kellen46

First of all I get all my supplies from Dharma Trading.com They have everything, Clothing, all genders, all sizes from onsies to sweatshirts, to dresses to underwear. I can absolutely recommend them for everything. I get my dyes there,Procion, my sodium carbonate, my fabric. I get the high quality fabric. The thread count is like the heavier fabric you get when buy batiks. They have stuff for batiking as well, in fact every thing for fabric colorization. The hemp socks are the best socks ever whether you dye them or not. My process is very simple. I dye in zip lock bags. I mix up the dye, procion, in plastic cups with my mordant. I use a mix of salt and sodium carbonate in warm water. I use an empty milk jug. A large bag for hoodies and T's and sandwitch bags for fabric an other small items. The scrunching of the fabric is what gives it the coloration pattern. Some times I use two or three colors to blend and mix. I pour fabric A in the bottom, add fabric, pour color B on top or in the middle if I am using three colors. It is not a messy process. Once you have your bags set to go. Leave them for 24 hours. Rinse as much as you can out and use automatic washer with sythropol fabric soap. Dry and admire your projects. I do one or two big dye days a year. It depends if my grandkids ask for something special or not. I recommend Hand-Dyed Fabric Made Easy by Adriene Buffington for techniques and dye recipes. Also available at Dharma. Also Color by Accident is a good book. Give it a try and you will see that hand dyeing is not hard, not expensive and you don't need much in the way of tools. I have been using the same plastic glasses, and old chopsticks for stiring up dyes for years. Now what pattern would best set off the fabric?