Dyed Fabric

Two years ago, I bought three dying kits.  The colors were gradated from one color to another. Beautiful colors according to the samples.  Last summer, I finally bought the fabric and decided to dye the fabric.  I hadn’t read the instructions before and found that the amount of dye powder was for fat 16ths.  I would have lots of colors, but only small pieces of each.

I waited until summer to dye as I only dye fabric in the back yard now.  Previously when dyeing fabric, I dyed on a TV tray in the bathtub in the bathroom.  One time I was dyeing yellow fabric and it spilled everywhere.  It did not come off and didn’t look very good.

The dyeing process took four days as there was wait time between dyeing, rinsing, drying and pressing the pieces.  It took me a good part of the day to measure the dye powder and process all three boxes.  There were recipes for each color.  Amounts of the dye were increased or decreased in each baggie to make the color gradation.  That was the first day.

The second day was rinse day.  By the end of the day the rubber gloves were off. They were too much bother.  I was drenched from head to toe.  Each piece needed several rinses until the water ran clear.  I had marked each fabric so that I would know where they belonged in the gradation and with which batch.

The third day was easy.  The fabric just dried by itself.   Then after it dried, I ironed each small piece.  That took most of another day.  Now that that project is finished, I am glad that I did it.  The fabric is beautiful.  The next time I have the desire to dye fabric, I will only use one box.

These fabrics were made from left over dye.

Now, I just have to find a pattern to make something with the dyed fabric.  Years ago, I dyed a lot of fabric in different patterns and had to force myself to cut it up.  Then there was the summer when my daughter and I sun dyed fabric.  It was beautiful.  I did make a quilt for her in memory of the fun “quilt camp” week.

Have a great day and happy quilting.