Using Tie-Dye Fabrics in Quilting
 

I'm thinking of using tie-dyed fabrics in a quilt. I think that if it's fussy-cut, I could get some interesting designs and "movement" in my quilt. Has anyone else ever done this? If so, did you dye your own fabrics. Tips and suggestions please. Thanks.

~ Cindy

I agree about interesting effects but would want to have a plan to deal with the bleeding that might occur. I love tie-dyes but my experience has been that hey never really stop bleeding - just bleed less than the time before. Maybe some of the new laundry products on the market might mitigate this problem. In any case, I'd test and re-test first and then sew.

YAY! Something i know something about. I have done a lot of hand dying and there is no reason why you cant tie dye fabric to quilt with. I made my daughter a blanket 9 years ago with hand dyed fabrics and it is holding its color beautifully. It's just a receiving sized quilt with bright colors on white sheeting. Over the years it's been beat up and dragged through dirt and "yucked" on when she was a baby. I have heavily bleached it in hot hot water many times and the color is still good, just not quite as bright as it would be if i hadn't bleached.

Make sure you use quality dye and quality fabric. Procion dyes and 100% cotton. There is a lot of bleeding when you hand dye but use Retayne to set the color and synthrapol to prevent bleeding. Dharma Trading Company http://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/dh...cion-dyes.html has all of the information you need and if you can't find an answer to a question, they will answer emails. Instructions are on the site and they will include instructions with any kits that you order.

After you are finished making your quilt, wash it again in a full washing machine with 1/8 cup of dawn dish washing liquid and then run it through a second time without soap to make sure all of the dawn is rinsed completely. There's something in dawn that acts a lot like synthrapol, one of the surfactants.

I am going to see if i can find where my daughter stashed her blankie so i can get a photo.

I can hardly wait to see what you come up with. I love tie dye and want to use some too.

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The top part of the photo is the blankie. It's very dingy at the moment and needs a really good washing. The fabric i used was scraps of test pieces i did so i could see what the true color would be. I didn't do a very good job at twisting and banding because i was rushing, that is why there are big voids and white space. It was also a very old bed sheet. This was just something i whipped up with the "trash" pieces so they wouldn't go to waste. I had no idea she would fall in love with it and use it so hard or i would have done it right.

The squares at the bottom are leftovers from the project i did after my color tests. The three squares on the right are the same colors as in the blankie. The difference is the quality of the fabric used and the time i allowed the color to set. The color process was done in plastic bins in my bathtub but i could have easily done it in the kitchen. I don't have a photo to show how well the color lasts with use but it really holds up well with frequent washing.

Thanks for the information. BrendaK

since I dye a lot of my fabrics- and have certainly done my share of tie-dyes I say.... of course! go for it! my tie dyes (or any other hand dyes) do not bleed- I use good dyes and rinse them until there is no more fugitive dye left. if you choose a commercial fabric I would test to see if it is color-fast or not- & if not then certainly pre-wash it until there is not bleeding problems. every quilt I make has at least a little bit of fabric I've dyed myself- the tie dyes are fun and a family favorite to play with when designing. :)

Oh Carrie in PA, that's beautiful! I love the fresh, fruity colors!

Thanks, ckcowl for all the good info. Are there certain types of dyes to look for when shopping?

I'm also interested in painting fabric for quilting. I used some fabric pens last year to decorate some muslin, cocktail napkins for my daughter's wedding. I did some pretty drawings of mushrooms on them. (The wedding had a foresty theme.) I was going to take them home afterwards and make a quilt out of them, but the guests took them all home...LOL. Oh well, at least they were a big hit. Anyway, the few that were left washed up beautifully and didn't run at all. I'd like to incorporate the same idea into a quilt. Maybe I'll give it to my Dau and SIL as an anniversary gift when it's done.

~ Cindy

I really need to start taking more pictures of things i do when i play. Not too long ago i did some crafty projects with the family, we made faux batiks and did some water color like painting on fabric. For this we went with watered down acrylics and painted the fabric after we fused it to some freezer paper so it would act like canvas. Turned out really cute. Then we used our scraps to whip up a doll blanket for my daughter and so far it's washing well. I am really tempted to use the same method to make myself some dresses since warmer weather is coming finally.

