[Ponte Alto] Re: dye day - July 24th starting at 10am

[ArtsofPalm at aol.com]

"I have some cream-y colored linen that I would like to sew into both 
chemises and dresses, and I'm not sure how much fabric I'll need for the dress I have 
in mind -- I was thinking that I'd sew the dress this weekend & dye it next 
weekend -- would that work?  "

Greetings, Siobhan.

Your question is a very good one that I think should be posted to the Ponte 
Alto list, as I remember wondering myself about these same questions.  Also, 
perhaps Lady Vitha or others can answer it better than I, but here goes my 
version of an answer.

I have not actually died a finished piece of clothing, but this is mostly 
because I usually dye resist patterns as part of the process and it is both 
easier to dye straight fabric, and I like to have the resulting designs already in 
the fabric when I lay out and cut my pieces.   That's just part of the fun of 
it for me.

I see no reason why it would not work to dye a finished garment, however.  It 
might be kind of fun, as long as you do not use anything synthetic in the 
garment construction, including to beware of the thread used in the garment!  
Much of today's thread is all or partially synthetic.  It is not a problem if the 
thread you use is the color you are aiming for, otherwise this could end up 
being a problem. Also, beware of interfacings, etc.  for the same reason as the 
thread.  

I cannot speak for the dye concentrating at the seams, although from my 
experience of how these dyes work, it would not seem to be very likely.  Are you 
trying to go for an even, all over color, or are some variations of appeal to 
you.  The less water you use, the more intense the dye and ALSO, the more 
variations in the dye pattern to your fabric.

When you come over, I will see if I can find some sample fabrics that I dyed. 
 These fabrics were died in the same exact dye pot, and yet their colors came 
out extremely differently.  One was a silk, one a mercerized cotten and the 
last an untreated cotton.  Such a difference in color!  The moral to my story 
is that dyeing is a journey, and you should plan for some surprizes.  For me, 
this is part of the fun, rejoice in life's little surprized!

I suggest that you start with a project with no more than 4 yards, and not 
something so expensive that you will be heartbroken should anything unexpected 
happen

Here is what I HAVE done to minimize the amount of fabric I dyed (procion 
dyeing goes by weight, so the more fabric, the more chemicals and therefore, the 
more $)

I worked in this order:
1. prewashed/dried/shrunk my fabric (You should  particulalry do this with 
dying to get any sizing out of it), 
2. cut out my pattern pieces with a generous seam allowance (3/4" worked for 
me), died those, rinsed them out with the synthahol, 
3. Ironed the fabric pieces dry after they were less than soaked,
3. sewn the garment, and finally
4. THEN run it all once again through the wash and dry process.

Essentially, I cut out the fabric but did my best not to let it fray before I 
sewed it all up.  Going this route worked well for me and I did several 
garments this way.  

Hope this helps.  

YIS,
Irene Madhaidin
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