Tie dye help needed

[OceanMomma]

My fave rainbow swirl tie dyed sheet has finaly bitten the dust I have another old white 100% cotton flannelette sheet that will never be white again without more chemical assistance than I am prepared to give it. I was going to do another rainbow swirl again but dd has been asking for stars. I have no idea how to tie dye stars. I can do little circles, hearts or swirls but no hearts.

Also with procion dyes, I would like to do it a sort of yellowy cream colour almost in the stars with purple sort of fading in. Is that even possible with procion ? I've got some real nice effects with dylon dyes by not diluting them & them diluting them some more but they are not permanent so are not really suitable for bedding.

[ma2maya]

I suppose you have 2 options to do the stars. Well, maybe there's more but your only gettin' 2 from me :LOL
How big do you want the stars or would one star radiating out kinda like a Star Mandala type of thing?

If you want to do a pattern of many stars my suggestion woud be to do a combo of stamping and low water immersion You could stamp using either thickened procion dyes or a resist paint then do the immersion dyeing.

As for the star mandala type of fold, I could try to explain here but I think I might confuse myself and you by trying to convey it in type. It really is just done by folding the fabric in half succesively about four times then drawing a straight line from the outside edge up to the inner edge and accordion folding along that line;binding it all and dyeing. For a much better tutorial Tie-dyed.com
is a great place to learn.

Be sure to check out their forum for input and resources. I have learned sooooo much about tie-dyeing from the site owner and other forum members its not even funny. You might even post your question over there too, you'll probably alot more ideas than the 2 I came up with

Anyways...hope this helps!
Kathy

Edited to add that there is an illustrated tutorial on how to do a mandala fold here . Down in the directions where you see the half-petal bieng drawn on the fold piece, thats where you would draw the straight line up from the outer edge up to the inner edge(does that make sense?)

[OceanMomma]

wow! that is a lot of info in one place & I haven't even made it to the tie dye forum yet.

I was thinking lots of little stars so I may have to work out a stamp. Would a potato print type thing be doable. You know, carve the star out of a potato? Actually dd has a stamp I got her from the trade aid store which they make out of recycled Indian wooden fabric printing blocks. It is a really nice mandala so maybe I will use that.

With the low immersion bath, if I read it all rightly, if I wanted to use 3 colours, I would mix them up to the desired strength then pour all 3 on top of the fabric?? Wouldn't it turn into a brown smudge ?

[ma2maya]

You could do the potato stamp or the other one or get one from a craft store. Any will do.

With the low immersion bath, if I read it all rightly, if I wanted to use 3 colours, I would mix them up to the desired strength then pour all 3 on top of the fabric?? Wouldn't it turn into a brown smudge ?

I generally use colors that blend to make nice tertiary colors. But you would be suprised at the wide variation becuase of how colors within each dye sepreate out sometimes. Check out Michael Fowler's Swatch Page to see different variations.
When I pour on the dyes on I pour from lightest to darkest. I also personally prefer to have the fabric moist before pouring on the dye. But that is not necesary.
My suggestion would be to practice on smaller pieces of fabric so you can get a feel for how it works.

Though it is new and different from what you may have done before it is relatively easy. Just remember that (tie) dyeing really shouldn't be about perfection and letting the process takes is course and reveling in the unique beauty of what you have created

Kathy

[OceanMomma]

I had a look at the tie dye forum last night & it was unreal. So much beautiful stuff. I am feeling very inspired! I'll check out my dye stash & see what else I need. I may also cruise the op shops to see if I can find some old cotton clothes to dye. Many thanx for this

[ma2maya]

You're welcome, but please don't come complaining to me when you just can't stop dyeing things Quite honestly the tie-dye forum is my support group for the addiction I have, the only problem is evrybody is an enabler :LOL

Kathy

[OceanMomma]

:LOL I will blame you totally Actually you are too late. I've dyed all sorts for years. I've done the spiral tie dye addiction already but I found it quite limiting in the end. I did some beautiful nylon lace petticoats into dresses with acid dyes. Pity the tie dye forum you pointed me to wasn't there then.

I have just taken a few baby years off. Now it is heading for winter & the nights are getting long, I can't garden so I need to do something that is not fattening or illegal. My other addiction is chooks. I am doing dd a chook quilt which has had a bit of a pause & needs restarting. I could even tie dye some fabric for it, buy some old sheets & tie dye them for new cheepo curtains.... :LOL

[ma2maya]

Atleast a tie-dyeing addiction doesn't really require an intervention

Yes, it would be neat to dye some fabric and make fat quarters out of them. Make sure the used sheets you get are 100% cotton. It is suprising how many of the sheets I have found at the second hand store are really a cotton/poly blend.
The miscut rack at the fabric store would also be a good resource for small quantities of blank cotton to dye.

Oh the possibilities!

Kathy

[OceanMomma]

When I was doing the spiral addiction, I used to go to op shops & look for light coloured 100% cotton or natural fibre clothes. I found this gorgeous, strapless, very light pink dress that criss crossed laced up the back. It was only 80% cotton. I just made the dye extra strong. It came out beautifully. It was unfortunately a barbie doll minus the boobs sized dress so I ended up selling it as it didn't quite fit me.

But yes, 100% cotton sheets are difficult to come by. I did a random wild log cabin quilt for dh a few xmases ago out of old cotton checked shirts. I overdyed some of them to make them more exciting. I think there are also lots of old cotton mens shirts in op shops so they would be a good cheap source of plain coloured cotton fabric for patchwork.

I'm still looking at the work on the tiedyed forum. It is beautiful. I am so inspired. I've ordered some new dyes & will get into it once they arrive.

A quick question for you. Are soda ash & washing soda the same thing ?

[ma2maya]

Washing Soda is primarily soda ash(sodium carbonate) but the word is that most common brands in the store contain optical brighteners that can interfere with the dye reactivity. You can get pure soda ash at a pool supply store, it is generally called Ph-up. I have also gotten before at Home Depot. A hardware store that carries basic pool supply stuff would probably have it too.


Kathy