community of dyers

can I tie-dye these materials? I was under the impression that I can't tie-dye (or dye for that matter) fleece with the fiber reactive dyes...? bamboo fleece, sounds cool! Can I dye straight bamboo fleece and not the cotton blend? I am looking into every possibility. I think I would like to make large adult sized blankets...or even my own pillow cases and sheets...who knows!

~Elisheva
www.jobshuk.com/groovesters

Re: Dharma's bamboo fleece, the fabric description says you can use the fiber reactive dyes. Two of the reviewers say they dyed it and it worked great. And there are pics of two teddy bears made with the fleece, obviously dyed. Looks like LWI, maybe. Why would fleece not be dyeable??

And if you could dye the pure bamboo fleece, I don't see why not the bamboo/cotton blend. . . both are fibers that take fiber reactive dyes nicely.

The fabric is quite thick and heavy, so subtle dye effects may not turn out very well, and it would probably take a lot of dye, but other than that I don't see a problem. However, I am not a dye expert by any means!!

It is a rather pricey fabric IMO, but it is incredibly soft. Living in South Texas, I don't have a need for lots of warm clothing and blankets, but I like having a bit of this fabric just to pet it! Get a swatch, you'll love it!

Happy shopping!
Jules

can you dye fleece? I went to a fabric store the other day only to become extremely sad that there are NO more of any white fun fabrics left at all. again, im very sad - but I did take a small sample of a yummy white fleece material to try dying it. How can you tell if its polyester or if its possibly a cotton blend of something? Ive seen tie dyed fleece blankets before, what kind of material or dye for that matter are they using?

thanks!

~Elisheva
www.jobshuk.com/groovesters

You can dye polyester fleece with disperse dye, and cotton fleece with fiber reactive or direct or vat dye. Polyester/cotton blends can be dyed in two steps, with disperse dye and reactive dye, or in a single step by mixing direct dye with disperse dye. A fun way to color polyester and other synthetic fabric is by making your own iron-on designs with disperse dye crayons or using dye paint you make with disperse dye powder.

Given a small snippet of the fabric—make that several snippets—you can test for fiber content. Look at Ditzy Prints' Fiber Burn Chart and Fabric.net's page on Fabric Identification.

I don't think Dharma or other US companies can ship their cotton or bamboo fleece fabric to Israel, due to import restrictions there.

-Paula

that sounds funny, i'll look into that. I dont see why it would not be allowed, its fabric not seeds or actual bamboo. maybe if I showed up to customs with a koala, they might raise an eyebrow. in any case, I took a small swatch of this fluffy white fleece and see how it takes the dye.

thanks!

~Elisheva
www.jobshuk.com/groovesters

Check Dharma's Shipping information page. Israel is listed under "Due to their import restrictions, the following countries are the ones to which we can ship ONLY dyes, paints and tools. No clothing, fabric, or silk items are permitted for import."

Can you find more information locally?

-Paula

thats very weird. Ive never heard of this before...and i know plenty of businesses that bring their clothing in from the states without a problem. I know of a couple of private businesses that sell gap, old navy and banana republic stuff....so this cant be right. maybe on the silk. but where else do people get it? I dont think were actually making the silk here, im sure its all imported. I think the only thing you can get here thats actually made here are bad politicians. haha

~Elisheva