Hand dyed fabric

I'm good with this (thank you for such specific information!) right up
to the part where you dump the fabric into the already agitating
washing machine. I have a front loader. How does one handle that? I
know they couldn't be put in together. Could I shake them into a big
tub of water and stir it around for a while before putting them into
the washing machine?
Sunny

zzzzzzz wrote:
This is quite old, from about 10 years ago. Also, if you search Google
Groups for the name Kathy Applebaum, she posted a lot about dyeing
fabrics back when I first tried it. I believe she still posts here
and perhaps will step in. She used to have a website I would refer to,
but my old computer with that saved is long dead.

This is very old and I don't even know where it came from. I know that
I did try it and was happy, but not thrilled with the results. I
thought that the blues came out too turquoise.

Linda
PATCHogue, NY


==================================================
Canning jars (16oz capacity)
Two or three 4 to 5 gallon plastic buckets
Measuring spoons
timer
old clothes and towels, rags, etc. for clean up.


Procion MX Fiber Reactive Dyes from Dharma Trading Company (800)
542-5227.


Fabric - 100% cotton


You can use muslin, or tone on tones if you like. I used dyers cotton
from P&B, which has not finishing on it, this means no prewash.


Soda Ash


Otherwise known as sodium carbonate. This is the active chemical that
sets the dye molecules in the fiber molecules. It is caustic, and
should
be handled with a mask, gloves and goggles. Use 1/2 cup per gallon of
soaking solution.


Synthrapol


Used before and after dyeing. Strips grease from the fabric before
washing. When used on freshly dyed fabric, it removes the excess dye
that has not bonded with the fabric, to prevent bleeding.


Urea


This is a fabric wetting agent, keeps the fabric damper, longer during
the dyeing process. Use 1/4 cup per quart of dye solution.


Water Softener


If the water is hard, adding water softener to the batch is helpful.
Use
pure sodium hexametaphorsphate from a dye supply house or Calgon. 1/2
teaspoon per 8 oz of dye solution.


Dye


Procion MX fiber reactive dyes. Powder has a longer shelf life. Can
be
purchased in 2 oz, 4oz, 8oz and 1 pound quantities. As a rule, there
are
approximately 3 tablespoons of dye to an ounce. Dye particles are
very
fine, thus a mask and goggles should be worn when handling.


It is possible to make just about any color from the basic set of dyes
below:


Yellow - Dharma Bright Yellow #2
Red - Dharma Fuschia Red #13
Blue - Dharma Turquoise #25
Black - Dharma Better Black #44


Dyeing Fabric - Jelly Jar Method (directions for 1/2 yard cuts)


1. Wash your fabric in Synthrapol on the hottest wash. Use 1/4 cup
Synthrapol for a large machine load. If you do this just before you
dye
the fabric, there is no need to dry it.


2. (Note: this is for 12 yards fabric, so adjust accordingly) Make a
solution in a bucket of 1 1/2 cups of soda ash in 3 gallons of water.
Use
gloves and a mask when mixing this. Soak the fabric in this mixture
for
at least 15 minutes, no longer than 30 minutes. If you don't use the
fabric you have soaked, wash it again in Synthrapol as soon as
possible.
Fabric that has the soda ash solution left in it will rot and become
weak. Take the fabric out of the soda ash solution, wring it, and
place
it in a bucket in a separate balls.


3. Make the dye solution base in a bucket: (quantities are for 1/2
yards)


2 gallons warm water
2 cup urea granules
8 teaspoons water softener


Mix well, until everything dissolves - don't worry if using Calgon
(brand
of water softener) made this solution blue - it will not affect the
dye
process.


