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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Fabric Dyeing

Hand-dyed by jenib320
Hand-dyed, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I'm having a bit of fun this week, aren't I? Last week I got the itch to dye fabric again. I have done so a couple times (see here, here and here), and it is a lot of fun! When I was sewing up my new notebook cover last week, I cut into a little of the white on white Seed Catalog print from Annie's Farm Stand. It hit me that it would be PERFECT for dying! White on white prints are a little magical in that when you dye them the background takes the dye and the print pattern stays light.  This image, from Fabrics to Dye For, illustrates it perfectly!

Dying to Dye by jenib320
Dying to Dye, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I probably could have gotten away with using regular Rit fabric dye or something similar, but ended up using Procion MX cold water dyes again.  This is the same type of dye Malka Dubrawsky uses in her dyeing, and I used it last year when I experimented with wax resist dyeing. I figured if I'm going to do it, I might as well do it right!


Dyeing by jenib320
Dyeing, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Despite being a little labor intensive and more expensive, it really is the way to go. The colors are very saturated and bold, which I think can be hard to achieve with other dyes.  I took over our tub to do the dyeing yesterday! Nice thing about it is the mess stays contained and you can just dump the dye baths down the drain when you're done!

Hand-dyed by jenib320
Hand-dyed, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I am so happy with the way these turned out. I had hoped the text would stay a little lighter, so next time I probably won't soak it as long. I am already scheming what other colors I want to do. Definitely green and brown! Maybe orange too!

Tomorrow by jenib320
Tomorrow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
If you are at all interested in fabric dyeing or wax-resist, I highly recommend Malka's book, Color Your Cloth. It is an amazing resource and inspiration! Rossie has some great information on dyeing too!

Annie's Farm Stand by jenib320
Annie's Farm Stand, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Had to get a shot of all the prints together. The top four prints were hand-dyed and the bottom five are the original colors from the line. I bought my white on white from Pink Castle Fabrics! One of very few places you can still get it!

Happy Sewing!

14 comments :

  1. Looks like fun, Jeni! :) I like the blue color that you ended up with.

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  2. oh, masterful! What a treat for my eyes! I love all your color posts and this is no exception.

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  3. I love the effect you got on this fabric! Dyeing is high on my list of things to do next year, along with printing my own fabrics too. I will be checking into that book as well. :)

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  4. Love them Jeni! Malka's book is so great, everything you need to know!

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  5. Fun!! can't wait to see what you do with them :))

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  6. Those colors are fantastic, I wonder what that white with the black letters one would look like dipped in your pink dye bath?

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  7. OH Jeni!!! I should have talked to you before dying my sweater LOL!!! I used the ritz dye and it turned out SO bad hahaha!!!

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  8. GORGEOUS and you are right about those color being saturated. Beautiful and will keep your work original and unique.

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  9. LOVE this Jeni! I haven't thought about dying fabrics before but you've inspired me! So pretty!!

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  10. Thanks for sharing, I admire how you experiment with color. I've learned a lot from your posts and think your dyed fabrics look awesome! :-)

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  11. Genius! And this cracks me up. Brenda was telling me that someone came up with this idea, but I didn't realize it was you! I think those fabrics look rad, and I"m glad you were able to satisfy your craving for dyeing so quickly!

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  12. Eeeeek! I love the way they turned out! Great work, and thanks so much for sharing with us! I'm going to pin this on Pinterest.

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  13. Dang, what a great idea! I have that white and white print too and wasn't sure how I wanted to use it. I doubt I'll actually dye it, but I love the idea!

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  14. These turned out absolutely beautiful!

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