I bought a beautiful piece of hand dyed seam binding at the Art Unraveled Shopping Extravaganza one year, but when I went back the next year to get more, the vendor was not there. Now I am a vendor at the same show, and I decided to fill the void by making my own hand dyed fibers. I am sharing my method with you in this post.
It’s fun but messy and time-consuming. You can buy the finished products from my Etsy shop. But if you want to try it yourself, here goes!
I absolutely love the results I am getting, but I should warn you that I am not an expert at dyeing.
This is just an explanation of how I dye certain fibers. If you want to learn more, a quick search
online or at the public library will yield lots of reference material.
I use an immersion dyeing method, but some people “paint” the fibers with inks, paints and markers. You can make some really beautiful pieces this way, but if you are making clothing, accessories or jewelry, you will want to check the colorfastness of any method you use. You
don’t want the color rubbing off on someone’s skin or clothing.
I use a cold water fabric dye designed for cellulose fibers. It works well on plant fibers but not on synthetics. It is not meant
for wool, but I have had good luck with silk. It is great on cotton, jute and rayon. The seam binding I use is rayon, which is made from plant pulp. Seam binding is aptly named; it was
originally designed to bind raw seams in sewing. It is light and flexible, so it can follow the curve of any seam without adding lots of bulk to your garment. Rayon is perfect for cold water dyes, and its flexibility makes it great for jewelry. You will appreciate this if you have ever tried to make a piece of jewelry with satin or grosgrain ribbon and found that it does not drape well. I think Procion is the best known cold water dye. Dharma Trading carries its own brand, which is less expensive. I like both.
The Cold Water Dyeing Process
You will need:
Cellulose fiber to dye (prewash if necessary to remove sizing or other substances)
Cold water dye (Procion and Dharma Trading brands come as a powder in a plastic container)
Water
Soda ash
Container to soak fiber
Container(s) to mix dye
Spoon or other tool to stir soda ash mixture and dye mixture
Measuring cup for water
Measuring spoons for soda ash and dye
Protective gloves
Tray or rack for drying dyed fibers
First, protect yourself and your studio. You will want to wear rubber or vinyl gloves so you don’t dye your hands (but if you do get dye on your hands, it should disappear within a few days). And you will want to protect the surfaces in your studio. I work in my kitchen, and I’ve had pretty good luck so far. This dye has not permanently stained my counters, floor or sink. But I have splashed the dye bath onto my kitchen curtains, and it did stain them. So now I set up a barrier behind my work area using the lids from two large plastic storage containers. And I recommend cleaning up any spill right away, before it can set. You should also wear clothes you don’t mind staining, including shoes (yes, I have stained my shoes). It’s funny that you have to soak your fibers in a special solution to make the dye stay in them, but it will stay in anything you accidentally spill it on without any special help at all.
Next, the fibers you plan to dye need to soak in a soda ash solution. This prepares the fiber to accept the dye. The instructions on the dye container usually give proportions for each type of dye process. I have been using two tablespoons of soda ash in one gallon of water. This works for me, but I think darker colors may require more soda ash. When I rinse my fibers, I wash away lots of dye, which works for me, because I am aiming for a soft, muted look. Mix the soda ash into the water and stir until it dissolves. Then add your fibers to the mixture and let them soak for 30 minutes. I do this in a big plastic bucket. Here is my bucket filled with fibers:
For seam binding, twine, twill tape and threads, I measure and cut the length I want, loop it around my hand and tie it. But you can dye a larger length and cut it later, too. This is what my little bundle of seam binding looks like:
Then, mix your dye. I have purposely kept my entire process to a small scale, but you don’t have to. I mix three strengths of the same color so that I can create an ombre effect. I use three large yogurt containers. After I spilled dye all over my cutting board and counter, I started putting the dye containers on a tray to catch spills. You can use the colors as they come from the manufacturer or mix your own colors. You just add the dye powder to water and stir. There is an additive available to help the dye dissolve completely, but I haven’t tried it. I keep a journal in which I record the formula for each dye batch, so I can recreate or adjust any color. The Procion label says to use two teaspoons of dye to eight ounces of water, but because I am making pale colors, I don’t use that much. In order to measure small amounts consistently, I bought this special measuring spoon set:
Now you are ready to dye some fibers! I learned that it is much less messy to wring out an entire batch of fibers at the same time and then dye them. At first, I was grabbing an item from my soda
ash mix, squeezing the liquid out, dipping it in the dye, laying it on a tray and then starting over. But there was lots of dripping! So now I wring out a whole batch of fiber and then dye it. So
choose what you want from your soda ash and squeeze the liquid out of each piece. I do the seam binding first because it is delicate and it doesn’t make a mess in the soda ash liquid. Burlap makes a mess, so I do it last.
I like to test the strength of the dye by dipping a white paper towel or a piece of scrap fabric into each dye bath. It will dry much lighter, but it gives me an idea of what the color will look like and helps me determine whether the three strengths vary enough.
For the ombre seam binding, I dip each length into the lightest dye bath first, then halfway into the middle dye bath, and then about a quarter or a third of the way into the darkest dye bath. After each dip, I squeeze out the excess dye mixture. Eventually, each dye bath changes a little because of excess amounts dripping, but I’m happy with the look, so it’s okay with me. If you want the dye bath to be more consistent, you will need to make sure you don’t drip one bath into the other. I haven’t tried dyeing one piece in multiple colors, so I don’t know if you need to let it dry in between colors or not. I guess that will be an adventure for 2013!
I don’t know how long the dye bath stays potent. I have let it sit for a couple of hours while I soaked more fibers, and it was fine. A basketmaker told me she keeps mixed Rit dye for long periods of time, but I don’t know if the cold water dyes act the same way. I usually keep soaking fabrics until I use most of the dye I have mixed.
After each piece is dipped in the dye baths, I lay it on a tray. You can line the tray with paper towels to soak up some of the excess dye. If you don’t line the tray with something absorbent, some of the dye that drips off may be reabsorbed by the seam binding, which makes a nice effect. If I use a metal tray, I line the tray with plastic wrap, because I’m not sure if the dye will interact with the metal.
You can also hang your pieces to dry, but I don’t do that while they are really wet because I’ve had them drip dye all over my floor!
I let the seam binding dry on the tray. Then I rinse it in cool running water until the water runs clear. Then I let it dry again.
I like to iron the seam binding (on medium heat).
But some people like it crinkled. To crinkle it, just scrunch it up in your hand while it is wet and let it dry.
While I've got everything set up, I usually try to keep dyeing until I've used most of the dye I've mixed. I like to have twine, twill tape, embroidery floss and perle cotton to match the seam binding. And I usually add a little burlap and cheesecloth at the end. When I did this aqua batch, I had some left and tried a few new items. I put in some gauze and cheesecloth. I didn't presoak them, so the dye won't stay if I rinse them, but it should be fine for mixed media projects. I also used the dye like a wash on some canvases and even a wooden panel:
You can even dye paper with the solution! But I don't recommend trying to rinse it. You can apply it with a sponge or sponge brush.
I would love to hear about your adventures if you decide to try hand dyeing!
Starshine Wishes,
Karen