4. Fill three half gallon containers with 10 cups of the dye solution
base each. One is for the yellow dye concentrate, the next for the
red,
and the last for the blue. Mark them yellow, blue and red
respectively
if you desire. Add dye to these containers in the following
proportions:


For a dark batch:


16 teaspoons yellow
10 teaspoons turquoise
6 teaspoons fuscia red
(this is the one I did in the class I took)


For a medium batch:


10 teaspoons yellow
6 teaspoons turquoise
4 teaspoons fuscia red


For a light batch:


4 teaspoons yellow
2 teaspoons turquoise
1 teaspoon fuscia red


Jelly Jars


5. Arrange the jars in a way that you can work with them (this
depends
on how many jars you are dyeing at a time, I did 24). You will need
to
be able to remember the sequence of the jars when you pour the dye.
You
can mark the sides of the jars with masking tape and a number to more
easily tell them apart.


6. Add salt to each jar as follows:


Dark batch: 2 tablespoons uniodized salt to each jar
Medium batch: 2 teaspoons uniodized salt to each jar
Light batch: 1 teaspoon salt to each jar


7. Add dye to the jars following the chart below. Stir the dye well
with a kebab stick or spoon, rinsing between colors. Stir until the
salt
is almost completely dissolved.


8. Scrunch a piece of fabric into each jar, being careful not to
spill
out the dye. Screw the lid on tight, and give the jar a good shake.


9. Shake/turn the jars over every 20 minutes or so for the next two
hours. (After the first turn, check the tightness of the lid, they
usually have to be tightened again).


10. Let the jars sit for a minimum of 24 hours, maximum of one week.


11. Open each jar under running water and rinse the fabric out. Do
not
let the fabric touch each other or you will trade colors. Start
washing
machine and as soon as the agitation begins, shake the fabric into the
washing machine.


Wash the dyed fabric in a long, hot cycle with Syhthrapol,
approximately
1/4 cup for each load.


Similar colors can be washed together. Yes, you can wash reds and
yellows together. On dark batches, it is advised to run an extra wash
cycle with Synthrapol, especially blue/violets.


12. Dry the fabric.


13. Iron the fabric.


14. Enjoy the fabric.





On Fri, 04 Aug 2006 07:53:26 -0400, zzzzzzz wrote:

Somewhere I have the dyeing in jar recipes that were posted here years
ago. Can you search old postings on Google? They work great.
Otherwise, I will look for them when I get home from helping my
daughter move to La Plata. It's a move she's suddenly gotten nervous
about, but I'm sure she'll be fine.

Linda
PATCHogue, NY

On Thu, 3 Aug 2006 20:33:21 -0700, "Terbear"
wrote:

Our own MaryAnn Ead does. As a matter of fact, for round 1 of the your pick
swap, we all got to work with some of her fabric, it was awesome!
Her finished quilt from the your pick swap can also be found on the gallery
at her website:
http://www.incapalomafabrics.com/
Teri

"zzzzzzz" wrote in message
...
This is quite old, from about 10 years ago. Also, if you search Google
Groups for the name Kathy Applebaum, she posted a lot about dyeing
fabrics back when I first tried it. I believe she still posts here
and perhaps will step in. She used to have a website I would refer to,
but my old computer with that saved is long dead.

Nah, I never post here anymore. ;-)

Glad to answer specific questions, but I didn't really see any when the
thread started.
--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Queen of Fabric Tramps

http://fabrictramp.typepad.com/fabric_tramping/
remove the obvious to reply

"Sunny" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm good with this (thank you for such specific information!) right up
to the part where you dump the fabric into the already agitating
washing machine. I have a front loader. How does one handle that? I
know they couldn't be put in together. Could I shake them into a big
tub of water and stir it around for a while before putting them into
the washing machine?

Here's my (current) method. Everyone has their own, and if it works for you,
it's right!

I do a QUICK rinse of the fabric. I'm blessed with a deep sink next to my
washer, but you could use a bucket if needed. The purpose of this is just to
get the excess dye out -- I'm talking a three second rinse. In a bucket I'd
just dump it in, swish once, and wring it out. I have a top loader, so I
turn on the machine to fill while I'm doing the three second rinse, and
start dumping in the fabric as I'm rinsing. I can't see why that wouldn't
work with a front loader -- just start the machine immediately after you
dump in the fabric.

