Sunday, July 10, 2016

Fabric Dyeing My Way

I have been juggling many, many quilty things. Soon I'll be able to share a magazine article about my mosaics and some news about teaching on a quilting cruise. I'm also excited and nervous at the same time about a trip to Houston at the end of October to exhibit Curvalicious at the largest wholesale quilt industry show. Right now I am working on prepping for a 3 day educational seminar in MD that starts on Friday. Oy!

On Sunday, I have a full class for my Fabric dyeing workshop. This is what it looked like as I was putting the kits together.

Most of the fabric in the kit is PFD cotton (Prepared for dyeing). That means there is no sizing or any additives that would interfere with the chemistry of dyeing. The black and white fabric is off the bolt from a fabric store. It needs to be scoured before it is dyed to remove any additives.

Yesterday was a dry run. Here's my dyeing set up. I used 3 different dyes from the red, yellow and blue family and combined them in varying amounts. It's important to be very organized. However, I'm quite messy, so I try to remember to wear gloves.

 

I use sandwich baggies to add the different combos of dyes to the fabric. I let them batch (sit) overnight.

Today was washout day. After rinsing until the water ran clear, everything went into the washer and then the dryer.

 

Here's a beautiful stack of fabric. I love all these colors.

I used a combination of PFD fabric, white on white prints and black and white prints. This is what it looks like when I divided them into the three piles.

PFD

White on white

 

And the black and white prints.

This was one of the black and white fabrics I started with.

I love the way this fabric dyed. I haven't seen any other fabric dyers starting with the white on white or any B&W fabrics. I love the results and think they are so interesting. I have been experimenting like this for a lot of years. It's fabric dyeing, my way.

My workshop is this coming Sunday. I think my students are going to love it.

 

7 comments:

  1. Wow! You are a busy girl!! I'm amazed at the white on white - they're beautiful!!! I love the black and white results too - you're magic!

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  2. I want to play with dye!! You've inspired me! I love the white on white, but the combinations are what is awesome.

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  3. Awesome sauce! These are delicious. You are so creative. Thanks for sharing. Those lucky seminar participants.

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  4. They are absolutely gorgeous!!! What a transformation! Thanks for the beautiful eye candy!

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  5. Those are fun colors, dying is fun, something I need to get going on, lots of wool to dye too.

    Debbie

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  6. Cheryl, I really love the black with the dye colors. They look fabulous. And, who knew that the white on white, only the background would pick up the dye. I learn something new from you all the time. Just wish I could take one of your dye workshops. Too far to drive:)

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  7. I did a bunch of dyeing yesterday, too! Frieda Anderson, in her book Fabric to Dye For, does color wheels with commercial B&W fabrics and white-on-whites just like you did.

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