Hand dyeing is not hard or messy
First I get all my supplies, dye, soda ash, rtd blanks and fabric from www. Dharmatrading.com the rest
zip lock bags and salt I get from the grocery store...also I bought some cat litter trays from the Dollar Tree....I dye in my kitchen, I need a sink, running water, and a place to put the supplies. It is not hard, you mix your dyes, place your blanks, cloth, t's, sweatshirts, dresses..What ever I have dyed them all in zip-lock bags, add dye, add soda/salt/water solution...zip, place in cat litter bins, and let set for 24 hours on the back porch. Rinse and wash in Retayne, dry and you have fade and bleed-fast result. I use a book I have had forever, Hand-Dyed Fabric Made Easy by Adriene Buffnington for dye rescipies. Also available at Dharma. The prices are reasonable, they have a variety of fibers, silk, linen, cotton, rayon, bamboo. A large variety of blanks, yardage to baby clothes to socks and undies. The web site had a lot of tutes on it as well. Yes your fingers will get dyed but you can wear plastic gloves, although I don't mind the purple fingers and it does wear off in about 48hours. Do try hand dying. I usually dye fat quarter yards, I find the yardage is cheaper and better in quality than some bleached and natural muslin. In fact it is comparable to the weight of cotton found in batiks...they have batiks supplies there too. Really if you are at all interested in hand dyes check them out. The one problem I have is I have a hard time cutting up the fabric...it is just too beautiful...I usually use two or three color combo's to get some very interesting fabrics...and color combo...go experiment , it is not hard, messy or expensive. In fact now my kids and grands, expect some t's, socks, and sweats every Christmas from their Nana. They send me requests for color combo's and styles... Dyeing is fun and just another extension of our love of fabric and color...who knows you might even cut it up....hmmm placemats made from two hand dyes would be a great project...no cutting, just one for the back and another colorway for the front with some fee motion with a variegated thread....ohhh now I need to go sew.