Monday, March 15, 2010

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.

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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.

3 comments:

Joan said...

I love seeing how your work area is organized and the containers you use for your dye solutions. Your book is on the way to me now and this just gets me more excited!

Kristi said...

I can't wait for your book to arrive (Thursday)! I've been way too haphazard in my recipes and would like to reproduce a color or two!

Lisa Chin said...

Great ideas. One more reason I really need to buy your book. I LOVE the idea of the containers instead of ziplock bags. The ziplocks are such a pain and the containers will wash out easier. Why didn't I think of that?! I have a number of plastic containers with decent lids from my lunchmeats that I think I will start with. Not sure if the tops are as spillproof as the ones you are using but I will give them a try. It will make me happy to be recycling. :D

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