Colouring Cloth

Last weekend I had 6 quilting pals come to my house to do a session on dyeing cloth.  I think colouring your own cloth is one of the most pleasing of activities.  The first session I did a few years ago had me thinking I would never use the fabric I had dyed.  It was so lovely in a freshly pressed pile with vibrant colours and unique markings.  However, within months it was gone and I was on to my next dyeing session.  As ever, if you click on the pictures on this post you can see the detail.

There are lots of ways to colour cloth and we were doing only one but the one I find really simple, straightforward and highly effectively.  This method involves dyeing fabric in poly food bags and is a reasonably mess free way of having 6 quilters in one dining room creating a couple of dozen colours.   I use the method set out by Helen Deighan in her book 'Dyeing in Plastic Bags'.  This is a really clear book and amusing to read.  If you would like to find out more about it you can see it at the following link and buy it directly from Helen.  http://www.crosswayspatch.co.uk/index.php/how-to-order

I have also just found a website all about hand dyeing and among other really interesting science stuff there is a chart for mixing colours. You can find the chart at this link   http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/procionMXdyemixing.shtml

Procion dyes are chemical dyes that bond with the fibres of the material you are colouring.  They are used on all natural materials; cotton; silk; linen; wool felt and so on.  I really like using them and the effect is strong and - most importantly - dye fast. 

The sight of 6 quilters all enthusiastically mixing and pouring chemicals, squishing dye filled bags and passing round the dye solutions would shake the faint hearted, house proud person.  Happily I am neither so it was simply great fun.   The various, Mary's, Margaret's, Nita's and Fiona's who took part were also charged with the emptying of the bags and the rinsing in their own homes as it takes several hours in the bags for the reaction to be completed so my neighbours must have been intrigued by the line of ladies all with bags various and a basin under each arm of strange bags of liquid marching out of our house and up our little lane. 

So... the end result - well you can see that here.  What a great outcome.  I think everyone was delighted.  A variety of fabrics were put in each bag of dye and the difference between linen, cotton and silk in the same dye bath was remarkable.  Indeed different weights and types of cotton can give markedly different results in the same bath. 
I highly recommend this method of dyeing your own fabric with two notes of caution - firstly it is not a spectator sport and secondly, it's addictive.  Have a go!