MamaHen

Those of you that Dye your fabric, what PFD fabric do you like best & why. I ask this question because I have dyed some fabric, it turned out pretty nice, but wondering which brand & type of fabric you all use that you feel are exceptional pieces of dyed fabric, hand wise, color wise. I just order 10 yards of a PFD cotton sateen & hoping it will give me the feel & texture I'm looking for.

Skittl1321

I got 10 yards of Kona PFD from Dharma that I liked pretty well. And Radiance PFD is crazy expensive, but love it.

However, I've been doing tests and I have not found a cotton white fabric yet that, once pre-washed doesn't dye really nicely. So I don't bother with PFD if I find a nice white on sale.

TeresaA

I did both PFD and regular fabric, and I like regular fabric just fine. Find any fabric that you think would be nicely dyed and you'll do fine. Tonal whites or white with metallic are fun to dye. PFD is available at Joann's, so you can try a little versus other fabrics and see what you like. BTW, PFD will have a lousy "hand" no matter where you buy it because it has no sizing. The sizing put on pre-dyed fabric makes the fabric softer. Make sure and pre-wash the fabric a couple of times or at least once with a good long pre-soak and you'll be fine.

Some of the things I'm looking at trying next:
Using non-white fabric and ironing on freezer paper as a "resist," then spray dying.
There's a product called "color magnet" by Jaquard. You paint it onto the fabric before dying and the dye is attracted more to the color magnet spots than the rest of the fabric.

It's fun. Good luck

pumpkinpatchquilter

I do not use PDF fabric - I just use non-mercerized cotton muslin! I also soak my fabric in soda ash prior to dyeing and it takes colors extremely well! Patsy Thomspon has some wonderful blog posts on fabric dyeing on her blog.

MamaHen

Pumpkinpathquilter: I am not a fan of muslin. Have not found one that meets my expectations in thread count. I do soak in soda ash before dyeing. I will check out Patsy blog if I can find it.

Guess I'll also have to check out other whites next time I go to a fabric store.

KLO

MamaHen, Here is Patsy Thompson's blog. You will see the link for her fabric dying listed on the left side in that column. Very interesting ...........

http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/blog/

MamaHen

Thanks KLO, discovered that I already had it bookmarked in my favorites under Fabric Dyeing. Just read through it again. There are so many different ways of dying & many different fabrics used, guess i'll have to try a bunch myself.

bjchad

I buy a medium heavy white 90" wide 100% cotton backing fabric at Joann's and it takes the Procyon dyes wonderfully.

tropit

I like dying muslin too. I find that the unbleached muslin give the colors a certain richness to them. I'll have to check out that blog...thanks.

~ Cindy

tropit

Oh...Patsy's blog is so inspiring! Her microwave technique is very interesting.

~ Cindy