Chinese Whispers

[Nancy R.]

I think dying is cool, but I'll pass on the dying exchange. I've done a little bit of it, but didn't feel comfortable putting the leftovers into my septic system so have decided that it's not for me. It's supposed to be fine, but I just didn't feel good about it. And I have plenty of other things to keep me occupied without picking up another activity! But I definitely want to see any creations made in one of those exchanges!!

Nancy

[Lois B.]

I hope this doesn't happen quite as fast as the Chinese Whisper Challenge. I think I would want to do it on a very small scale and see how it turned out for me before I'd exchange. I haven't done any for myself and I think I'd need to try it first. But I think Rosemary's idea sounds like extremely great fun.

[E.M. T.]

I'll keep listening !

[Lotti D.]

I'm also listening and very intrigued... Took a dying course last autumn and wanted to have another go, but time just isn't on my side... Work and Xmas creeping up on me... But would so love to exchange a home dyed fabric or a few...

Terrie, batiks should technically be dyed in multi layers using a resistant such as wax to make the patterns, this is just a very short explanation of it, but hand dying doesn't a batik make ( although they are often placed together in shops...). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik

http://www.wikihow.com/Batik
http://www.craftbits.com/project/how-to-batik-dye
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/howtobatik.shtml

[Lotti D.]

Here is an idea - how about we all dye up some fabric, and then send it to someone else to cut into and make up and then get it sent back to the original dyer? or is that just getting too ambitious?

I like this idea and I'm all for it. Like Maureen said, mostly what I do with my hand dyes is admire them, pet them and wonder if I'll have the courage to cut them since they're so beautiful and unique (sigh).

[Lotti D.]

I've been curious and wanting to dye fabrics for a while but it wasn't until this past May when a LQS offered a hand dye class that I got into it. Was a great class and so worth it. I learned the low immersion or "scrunch" method using plastic bags. I use fiber reactive dyes and PFD (prepared for dying) cotton twill or muslin, find it at Joan's and use the 40-50 % off coupon. I speed up the process with heat. That's one advantage of living in hot sunny Arizona. 15-30 min. after adding the dye to the fabric I discard the excess dye and add soda ash/chemical water to fix (set) the color and salt water to keep the color bright. Then I let it sit outside in the sun for 45-60 min. Then discard that solution, rinse in cold water 2-3 times and add hot water and white vinegar, let it sit for 10-15 min and rinse in cold water. Put the fabric in the washer with a mild cleanser (orvus paste) on a regular cycle and use white vinegar as fabric softener. Put the fabric in the dryer on the damp dry setting. Finish drying it with the iron on cotton setting and voilà. I've got great results following this steps and so far haven't had any issues with bleeding at all. I do the dying in my kitchen sink. All utensils and containers are designated for hand dyeing only. So far I have used only the three colors (turquoise, fuchsia and lemon yellow) and make my own mixes.

[Maureen A.]

I have tried a few different dyes including Dylon dyes and Procion MX Fibre reactive dyes and the Procion dyes are by far the more intense ones. Low water immersion dying is the easiest. As Limbania says you only need the three primary colours to start with – yellow, blue and red – then you can mix all the other colours from them. I like the golden yellow, turquoise and magenta the best. You also need salt and soda ash or washing soda. I dye in lots of different containers that I have recycled like plastic yoghurt cartons, glass jars, and large plastic tumblers, tall or squat. Really anything that holds fabric, oblong and rectangles ones are good as well. I sometimes use plastic freezer bags and put them in a cat litter try but now find that squashing them into a jam jar or taller container gets some terrific patterns especially using all three colours.

A really good book is Color by Accident by Ann Johnston

[Maureen A.]

Two more

[Nancy R.]

Maureen - Your hand-dyes are luscious!! I can understand why you have difficulty cutting into them!

Nancy

[Lois B.]