I do three washes in the machine. The first two are cold with no
synthrapol -- they are just doing all the hard work of rinsing for me. The
last wash is hot with synthrapol (VERY little -- I don't measure, but I
guess I use about a teaspoon for a load of 10 yards). The only trick is to
not let the wet fabric sit between washes. I leave the laundry room door
open and go play in my sewing room across the hall so I can hear the washer
stop. As long as I do this I never have backstaining, even when I do rainbow
yardage.

If you have soap or hard water deposits in your machine, they may take on a
little color but they never seem to affect future loads. At my house it has
the added benefit of annoying DH so he scrubs out the machine for me. *evil
grin*

--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Queen of Fabric Tramps

http://fabrictramp.typepad.com/fabric_tramping/
remove the obvious to reply

Thank you all for your replies!! I just wanted to see what some hand-dyed
fabric looked like, and y'all have shared your beautiful work, as usual.
Thanks so much.
--
TerriLee in WA (state)
remove the cats to reply
http://community.webshots.com/myphot...umID=548330161

"Kathy Applebaum" wrote in message
m...

"zzzzzzz" wrote in message
...
This is quite old, from about 10 years ago. Also, if you search Google
Groups for the name Kathy Applebaum, she posted a lot about dyeing
fabrics back when I first tried it. I believe she still posts here
and perhaps will step in. She used to have a website I would refer to,
but my old computer with that saved is long dead.

Nah, I never post here anymore. ;-)

Glad to answer specific questions, but I didn't really see any when the
thread started.
--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Queen of Fabric Tramps

http://fabrictramp.typepad.com/fabric_tramping/
remove the obvious to reply

Are you familiar with dyeing at all? I didn't have any experience or
much knowledge when I started out. I purchased "Color by Accident" by
Ann Johnson and a bunch of dyes from Dharma Trading and jumped in with
both feet. I generally do 7 color gradations - dark dark to very
light. Mix up the dyes and start with jar 1 - each jar from there the
dye gets a little more diluted. Let them sit over night and rinse in
the morning. The half pint jars are good for 1/4 yard cuts, and the
pint jars for 1/2 yard cuts. Scrunch the fabric into the jars before
adding the dye solution. Do not stir the fabric around - you get a more
mottle texture that way. People can do this with baggies, but I get
less of a mess with the jars. It's very easy, really. T
HTH
Sunny wrote:
Wow, please fill me in on how you do t his in canning jars. I want so
much to get into dying so I can control the colors and have the shades
I need, but I'm sorta scared to because I have no idea what I'm doing
and I'm afraid of the expense and mess. But canning jars sounds like I
could handle that. Please let me in on the secret. Your fabric is so
beautiful, I'm drooling with envy.
Sunny

wrote:
If you go to my webshots..I have a folder of hand dyes I did last
summer. I haven't done any yest this year. I dye in canning jars -
quart and half quart sizes
http://community.webshots.com/user/paegan2446

Who? Kathy Who??
Applebaum? Never heard of her!
PAT


zzzzzzz wrote:

This is quite old, from about 10 years ago. Also, if you search Google
Groups for the name Kathy Applebaum, she posted a lot about dyeing
fabrics back when I first tried it. I believe she still posts here
and perhaps will step in. She used to have a website I would refer to,
but my old computer with that saved is long dead.

Too bad you dropped the Nats -- you'd have been getting lots of squares with
her name on them after they spanked the Cubs a couple of weeks ago. :-o

--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Queen of Fabric Tramps

http://fabrictramp.typepad.com/fabric_tramping/
remove the obvious to reply

"Pat in Virginia" wrote in message
news:2mNBg.5229$yO4.4958@dukeread02...
Who? Kathy Who??
Applebaum? Never heard of her!
PAT


zzzzzzz wrote:

This is quite old, from about 10 years ago. Also, if you search Google
Groups for the name Kathy Applebaum, she posted a lot about dyeing
fabrics back when I first tried it. I believe she still posts here
and perhaps will step in. She used to have a website I would refer to,
but my old computer with that saved is long dead.