community of dyers

This forum is for all sorts of hand-dyers to post links to pictures of their work and discuss dyeing with other dyers. Please jump right in and post. We'd like to see your work!

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I began using Procion MX dyes to obtain desired patterns and colors for quilt backgrounds with applique. Applique is my main interest, going for patterns and designs that tend toward realistic images of flowers, vegetation, and animals.

I've developed a "reference set" for color mixtures using Pimatex. Pimatex seemed ideal for fine curves and points for applique, but when layered with other Pimatex pieces it is very tough to sew. I then tried some of the same formulas with muslin, but using the same mix on same size of muslin gives a much duller and lighter final color.

I love the colors obtained with LWI, and have done mainly fat quarters. A few ventures into larger projects have been fun - got a pretty amazing spiral design on a Pimatex quilt back for my grandson....had wanted to try hand-quilting that, but Pimatex is too tough.

Is the Dylon Permanent #12 that is supposed to be good for discharging the same as Dylon Permanent Velvet?

I dyed 8mm habotai with it, tied it into a 16pt mandala and it would NOT discharge. I painted thiox onto separate sections of the mandala, then steamed it for nearly an hour - nothing.

THEN, I put Jacquard discharge paste on it and ironed it, and nothing.

Is this the wrong discharge dye? Or should I be ironing when I'm steaming and visa versa? Not holding my mouth right?

Thanks!
Kate

Everything I've tried with this forum so far this morning, including adding a new user, is working fine this morning. Finally!

-Paula

This forum seems to be working fine, except that I cannot access the admin side to add new users. It looks like the earlier repairs have not been complete. I am going to have to contact the site hosting service and ask them to fix it again.

I love this project, sent in by its creator, Renee Carmel:

Here are the pictures of the new menu tests I did yesterday, from the posts that were lost in the database crash....

There was added fallout this morning from the outage a few days ago. The database for this forum was somehow corrupted. When the hosting service fixed the problem, they must have reverted to a backup of the database from a week ago. It's kind of horrifying how badly all these database-driven forums can crash. I know most websites these days are database-driven, but I still like using hard-coded html for my other pages, since they don't really need the advantages provided by a database, as a forum does.

Before they restarted everything, I could see that someone had posted a message about the menus last night, about 1 am US Central time, but I never got to see what it said or even who wrote it, because clicking on the link wouldn't work.

There was a post by tigerb, I recall, giving helpful feedback on which of two new menu designs I should try. There were two wonderful posts by Pia and Tiger with encouragement I badly needed. How I wish I'd saved off a copy of those! They were in reply to a post I made about an email from an unusually ungrateful site user. And Deb wrote an update about her mostly successful attempts to touch up those browns that didn't turn out right the first time.

There was also a post I made about the use of potassium dichromate as a wood dye. I can probably reconstruct most of that one, later on.

Is there anything else that got lost?

Paula

I've been working on a custom order for a customer who liked some dresses I did where the color gradually went from purple to pink, only this customer wanted brown to pink. I've had mixed luck with browns, but I finally decided to take it on and got them dyed earlier this week while the weather was good. Used Jacquard Cocoa Brown for the brown, Bubble Gum Pink with a bit of extra fuchsia at the bottom, and since the brown and pink didn't blend well (made purple, actually), used just one intermediate color with both. Most of the dresses and leggings is brown, with 1-3" of pink at the bottom, and *mostly* a pretty gradual blend despite the purple where the blue haloes into the pink - it's not as obvious when the dye is dry, so not as worrisome as I originally feared.

The host for this site had a disk crash starting around 3 this morning (US Central Time), after which I had to clean up a couple of database tables for the program that runs this forum. It was up and running again by 7 am.