Here's what I think would be fun. You folks that are already into it post, like Maureen has just done, what you've done, how you did it and the results. The rest of us could learn from that and join in as we have time and collect the things we need. It sounds as if a few of you have your own hand dyed fabric sitting on the shelf just waiting to find a new home in someone else's quilt. Looks like Maureen, Lambina and maybe Rosemary could post an exchange today. I remember Rita mentioning using her own hand dyed fabric for the backing of a quilt. Maybe she has some on hand too.

BTW, thank you Maureen for posting those beautiful, beautiful pieces of fabric.

[Lois B.]

Just reading the last post and realised that I was wearing a piece of hand dyed, so I gave it a quick once over & photographed it for you lot. It started life as a (bed) pillow case, which I took to an indigo dyeing class (which I got from a friend, in exchange for some sewing ) It had a fancy embroidered end, so I copied the design onto the other end using running stitch & whip stitch pulled up tight, ran out of time so I just tied a knot in the middle and added it to the vat. I love how it has come out and it makes a great scarf.
think I should have let the iron warm up a bit more :wink:

[Nancy R.]

That is really cool, Rosemary!

[Nancy R.]

Super cool! Thanks for the photos! They are way cool! I definitely have the dyeing bug now. 3-day quilting retreat in two weeks, then Houston, then recover, then Christmas, then 2014. THEN dyeing! If the fabric exchange doesn't appear before then, I think I'll be up for it!

I'm wondering which of the many projects I'll bring to the retreat :?: Maybe the spools/reels.. .

Thanks for the links, Lotti - BTW did you see the beach hut quilt on the main page? Made me think of you :wink:

[wendy w.]

Great fabrics and scarf. I can see the difference now between Maureen's vibrant pieces and Rosemary's more subtle shades using the Dylon.

Limbania your method has far too many stages for me

[Lotti D.]

Actually, i think that most of limbania's stages are part of the rinsing process, and how ever much fun the dying is, there is a lot of rinsing involved in hand-dying. But finding out how the fabric has actually turned out is oh so worth it.

When I had my course last year, we did mainly plain colors in various shades (using procion dyes, with the fabric soaked in soda-ash water beforehand to get it to "take" the dye), I.e. we took half the original dye mixture of 1 cup for a color bath, filled the remainder up to a cup with water, took half again for the next piece of fabric, filled remainder up to a cup, used half for next piece, etc, can be done 3-6 times before the dye mixture becomes too weak... (any extra dye mixture was collected in a separate container after each bath)... We did this with a few different colors and after we had finished we spread one large fabric piece of about 2 yards or so out on a double layer of plastic sheeting ( the kind used to protect furniture when painting ), scrunching the fabric up a bit in some places and leaving a good bit of plastic on each side, then four people held up the edges so the dye would not run all over the place and we poured all the collected dye leftovers onto the fabric willy nilly, trying to cover all fabric bits and not getting too much of the color over each other (as we didn't want to end up with a brown piece)., we then covered it up in another piece of plastic sheeting and folded the edges in from all sides to make a nice bundle, put the bundle in an old plastic bag and left it to cure for 24 hours...
The next day I got to rinse all the fabric bits.... Lots and lots and lots of rinsing.... But oh what wonderful fabrics... I especially love the silks, and the 'leftover- bit isn't all bad either...
I'll try to add a picture or three - gotta find em first...

it's amazing how much difference the type of fabric makes to the brightness of the resulting fabric.
i used my grandma's old duvet covers - some were mercerized cotton - some cotton batist - these give great designs as the the color appears different depending on the weave.
i used some of her old bed sheets - fairly rough - more loosely woven cotton
i used some new - but cheapish cotton - both of these use lots and lots and lots of dye
i used very tightly woven cotton - more batik like (these have great colors - but take a bit of work to absorb them)


and i love the dyed bits of old lace - these are great for embellishing

and my lovely lovey lovely silks - it will be quite some time till these get cut into


sorry - colors much brighter in person , and the multi-colored "leftover-piece" is gone - i used it in my friend rosemary's quilt. i used strips from all the other fabrics in there too - all except the silks that is