tropit

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

SHELTIE'SMAMA

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.

Carrie in PA

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.

KwiltyKahy

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

Carrie in PA

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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.

BrendaK

Thanks for the information. BrendaK

ckcowl

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.

tropit

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

Carrie in PA

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.

tropit

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