What I Learned Hand Dyeing . . .Off the Wall Friday

So what have I've been up to this week??  Yep - still hand dyeing fabric - at least 30 yds of it!  Yep, you did read that right  - 30 yds - all fat quarters.  Needless to say, I think I've had enough hand dyeing for now. Enough colors, enough dirty dishes, enough rubber gloves  - just enough!

With all of that I did manage to learn a few things that you never read  about in the directions:

 1. Do your set up the night before you dye.  Put out the containers, pick out the colors, cut up the
fabric.  It will make it go a lot faster the next day.

2. Do all the cool colors one day.  All the warm colors another.  It will make rinsing and washing out easier.

3. Wash out all the dirty dye dishes at the end of the day (one dishwasher load should do it!)

4. Red solo cups have proven to be far easier to clean and sturdier dye after dye than plastic bags

5. Even when the fabrics soak in cold water over night, they still need three times through the washer to be thoroughly dye-free

6. Measuring spoons - Marked in big letters (color coded) and attached with a ring makes life a lot easier when dyeing gradations.

7. Following Dharma's directions on dye expectations are really helpful!

8. It doesn't matter how long you leave the dyes sitting in their cups - days, weeks (LOL - yes a week!) - they'll still turn out fine.

9.  Older dyes do indeed come out duller, but still are useful for muted color and over dyeing.

10. The search for a better rubber glove - one that fits right and won't break is still on going and essential.



I still need to try painting with thickened dyes but that will have to wait till later in the summer.  Between cleaning the studio, packing for QSDS and finishing up the dyeing I just wasn't up for anything new.

I will be blogging out my experience at quilt conference next week - so keep an eye out for that!

So what you been up to creatively this week?

An InLinkz Link-up