Saturday, September 17, 2016

Fabric Dyeing: Major Fail!

I raced home last weekend to help the hubby get ready for fall wheat planting and to throw together a few freezer meals for him, then it was back to the rehab facility to help my mom. While I was home, though, I thought I had to do one creative thing for me. I've had a project I've been wanting to do & I finally had all the necessary supplies assembled, so I thought why not.....which was probably my first mistake!
Thistle Thicket Studio, fabric dyeing, ice dyeing,

I've seen some beautiful fabrics that looked like batiks but were actually cottons dyed using a technique called Ice Dyeing. The process looked fun although a little messy. But I decided to face the messiness head-on and enjoyed the creative process, dyeing 2 yards of fabric in shades of yellow, fuchsia and turquoise. The colors came out a nice pastel, not the vibrant colors I'd seen in photos. I wondered why, and today I think I figured it out - in my haste, I forgot to soak my fabric in soda ash before I dye it!
Thistle Thicket Studio, fabric dyeing, ice dyeing

 HELP! I'm now looking for advice on what to do with this fabric. I washed it in Sythrapol afterwards, dried it, and starched and pressed it. Is the dye set? Or will it bleed every time it is washed? Can I over-dye it and use the soda ash the second time around? Should I try to bleach it out and start over? I would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions!

 Thanks!
~Sharla
http://www.thistlethicketstudio.com/2016/09/fabric-dying-major-fail.html

4 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 17, 2016 at 5:13 PM

    I think it's beautiful, it looks like "cotton candy sky" that magical sky that comes in the evening when the sky is blue and the clouds are white and the setting sun washes them in pink....beautiful pink and blue cotton candy sky. I would leave it as is if the dye is set. Hopefully someone can give you an answer on that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownSeptember 17, 2016 at 5:13 PM

    I think it's beautiful, it looks like "cotton candy sky" that magical sky that comes in the evening when the sky is blue and the clouds are white and the setting sun washes them in pink....beautiful pink and blue cotton candy sky. I would leave it as is if the dye is set. Hopefully someone can give you an answer on that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MelvaSeptember 18, 2016 at 4:34 PM

    If it has been dried in the dryer the dye should be set. I would wash one more time to see if the colors fade out or wash out more. If it seems ok, dry in the dryer again and use as you desire. I would use it as a backing. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tish StempleSeptember 19, 2016 at 12:46 PM

    Beautiful dye job! Love those colors. My husband and I just did a low water immersion class a few weeks ago and we were told to boil the fabrics for 10 mins at a time to get rid of the access dyes. It took a few times boiling before the water was clear-ish, but it seemed to work.

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