Dyeing 101

I don't claim to be a dyeing expert, and only dyed my first piece of fabric less than one year ago, but I thought it might be helpful to post some simple dyeing information here in preparation for January. (This will cover Procion MX dyes, as they're the only kind I've ever worked with--and the information was gleaned from a number of books, blogs, and personal experience, so your experiences may be different)

First of all, there are warm colors & cool colors of dye powders from Dharma & ProChem, the two major dye powder suppliers that I'm aware of. With these colors, you can basically mix any other color.

The warm colors are Dharma Deep Yellow or Prochem Golden Yellow; Dharma Chinese Red; Dharma Cobalt Blue or Prochem Mixing Blue. The cool colors are Prochem or Dharma Fuschia; Prochem Basic Blue or Dharma Sky Blue; Prochem Sun Yellow or Dharma Lemon Yellow. You can also use Dharma or Prochem Turquoise instead of the Cobalt or Mixing blues.

Black dye is something that you may also want to have on hand, I've recently tried a Better Black (not sure if it's from Dharma or ProChem) that comes out great, up til now I've had some difficulty getting a black that wasn't purplish, blueish, or just too faded looking.

Of course, there are hundreds of other colors of dye powders out there, please feel free to buy whatever colors you want to use! Some other items you will need are soda ash (from pool supply companies), non-iodized salt (kosher or canning), and calgon water softener if you have hard water (optional).

It seems that everyone who dyes fabric has their own recipes, and also their own ways of doing things. For the shibori techniques we'll be working on, you will probably want to use the two techniques of "vat dyeing" and direct application. The dye powders can be mixed with water and stored for weeks (or longer) but once the dye is mixed with soda ash, it becomes reactive and it's life is limited, usually 6-8 hours.

The vat dyeing method is usually used to create larger quantities of fabric (yardage) but can be adapted to smaller quantities. To dye around one-half yard to one yard of fabric, I use around 2 quarts of water, 1/2 cup of salt, 1 tablespoon of calgon water softener (optional), 1 tablespoon of dye powder, and 4 tablespoons of soda ash. I begin by filling a dishpan with the water, then add the salt and water softener to it and stir it up. I then put on a mask, and gloves, and measure out the dye powder into a smaller container with about one cup warm water in it, cover it and shake it up. After it dissolves, I add this color to the dishpan, then add my fabric. You can then mix up the 4 Tablespoons of soda ash in a smaller container of warm water, making sure it dissolves, and add this to your dishpan. Some people let their fabric sit in the color for up to an hour before adding the soda ash, and some add the soda ash right after adding their fabric. I haven't seen too much of a difference either way.

Leave the fabric in this dye bath for 4-6 hours (you can leave the fabric longer, even overnight if that works with your schedule). Stir the fabric occasionally--the more stirring you do, the less blotchy the finished fabric will be--it just depends on the look you're going for. Then rinse the fabric pretty well, and wash in your washing machine using hot water--it's easier to dye smaller pieces of fabric in the winter so you can rinse them easily in your kitchen sink if that's the only space available to you.

The second method is direct application, which can be used to apply a color to a piece of fabric already wrapped onto a pole (arashi shibori). I use the following mixture, putting it all into an applicator bottle: 1/2 to 1 cup water, 2 Tablespoons salt, 1 teaspoon soda ash, 1 teaspoon dye powder. Mix it up really well (shake it) then squirt directly onto your fabric.

Hope this information is helpful. Some good dyeing books are Dyeing to Quilt by Joyce Mori, and Color Your Cloth by Malka Dubrowsky.

Please feel free to share any other dyeing techniques, hints and secrets!

January Project-Shibori

I think that I'll focus on Shibori for the month of January. Purchasing supplies will be minimal (most of us probably already have pretty much everything), and it won't cost too much to get the stuff you might be missing. No books are required to be purchased, but you can always get books at the library or on Amazon.com on various shibori dyeing techniques.

You'll need fabric (of course), procion MX dye powders & the stuff that goes along with dyeing:

-dishpan(s) or other plastic containers
-measuring spoons
-soda ash
-non-iodized salt
-latex gloves
-plastic applicator bottles (old dish soap bottles or the kind you can get at a beauty supply company for hair dyeing)

For pole wrapping, you can get a piece of PVC pipe, in a fairly good size diameter, but at least 2 inches. Just poke around Home Depot or your local hardware store and see if they'll sell you a piece that's around 3 feet long. I found an 8" diameter piece at a local hardware store for 50 cents--it was a leftover. You can also try to find a thick piece of nylon rope, again at a hardware store or somewhere, as I've seen some pretty cool pieces done wrapped around rope and want to try it. Just make sure that you tape off the ends of the rope with duct tape so it doesn't unravel. Some stores will cauterize the ends with a heat gun, if you're lucky.