The possibilities with coloring fabric is really endless. I hope you have fun with it. You have a great idea and it sounds like it will be beautiful and very meaningful.

My design idea is to use a banded, stripe, tie-dye pattern and put the fabric into a zig-zag quilt with lots of white in it. (I know, I should have pix, but I don't...sorry.) I think it would look very modern.

~ Cindy

Oh this is a great thread for me. I inadvertently bought some Kona fabric that was ready for dyeing instead of regular fabric. I love tie dye. Ok so i had some Rit dye but this probably isn't the quality of dye we are looking for. can you recommend some brands? Has anyone used this Kona fabric before. thanks

I personally don't like RIT dye for clothes but that's because i wear them hard and wash them often. But RIT is good for curtains and linens and things that won't be washed every other day. If you want to experiment with the RIT there's no reason why you can't. It's less expensive and easy to find in grocery stores and local shops so it will be available while you "play" to find out what you like.

Then when you are sure what you want to do, find a store or internet shop that has Procion dye. I've always loved Dharma Trading Company online because you can buy kits that have some of everything you need or you can buy all of the kit items individually as needed. The last i did some comparing, their prices and selections were the best for what i wanted. You might be able to find the supplies at a shop near you, unfortunately for me this isn't an option.

Even if you don't want to buy from Dharma Trading, check out this page http://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/dh...cion-dyes.html

That's the dye that i fell in love with and swear by. On that page, there is a lot of info about the dyes, links to other pages and reviews at the bottom so you can see what others have to say.

Now i want to go dye something lol

Thank you Carrie, I think I may dye this fabric and use it in a quilt so I better go with the Procion dye. How do you make sure the fabric won't bleed after it's dyed? I know I can prewash it and use the synthropl??? thanks

This is a bit off -topic. Whenever anyone brings up Rit Dye, I think of my mother. We did not have much, but about once a year, we would come home from school to discover that she had dyed the curtains. Once she even used a sponge and applied dye to our couch which had faded to a light gray. She used dark teal and it turned out great. We have joked that if they have Rit Dye in heaven, the Good Lord, might be in for a surprise.:)

After your fabric is dyed, Rinse Rinse Rinse! I set up a couple containers or buckets of cold water and i rinse in the first bucket by dunking a few times and swishing the fabric around. Then i squeeze the water out by hand and move to the next bucket. A white bucket is great so you can see how much color is in the water. If you have 2 buckets then you can rinse in one while the other is filling with clean water. As you go the water will get lighter and lighter. I usually stop when my hands just can't take it anymore, they get really stiff from the cold. Sometimes i will just soak a while and go back and work again. Rinsing is really really important because of bleeding.

After rinsing, wash in hot water with synthrapol and check the color of the water when it fills for the rinse cycle. If there's still color in the water, you can wash another time with the dawn dish soap. Lighter colors don't seem to bleed as much or maybe they aren't as noticeable, darker or brighter colors can bleed a lot. You can check the color of the water by scooping it out with a white container or cup.

Once the water is clear and there is no more color in the rinse water, there is no more worry about bleeding.

My mom was the same way, she dyed the curtains every spring with rit dye.

We never dyed a couch but it wouldn't surprise me if she has. She once told me i could paint a yucky looking couch so i took her advice. I took my awful dingy dirty white couch and painted it HOT PINK! I miss that couch so much, i had to give it away when i moved because it doesn't fit in my current apartment.

visit Dharma Trading Company---they carry all the supplies you need, free *recipes*, hints, tips, instructions. I've been shopping with them for over 10 years- love their dyes, have used their Batik(ing) kits, tie dye kits, kids projects, fabric markers, paints - pretty much my *go to* place for anything to do with fabric dyeing/painting

I am so glad someone else suggested Dharma Trading Company. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me for not being able to suggest another shop. I too have been buying from them for ages and i don't look anywhere else anymore.