It's All Fun!

What could be better than a workshop where you don't have to bring a sewing machine, fabric or any sewing supplies?  How about a workshop where you don't have to stress about color choices or if you have the exact seam allowance?  What if you got to choose from lots of colors to dye yards and yards of fabric?  It's a no brainer and it was lots of fun today as Calico Cutters Quilt Guild had a fabric dyeing workshop - at my house. 

 

I spent a day making up about 10 gallons of dye in about 20 different colors for my fellow guild members to play with.  I'm so happy I didn't have to schlep everything to a different location.  The workshop was Chez Lynch. They just had to bring lunch and come in clothes that they didn't mind were splashed with dye.  Fiber Reactive Dye is just that - and it's permanent. OOPS!   Holly didn't mind! Who spilled that dye on her???  I won't tell.  It matches her shirt.

 

The plan was to dye outside.  No mess indoors and if something spills, the grass would hide it.  But Mother Nature wouldn't co-operate.  It was chilly, the grass was wet and the forecast called for some intermittent spritzing.  So I waited for the last minute to clean out my garage.

 

 We started the day by ripping 4 yds of fabric into fat quarters.

Soaked them in a soda ash solution and started dyeing.

 

Everyone had their own dishpan to keep their baggies.

it was a beautiful thing to watch them fill up.  Everyone went home with 18 baggies each with its own fat quarter.  They would sit overnight and washout would come in the morning.

 

We did single color dyeing, single color gradation dyeing and 2 color gradation dyeing. We had some extra time and those who wanted dyed some cotton thread.

 

Our guild meeting is tomorrow, Wednesday.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that some of my new dyers wake up early enough to do a washout and dry their fabrics in the morning. This reveal is the best part of dyeing your own fabric. And,  I'd love to see some hand dyes at Show & Tell.

 

I do really enjoy sharing the fabric dyeing experience.