do I move forward with a consistent product under the circumstance? Third question, is it possible that the dye was tampered with? (This was before the seal was added to the bottles.) I tried to explain the best I could in words what I was attempting to offer the world. With it being unclear and maybe a bit interesting, the representative asked if it was okay for him to call and chat. So, he calls and we chat....for like an hour or more. What we came up with was that I would need to upgrade to a more professional grade of dye to have more control over the dye consistency. That meant I would have to start all over. This time I said the "F" word.
Quick Reminder:
This entire project is funded on the little monies I am currently making working in childcare and TA-OSH as a custom apparel brand was still quite new to the world. The nude fabric line is a product in its infantile stage.
So.....bottle dye is a no go! Need to upgrade. Starting from scratch.
I take the leap and I go professional with one color and I keep the chocolate brown dye. So far I haven't had much luck with the darker range colors. And to be honest, it is still a work in progress in the rich brown shades. But I ain't giving up!
The dye arrives and I start playing around with just that color to see what I am working with. They are all UGLY .....in comparison to the rich colors I had already. I felt like the RIT guy had tricked me and I was about to choose violence. But I remembered that jail is a bad place. Up until this point, I had learned some things about color theory. I couldn't explain it in a educated sense but I had developed the skill to manipulate color. This is where I do a comparison of the color I want versus the color I got. And I ask myself.....I said "SELF'....."What is missing in this color?" And self said...."try adding some yellow." ANDDDDDDDDD.......BOOM! From this point, I created a blend of red, orange and yellow dye to adjust the color. Although highly stressful, this change yielded 55 new shades. I picked 55 but it was more like 60-70.
I believed I was finally on to something. And then....
Chocolate brown started giving me gray and blue undertones. Ultimately, I was now facing the issue of dingy lifeless browns. Not again!
Story continues on blog NHUDES REDID.