Sunday, March 11, 2012

Candied Fabrics Online Dyeing Class : Lesson 6

Now that the table is complete, Candy encouraged us to pick a few swatches and use the color recipes to dye larger quantities.  She provides a spreadsheet that makes all the necessary calculations.  Yahoo!  Did I mention  this class is a worthwhile investment?  Sign up here.

Here's what I picked :
 This is swatch 4-5-1 from the Brights Triad.  I liked it because it combined a lovely green patina with a rusty overtone.

This is a fat quarter that was pre-soaked in soda ash solution.   I really like the 2-tone effect here. 

 This is the same color recipe on a dry scrumpled fat quarter.    The dye was left to sit and wick into the fabric for 10 minutes (or so).   Then the requisite amount of soda ash solution was poured on and massaged in.   We still have the 2-tone effect, but it is not as pronounced.   It's a more even color effect. 
 Here they are side-by-side for easier comparison. 

 
This  one is a close-up comparing the 2 versions.

 This is swatch 0-7-3 from the Naturals Triad.   I liked the red veins running through it ...

 This is a fat quarter that was pre-soaked in soda ash solution.   I really like the texture effect here. 

 This is the same color recipe on a dry scrumpled fat quarter.    The dye was left to sit and wick into the fabric for 10 minutes (or so), then soda ash solution poured on and massaged in.    Again, much more even color/texture effect.

 Here are the fat quarters side-by-side for easier comparison.  

 
Here's a close-up comparison of the 2 blues. 
It's very clear that you can get different effects according to when you add the soda ash.

 This is swatch 1-7-2 from the Naturals set.  Again, I liked the veining.
I tried this one on a 1/2-yard piece of dry fabric and got this :

 It's actually kind of interesting, like pictures from the Hubble Telescope, but not quite what I expected with this one ...  I might try this one again.   Maybe I didn't mix up the dye sufficiently.  It was a much larger quantity that what I used for the 5-in swatches.   I might try this again ...  Maybe I forgot the soda ash step for this one? 



In the meantime, the Earthy Triad is batching as I speak.  Can't wait to see how those gorgeous, rich colors turn out!

7 comments:

Candied Fabrics said...

Awesome! Beautiful fabrics! I totally LOVE that you did the soda ash before/after side by side, it's such a great way to really figure out how the dyes and fabric interact!

Jeanne Marklin said...

They all look good. You have wonderful veining in many of them. I'm looking forward to seeing what work comes out of the class - what everyone does with the fabrics!

The Idaho Beauty said...

Ok, I'm a little confused here. Are you saying that you are soaking one cloth in soda ash before adding the dye and the other you are adding the dye first, then the soda ash solution once it has wicked? I'm really surprised at the difference you are getting in the two methods.

Michele Matucheski said...

That's it exactly.
Method A : fabric is pre-soaked in soda ash solution, then dye is added.
Method B : Dry fabric is scrumpled, then dye added. 10 minutes later, the soda ash solution is added.

It is a surprisingly dramatic difference between the 2 methods. Good to know depending on what effect you're after ...

Robin said...

Wow these colors are fabulous..!that is so interesting how you get the different effects..!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful!!!! Love the colors
Joanne D.

gardener14 said...

Fantastic results. I can't wait to see what you make with the fabric and the results of future dyeing.