Friday, June 28, 2013

Some Results - Off the Wall Friday

Well it seems that its true - Prayer  indeed does work!  (Go figure - grin) What was once a big pile of white fabric, is now a hodge podge of lovely hand dyeds.  Looking over my stash, it seemed I needed more reds, blues and greens so I made sure there was plenty of those.  Also I needed more dark intense colors so I had fun doing up those.

I still have two big bins soaking so I don't have all the results - but I
do have a few from last night that made it through the three wash/rinse cycles today.  It seemed odd to do all this  dyeing in two days instead of over a week or two - but looking at the results there doesn't seem to be a big change.  I'll probably have a few pieces that will need to be overdyed but that can wait till later in the summer.  I just think its much easier to putting a few colors on at a time rather than fold - dye one color - rinse - refold dye another color and rinse.    That way is VERY labor intensive as well as having my dye supplies cluttering up my diningroom studio.  I did do about half of them with funky tight folds and a rest in  my scrunch red solo cup method.

So I labeled the fabrics I did in the last two days .  I did PFD Testfabric 419, 400 - also Kona Cotton (from Joann's - but scoured),  and PFD Kona Twill.  I'm wondering if it makes a lot of difference in the results if the fabric is mercerized and if it PFD vs scoured.  Hmmmm - I guess I'll just have to wait for them all to be rinsed out and ironed to see!

One thing I do know - PFD cotton sure is expensive considering  its just plain white and we have to do all the dyeing!  I'd love to hear what you all are dyeing with!

So what have you been up to creatively??

15 comments:

Sylvia said...

I love the gold piece! I could see that as the backdrop for a sunset.

Lisa Chin said...

Very pretty! I buy Kona PFD in bulk with a half off coupon from Hancock Fabrics. My understanding is that the only difference between a pfd and another plain white fabric is that there are no starches or finishes and it is ready to dye. If you take a plain white fabric and wash it without a fabric softener or dryer sheet it is basically the same as a pfd.

Anonymous said...

Lovely!

MulticoloredPieces said...

Very lovely results, Nina Marie. I'm waiting until August to try my hand at dyeing, when I'll have peace and quiet and no little people underfoot. I'm just going to dye fabric from old, flea market clothing--everything was washed or beaten out of it long ago! Maybe I'll do some painting on it as well...nice thought.
best, nadia

Deborah OHare said...

Gorgeous!

Marilyn Wall said...

Nina Marie I love the red piece so vibrant.

quiltedfabricart said...

That last golden one is my fave although the others have so much going on. I can see rocks, sky, water in different sections. Will be curious to know if the joannes kona works. Would be a lot cheaper to do. Thanks for sharing;-)

Karen S said...

Nice fabrics! I mostly use 419 and I usually scour it first, even though it's pfd. And mercerized will get you brighter colors. But I've used stuff from Joann that I get with my coupon (Egyptian cotton) and it works well if I scour it first.

Linda A. Miller said...

Great experiments! I am getting ready for some dyeing (procion) myself.

Madalene Axford Murphy said...

Love that gold fabric, but I am partial to any variation of that color. My favorite dyeing fabric is a PFD Pima from Dharma. It's just a bit heavier than 419 but the weave is tighter than Kona, which I like as well for certain projects. Haven't tried Joann's.

Regina B Dunn said...

I love hand-dyed fabrics. The gold colored one is my favorite, but all the ones you've showed us are lovely.

Laura said...

The price of PFD fabric from Test Fabrics gets cheaper the more you buy, so I tend to get at least 25 yards at a time (or more). I think I dye more because I always have some on hand, I don't have to run to Joann's or order from fabric.com and wait. And I just wanted to say that I look forward to Fridays to check out all these great links, thanks so much for setting this up!

Anonymous said...

Wow- The fabrics are beautiful! And so vivid! I'm interested to know the fabrics you like to dye... What do you mean by scouring the fabric? I wash it in hot water first, and let it dry...

Anonymous said...

Wow- The fabrics are beautiful! And so vivid! I'm interested to know the fabrics you like to dye... What do you mean by scouring the fabric? I wash it in hot water first, and let it dry...

Amy @ Amy's FMQ Adventures said...

I can't be dyeing, I've got 3 little kids who need me! LOL. Yeah, every stinkin' minute when I'm trying to do something messy but fun (or I'm on the phone). Seriously, I figure dyeing is one of those 'seasons' I'm not in yet. Though I have tried some painting of fabric and sun printing.

Your fabrics came out fabulously!