Dyeing to Stitch!

In March of this year we all got creative with string and fabric making little parcels to put into a jar of dye once we got home. It was the least messy way to spent and evening Tie Dyeing or in our case just the 'Tying' part.

Here are the results of experiments by Sue B and Sue D - the dynamic duo who led our workshop on the night and spent ages meticulously measuring out small 'suspicious' looking bags of salt and dye powder to put into our jars.

The Bulls Eye

The samples were tied into various shapes using thick thread or string/cord and it was found that the fabric which was wet first before the tying soaked up the dye better and gave a more pronounced pattern.

The Spiral

All the fabrics used were prewashed before the workshop. This was to remove any sizing that is applied to the fabric during manufacture and which would prevent the fabric from taking up the dye.

Concertina + Triangular Folding

 This folded method above was one of my favourites. We were very lucky to have been given a Worksheet that explained all the various folding and tying methods and how to dissolve the dye powder and salt once we got home. 
A half pint (330 mls) of warm 40 degree water was poured over our mixture once dissolved we put our fabric into the dye and left it for an hour. After that we took out the pieces and left them in a plastic bag over night. Our 'dye bath' was simply a jam jar with a lid.

The Kebab

Now what to say about this fun guy above? Not my favourite though was easy enough to wrap, Blogger decided to take a dislike to this image and it took me 12 different uploads and many twizzles  and turnabouts to ensure that the photo was orientated correctly and not on its side! Two other photos also took 10 tries to get them with the label the correct way up! Go figure.....

Wrapped Items

Buttons, coins and beads are wrapped up in the fabric to make lovely circles. You can use the same piece of cord/string but put a stitch or 'tag' of thick cord or yarn in place before moving on to the next piece.
There is a fabulous website called Townhill Studio showing this 'tag' technique.

Gathering

Simple enough you would think to sew rows of running stitch and gather up your fabric before dyeing but I really found this difficult! That evening after submerging my tied fabric in the dye bath I found myself on Pinterest to see how what others out there had made. Watch this video to see how a professional Annabel Wilson gathers her fabric to make a teasel shape!

You will also find patterns to make other lovely shapes such as flowers, shells and starfish on her blog Townhill Studio here.

She also has videos showing how she dyes her large pieces of fabric and see that she also uses Potash to set the dye. Watch here and here.

Once our pieces of fabric were in 'the bag' we used our dye to colour threads, lace and other bits and bobs - as seen above. Rubber gloves are best worn when handling the wet dyed pieces and when rinsing in cold water before removing the ties (care must be taken when doing this so as not to make holes in the fabric). 
A second rinse is required before leaving to dry away from sunlight and heat. Once dry the  Tie Dyed fabric can be ironed.

Operation Dye Bath

Above, the various parcels ready for the dye bath and experiments dyeing lace and other threads in green dye. See how some fabric takes it better than others? giving a pale or deeper green. 

Below, the same kind of experiments using different coloured threads and yarn - some did not take the dye at all and others became a really rich, deep purple. Maybe it depends on whether the subject dyed is natural or synthetic? Have a go yourself and see what happens.

Many thanks to the Two Sue's for all their hard work making sure that we had fun on the evening. We can't wait for the next workshop in May.
Watch out for Part 2 of Dyeing to Stitch! to see how we decorated our tie dyed wonders with stitch and other embellishments.