Fabric to Dye For – hand dyed fabrics

One of the reason that I wrote my new book, Fabric to Dye For, was because I don’t use metric measuring tools. I know we all should, it is so much more sensible, but we have stubbornly held on to using cups, tablespoons, teaspoons etc… Every other source I used to find dye formula’s had metric measurement tables. I found it confusing and tiresome to try to convert these all the time. I converted these over to the measurement terms we use here in the good ole USA, quarts, cups, tablespoons, teaspoons etc.. and am much happier dyeing my fabrics.

 

I also don’t use urea to help my dye’s dissolve. I use a blender to do this for me. It works really well and I know the dyes are blended and ready to use in just a few seconds after thoroughly blending them in an old blender. Don’t use your kitchen blender for this. Go out and buy a new blender for your kitchen and use the one you have to blend your dyes.

Another tip that I find useful is to use containers instead of plastic bags to store the fabrics in after the dye has been added while you are waiting for them to process. By putting them in reusable lidded containers you can stack everything up on a shelf or in a box and very easily move them around while you are waiting for the color to bond with the fiber. The lidded containers are also much easier and quicker to clean up than plastic bags.