Disperse dyeing - report from Sunday's meeting

Sandra lead a wonderful day on disperse dyeing and printing and on acid dyeing. We started by looking at samples brought in by Julie and Glenda made using disperse dyes to paint papers. The effects ranged from crisp and precise to organic and textured. Sandra explained how disperse dyes work and we spent the morning happily painting papers. 

Here is the dye painting table.

And here are some more painted papers.

A quick trip to the car park produced some lovely leaves to print with! Here are some of the results.

The way that these dyes works is that the painted papers will be placed onto fabric and ironed to transfer the design. Come back next month to see more of the results.

After lunch we used the disperse dyes to dye polyester and silk. Sandra also showed how to use acid dyes to colour silk and nylon. Sandra brought in a microwave steamer and a microwave that she keeps just for dyeing ... she definitely doesn’t recommend using the ones that you normally cook your veggies in!

There were lots of happy exclamations as we started rinsing out our bright, beautifully coloured fabrics. So a successful day. Thanks again to Sandra!

May meeting - Dyeing with disperse and acid dyes

The next meeting is on Sunday 19 May, when Sandra will be demonstrating how to use disperse dyes to paint and dye polyester. She will also bring some acid dyes for working on silk and nylon. 

 

Please let Leah know if you will be coming so that Sandra can bring the right quantities of dyes.

 

If you want to have a go please bring the following -

• Polyester, silk or nylon (I can supply small pieces of polyester if you don’t have any)
• Brushes or sponges for painting on the dye
• Non metallic cook in bag suitable for the microwave plus extras to take your work home in.
• Plastic cups and spoons for mixing dyes
• Gloves / apron

These methods need a microwave to fix the dyes. Because this will limit the amount of fabric each of us can dye we will be dividing the group into two with one half dyeing whilst the other half work on their own projects.

The meeting will start at 10am at the Memorial Hall in Croft (small hall) and will have a shared lunch as normal. We will also have a show and tell of the dyed and discharged pieces from the last meeting and any projects you’re currently working on.

Printing session Sunday 21 April

Ten people came along for a meeting where we were printing with thickened Procion dyes and discharge paste.

Thanks go to Leah for preparing all the colours and paste we were using. We had a delicious selection of colours to choose from: two reds, blues and yellows, plus black, brown and petrol green. Here they are:

I hadn't had much time to think about what I was going to do, so just threw a load of stuff in the car. In the end I made a couple of small print blocks inspired by Hundertwasser's paintings (the subject of a recent workshop). I used these to print, first with discharge paste on black and green cotton and black velvet, and then with thickened dye on white cotton.

The discharge paste was great fun and easy to use. I have used household bleach before, but we used Formosol mixed with with print paste, which was much easier to control. You use it just like thickened dye and can apply it with stamps or by screen printing, including with thermofax screens. After applying it to your fabric, you just have to wait for it to dry and then iron to activate. The design appears like magic and gets paler the more you iron it. Finally, you have to wash the fabric to get rid of the print paste and stop any further bleaching.

Here are my fabrics, after washing and ironing, plus my print blocks.

If any members have a photo of their fabric from the printing session that they don't mind sharing, please send me a copy I'll post it on the blog.

Details of the next meeting will appear shortly.