As a child I learned how to dye yardage of cotton fabric
using indigo. However, I learned to use
other dyestuffs including fiber reactive dyes in the Textiles Dept. at
ECU. Large amounts of Pro-Chemical MX
dye solutions were mixed each week and individual users activated them in
smaller batches as needed. In an
academic studio environment this system is cost effective. However, for me in my home studio it wasn’t,
so I needed another method.
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| Supplies Ready 2 Use |
My goal is to dye plant-based fabrics for quilts in one-yard
batches.
So, I reversed the process by
making a one-gallon stock solution activated with soda ash plus salt.
I add the powdered dye to either 2 or 3 cups
of solution.
I’m experimenting with
reworking my recipes from
Christine Zoller’s Surface Design class, and I’m
excited to see my results.
I started
this journey today with two-gallons of stock solution, which I will batch for
24 hours.
I’m experimenting with new
color combinations in search of Iroquois purple.
My samples today include bleached and
unbleached muslin, unbleached linen and silk.
I included some samples of dyeing MX over acid dyed silk and indigo dyed
cotton.
Results coming tomorrow!
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| My Set-Up |
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| Batches From Today |
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