Dye Geek: using water softener
How much water softener is needed?
I just got a nice email from a Carol Soderlund student who asked about my homemade pleater. Since this post has been languishing since 2013, now is a good time to dust it off! Here are links to my two videos showing the pleater in use: Loading the Pleater and Removing Fabric from the Pleater. …
A deep yellow, shaded with black, contrasts strongly with that mid-century aqua agitator!
It’s always a good idea to test fabric before buying and dyeing it. I was thrilled to find a 116″ wide sateen in white at Backside Fabrics, and they kindly sent me a good-sized single swatch. You can see the results above, from left: Pimatex PFD Prewashed wide sateen Unwashed wide sateen I did a …
In an effort to provide the best images of my fabric online, I finally learned how to set the white balance feature on my camera correctly. The photographs of solids and my virtual swatch book require the best color rendering possible. Turns out the camera has a super-quick way to set it up. While it …
This quilt is a really neat example of transparency in quilts. Boy, I wish I could say it was my work! It’s by Modern Quilt Studio, and it’s super! It is a good quilt to dye for, once you know some dyeing basics. “Swatch” by Modern Quilt Studio And transparency is the subject of my …
A recent Facebook post by Robbie E. turned into a wonderful discussion all about dyeing and washing out cotton fabric. I made a couple new friends that way; one wrote: “This is making me so confused. All I want to do is start dyeing! Any tips on where to start?” Lots of people pitched in …
Took a photo of my upgraded methods to test for bleeding.1- fold a piece over and iron between white fabricAnd2- throw a white swatch into the hot wash to look for bleeding in the washer
Dye Boot Camp is coming up at MQX – the Machine Quilters’ Festival in Manchester, NH. I will be teaching and lecturing there all week – the first class is Dye Boot Camp on Wednesday, April 5 at 8 AM! It will be a quick four-hour version covering everything you need to know about dyeing …