I saw some beautiful hand dyed fabrics over the weekend that I would have loved to have. They where the most beautiful jewel tone I have ever saw. The problem is it was $15.00 a yard. Ouch! Not in my budget.

Has anyone dyed fabrics? If so, is it possible to get deep rich jewel tone results and what do I need to get to try it?

I LOVE DYING FABRIC!!! used to be every quilt i made had at least a piece of fabric i had created myself...the past 2 years have not had time, place, materials available to do any dying...planning on doing that this year though, i'm about out of any i've done...
check out DARHMA TRADING COMPANY, they carry everything you need to try it out including little kits to get you started...it is wonderful fun and you will be amazed by your creations!

Yup. Dharma is the way to go. I love their stuff. There is a bit of a learning curve, but really....when you've got it, you've got it!!!

Do you need to leave the fabric longer in the dye for brighter colors?

You can either leave it in longer or mix more dye to water. Dying is like baking bread - you never know exactly what it will be like, but it's great anyway.

I've found that you have to do ALL the predyeing steps and use all the soda ash etc to get a color to really set well. Dont skip any steps!

I just this year tried doing hand dyed fabrics. I have a couple of posts with pics of the results.

You can also check out http://fabricdyeing101.blogspot.com/

she has what seems to be every piece of information you can think of when it comes to hand dying fabric.

Taking a class on fabric dying is great. If you have any available (university's sometimes have classes) sometimes quilt shops-I have taken some through The International Quilt festival. Their classes are wonderful. If you have an active quilt guild they sometimes get teachers to come in and teach on a subject.

There are some wonderful books on Dying out there too.

sounds like you will have fun with the dying.

I help DH teach a lab at school (8th grade) dealing with the chemistry of fiber reactive dye. As part of the lesson, we dye shirts. I know...it's a sly way to goof off at school.

In a nutshell though, the soda ash changes the composition of the fiber, to leave an available "slot" for the dye molecule to slide in there. Rinse the soda ash away after the process, and the pH returns to normal, the dye is permanent.

So....biggies to ensure good dyeing: follow the directions. If you're trying to dye 5# of fabric with 1# worth of dye, you're not going to get a very deep color. There's just not enough dye molecules available, kwim? Soda ash...there's a range that's acceptable, but again too much or too little will not result in the correct pH. Finally, think of water as the vehicle for the dye to reach the fiber. Too little water (as in, not covered for LWI and dries out) only lets the dye hang out on the surface, and not complete the reaction. Too much water (in LWI, the dye molecules drip off into your pan-bag-whatever) and you've just wasted the dye.

Dyes like "RIT" merely stain the fabric, and will ultimately fade. With fiber reactive, there may be "extra" dye that rinses out the first wash or two, but after that...it's in there!

Thanks, Rebecca, for the explanation.

Sounds like those school kids get the best! How I would have loved to do this instead of... Well, I went through a looooooong time ago. No fun projects. Just the basics. :roll:

Thank you all for the information. I will read up and give it a shot. Is it worth doing money wise? I just cant seem to justify spending $15.00 dollars a yard if I can do it cheaper myself and get close to the same results.