You'll also need some string--I've used really thin cotton crochet thread, nylon string, jute, and twine. They all work fine, and you probably already have at least some kind of string already. Also, if you've dyed a piece of fabric and aren't thrilled with it, put it aside to use for these techniques.

This will be an easy set of projects, but the results will be fantastic. I'm really in a "keep it simple" mood lately!

Cheryl's Article in QA Magazine

I was flipping through my QA magazine that came in the mail yesterday, and was surprised to see an article by Cheryl on embellishing quilts with LED electronics.

Congratulations, bet you're happy!

Distortion & Dyeing

Check out the new work I put on my blog this morning--it's a new technique I'm exploring, and this is my first "semi-completed" project. Let me know if it might be something you're interested in doing this January!

Can't wait til Christmas

because that will mean we are starting on our adventure. I am very excited about our group and all that we will learn about each other, techniques and our art.
You probably don't know this but I wrote my master thesis on co-housing communities and whether they engendered a sense of community. A large part of my writing involved defining community: what exactly is it; and how it is created. One form of community that was just on the horizon were online communities. This was in the late 90's. In the twelve years since I did my research, online communities have grown exponentially just as our use of the web and other electronics like the smart phone, MP3, Wii, ebooks and others have.
I don't think I gave online communities much thought back them and I am amazed at how many Yahoo groups, blogs and online educational programs I am involved in.
There was much fear and skepticism about the "brave new world" coming over the last half of the last century. I didn't fear it because I couldn't imagine it. My many imaginings were more along the lines of jet cars and space travel.
I must say, I have come to love all the wonderful elecronic gadgets I use daily. My computer (I have 3: one netbook for travel, one laptop and my Big Girl desktop), my MP3 player loaded with audiobooks and my DVR.
These wonderful creations have brought YOU to me. You are my delightful online community.

Lots of stuff

I don't know if Judith wants me to post this here yet, so I put it on my blog. It is my fabric dyeing gradation experiment.

Judith....................The place looks fabulous! Great job, thank you :)

I LOVE it

I am assuming Judith did the logo and I LOVE it. How do we get the image to stick on our website. (This is so exciting!!)

HEY!

HEY! What happened to the words Then we burn it?
I love that and I loved it woven into the banner.
THAT's the phrase that caught my attention.
I miss it.
sigh
I really do.
sigh...................... :( Bea

From Southwestern Wisconsin..............

Where this artist just think setting things on fire is very cool. Ok, not everything but burning holes into fabric, whoooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. What a great idea and thanks for including me.

Perhaps now, my TO TRY list, over in the studio, will get some action. :)Bea

Ready to "Set It On Fire!"

I'm excited to be starting on this surface design adventure. I'm looking forward to the challenge of learning lots of new things and appreciate the opportunity to have virtual "play dates" with you all.

Hi all,

Just signed up. Had quite a time but finally got it right. I am excited to try all the new techniques along the way. Will need all the help I can get as I am computer challenged. LOL

Can' wait until January!

Hi from Carol B in NH

I am excited and pleased that we will all be working and challenging each other.............fun!

Saying Hello

Just stopping in to say hi to everyone who is going to join up and post to this blog. Can't wait, it will be fun--happy creating! Plus I've never done one of these group things and want to figure out how it all works.

--Laura in Thomasville, NC

And here we go!

The goal of the blog is to encourage mastery of techniques to expand our surface design skills.
Here is the format:

1.  Every month there will be a technique we will all try together and report our results.

2.  We'll take turns choosing the technique for the month.  If it is my month to choose then I will give as much direction as possible or tell you where the directions can be found.

3.  Participants may follow the directions given or, if they have their own preferred method of the technique, they may use it and explain their method.

4.  Participants will post 2-3 times per month showing their process. Posts don't have to be long and can be scheduled in advance.

5. Finished products are not required but would be nice occasionally to show what can be done with that gorgeous fabric just made.  Posts can also include failures, mistakes, and comments like "I will never do this
again."

6.  Followers will be encouraged to try the techniques and send us links to their results. We'll post the links for everyone to see.

7.  Beginning date is projected to be Jan 2011.