Dyeing – The Fabric
A continuation of my dyeing posts as a result of being on TV demonstrating how I dye fabric. The first is here.
I use Kaufman Pimatex PFD bleach white fabric when dyeing. Because I dye so much, I have an account with Kaufman to buy it direct. You can also buy this fabric online or in quilt and fabric stores.
It is a very tight weave fabric, which I prefer. I think it is more durable than the dyer’s muslins and much easier to work with. Some people say they have a hard time getting a needle through the fabric when sewing by hand but it doesn’t bother me. I do have to bring samples of the fabric with me when I get my sewing machine tuned up so they can adjust the hook closer to the needle to keep it from skipping during the piecing.
This fabric is also PFD, which means Prepared For Dye, which generally means they do not have permanent press, optical brighteners, or other resin finishes that interfere with dyeing. It is also mercerized so it takes the dye well. I never prewash the fabric before dyeing because it comes off the bolt ready to go.
This is 200 yards of brand new fabric on the bolt. It is not a pure white fabric but instead slightly off white. It came in a big box that I could not lift alone.
It would take a very long time to cut 60-80 single yard pieces of fabric with a rotary cutter or scissors. So instead I tear it. I put the bolt of fabric on the floor and unroll large sections of it. I then measure out about 37″ (it shrinks a bit – this is 100% cotton) and make a small snip through the selvedge and then tear it the rest of the width across.
This is a pile of maybe 20-30 yards of fabric. There are occasional strings from the tearing that I do my best to ignore. With practice you can minimize this but it still happens a bit.
To start off the dyeing process I’ll take a mound of fabric and jam it into a 5 gallon bucket and add hot/warm water to get the fabric wet. I think Ann Johnston says in her recipe to use a cup of water per yard but it would take way too long to measure so I just get it wet – sometimes dripping wet, sometimes not. I can’t be bothered to worry if there is really at least a cup.
I then put 1 wet yard of fabric into each bin for the first round.
I’ll continue with describing the dye parts in another post. I’ve run out of pictures that are processed and ready for the blog.
Posted by Lisa in: Quilting Process
You are an INCREDIBLY industrious artist. Kudos.
You’ve brought back some memories, Lisa, from my brief days of dyeing fabric for sale. I remember having a hard time getting my head around buying fabric in 100 yd rolls, but it really disappears fast. Yes, tearing is definitely the way to go, and I find it very cathartic!
Lisa, is a required to have a license to buy wholesale from Kaufmans? 200 yards would last me a good while!
Hi Ed – good to hear from you again. Thanks!
Shelia you are a better person than me. No way would I ever sell my fabric. It is just too much work to make. And it’s really pretty toxic using the dyes so I try to minimize my exposure to them, which is why I try to dye so much at once. Limits how much I’m around the dyes.
Karoda – I do not have a wholesale license at this point (in Colorado you have to maintain a certain level of sales to keep the license and since I don’t focus on selling I can’t really meet those requirements). Setting up the Kaufman account was a trick. It took several phone calls of begging over a period of time, eventually I found the right person and he took pity on me and created it. It’s been very nice.