Paula

Hello,
I would like to dye some silk gauze peach using the Jacquard acid dyes, more of an orangey peach than a pinky peach. But they do not have a "peach" acid dye (only the Procion MX). Any input as to what colors I could combine to get what I want?
thanks!
Keri

I have got some tiny spots of RIT dye powder (aubergine) on a new white cotton dress- the dye must have been lingering in the laundry from a previous project. Have tried spray-on stain remover, soaking in Napi-san, spotting with straight bleach, and Dylon run-away, all to no avail. Any ideas? Apart from dyeing the whole dress , which is a last resort.

Hi,

I need a little help figuring out what I need, what I can do, etc., please.

Ms. Burch was so kind a few months ago to suggest LWI dyeing might be the way for me to go as I've mod-severe rheumatoid arthritis and can't do anything extensive with my hands, incl. wringing things out. Finally I'm ready/able to buy dress blanks and dye, only I'm *so* lost, lol, it's too true. Maybe making things worse (?) I've seen pics of tie-dyed skirts and I love their effects...but are they possible, even something close, in LWI? And if so, what supplies would I need (incl. any books?) (I'll be buying my dress blanks from Dharma, as sewing my own dresses isn't possible for me.) I *love* watery color gradations and their interactions--like the elements swirling together (see pics attatched.)

Hi!
I would like to get recommendations for a dye for lamb fur (with hide attached). My sheep or lamb skins are all ivory white. I would like to make some fur scarves that are either a solid color and/or have dyed tips.
I don't want to immerse the hides in dye that will cause stiffening. Is there a good dye for white fur that won't damage the hide?
Is there a paint on dye that could be used just on the tips, especially a metallic?

Thanks in advance!

Karen

We are buying a washing machine and was wondering if there is a real difference between tie-dyeing with a top loading machine vs. "middle" loading machine.

I am under the impression that i MUST have a top loading machine because thats what i have been using until now and that way I can stop themachine in the middle, add to it, take stuff out in the middle....etc. PLUS, I ca check on the stuff while its running to see the color of the water during the rinse-out and see if i should put it in again...

either way, whats your opinion?

thanks!

~Elisheva
www.groovesters.com

I have been using Procion MX dyes from Dharma Trading and have tried most all the reds and have combined them but am having a hard time getting a true red on cottons. I'm so used to dyeing on silk and know what to expect but not with cotton. I've added the proper amount of soda ash, tried adding salt too but I either get a maroon color or the reds tend to be more pink. Any suggestions? Does someone have a good method and/or dye color mix to get good reds?

Reds I've used Oxblood, Chinese, Pagoda, Fire and Jungle. I've added some black to dry and deepen the color and then it's more maroon.

Greetings! My husband and I have a small business selling batiked clothing, and a few toys. We vend at a few local events. We have a 10 by 10 tent that we use for outdoor events and we usually have at least a 6 foot by 4 foot area at indoor events.

I am looking for ways to arrange our goods for sale at craft fairs that is attractive and effective. How do you display your wares? Any ideas or hints would be most appreciated.

Right now we just have a few portable hangers. The clothes just get lost on the hanger.

We have adult clothing through 3x, children's clothing and I'm also working on maternity and nursing wear.

I want to dye some cotton pants with Dharma fiber reactive dye. I want to use the washer. I have done this before but the color washes out after about ten washings. I used soda ash as a fixative but did not use any salt to help push the dye into the fibers. I also used something called Retayne to help with washfastness in the rinse cycle. I kept the pants immersed in the dye for about an hour in a warm temperature before rinsing. I did get a good color result but it does not last. What can I do differently the next time for a longer lasting color?

Hi, I want to tie dye a pair of socks using resist, I want to leave an image or spot white, but I am not sure how to do it.

I know how to apply the resist according to the instructions, but my question is:
After the resist has dry how do i soak the socks in the soda ash water?

Doesn't the wax comes off?

Thanks

Just wondering if anyone knew a way I could prevent the logo of the sock from not getting dyed? I know we could tie it off but its so small and theres so many of them. I'm looking for a method thats fast and effective. I have 1440 socks to dye for a small business and they want the logo to show. Any Tips?