For this style of feather dyeing, use feathers of good quality, with
wide and well developed vanes. They are dyed in two colors and shades
only, presenting one color, mostly of a light shade, or a white "black"
on both sides along the stems, while the outer edges for the vanes, or
ends of the fibres, are dyed in a different color or darker shade. They
make a particularly handsome effect when curled over the stem, setting
off the edges in a fine contrast against the black showing through the
curls.
To produce edgings an oval pan, as described in the beginning, or other
dye-vessel of greater length than the feathers, and three or four
inches deep must be used. The well scoured, respectively bleached,
and rinsed feathers are first dyed the color for the middle part, as
usual on strings. After rinsing and drying they are taken off from the
strings and "edged" singly. For this purpose prepare the dye-bath for
the edging color, heat to the proper temperature, take the tip and
quill respectively between the fore-finger and the thumb of both hands,
dip the feathers edgewise, that is, with the ends of the fibres on
one side of the stem, or the edge of the vane only, into the dye-bath
as deep as the edging is to be wide, and move the feather in this
position horizontally forward and backward in the bath until the shade
is obtained. Then place the feather between several laps of clean dry
muslin, squeeze it out by passing the hand over it, and dye the other
edge in the same manner as the first. Finally rinse, starch and dry the
feather as usual.
In this connection a chemical reaction is worthy of mention,
which was discovered about two years ago by an accident, and may
be advantageously employed for the production of edgings upon
ostrich feathers, if further developed by experiments. In a large
feather-dyeing establishment, in Berlin, a sheet of paper which
had been wetted with ammonia, and had become dry, had been left on
a work-table, when one of the employees, who was handling a lot of
feathers freshly dyed with methyl violet, inadvertently put one of
the feathers, which was still moist, upon the impregnated paper.
After a while, when the feather was picked up, it was found that the
violet, all round the edge of the feather, had turned brilliant green,
producing a very pleasing effect. It is rational to suppose that with
mixed colors, in whose composition methyl violet largely enters,
similar effects can be produced by the action of ammonia; and probably
the same is the case with other aniline dyestuffs.